Cuniã Ecological Station ( pt, Estação Ecológica de Cuniã) is a strictly protected ecological station in the states of Amazonas and

Rondônia Rondônia () is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the northern subdivision of the country (central-western part). To the west is a short border with the state of Acre, to the north is the state of Amazonas, in the east is Mato Grosso, ...

, Brazil. It preserves an area of savannah parkland on the border of the Amazon rainforest. The conservation unit is rich in lakes and ponds, and serves as a nursery for various species of fish.

Location

The Cuniã Ecological Station is in the

Amazon biome The Amazon biome ( pt, Bioma Amazônia) contains the Amazon rainforest, an area of tropical rainforest, and other ecoregions that cover most of the Amazon basin and some adjacent areas to the north and east. The biome contains blackwater and white ...

, and covers . It covers parts of the municipalities of Canutama and

Humaitá Humaitá is a town and ''distrito'' on the Paraguay River in southern Paraguay. During the Paraguayan War, it served as the main Paraguayan stronghold from 1866 until its fall in August 1868. During that time, it housed as many as 24,000 troops. ...

in the state of Amazonas and

Porto Velho Porto Velho (, ''Old Port'') is the capital of the Brazilian state of Rondônia, in the upper Amazon River basin, and a Catholic Metropolitan Archbishopric. The population is 548,952 people (as of the IBGE 2021 estimation). Located on the border ...

in the state of Rondônia. 90% of the Rio Madeira Sustainable Yield Forest (C) overlaps with the ecological station. The terrain bordering the

Madeira River The Madeira River ( pt, Rio Madeira, link=no ) is a major waterway in South America. It is estimated to be in length, while the Madeira-Mamoré is estimated near or in length depending on the measuring party and their methods. The Madeira is ...

alternates between

floodplain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river which stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls, and which experiences flooding during periods of high discharge.Goudi ...

s and

lacustrine plain A lacustrine plain or lake plain is a plain formed due to the past existence of a lake and its accompanying sediment accumulation. Lacustrine plains can be formed through one of three major mechanisms: glacial drainage, differential uplift, and inla ...

s formed by accumulated sediments. Further from the Madeira are the terraces of the Cuniã and Aponiã rivers. Much of the station to the north west is interfluvial plateau with very poor drainage. Average annual rainfall is . Temperatures range from and average . The environment is rich in lakes and ponds, and serves as a nursery for various species of fish. Vegetation is Savannah parkland rather than regular Amazonian forest. It is classified as open tropical rainforest, with spaced-out individual trees and many clusters of palms, bamboos and lianas. It provides a favourable environment for wildlife. Relatively abundant fauna include

paca A paca is a member of the genus ''Cuniculus'' of ground-dwelling, herbivorous rodents in South and Central America. It is the only genus in the family Cuniculidae. Pacas are large rodents with dots and stripes on their sides, short ears, and ...

tapir Tapirs ( ) are large, herbivorous mammals belonging to the family Tapiridae. They are similar in shape to a pig, with a short, prehensile nose trunk. Tapirs inhabit jungle and forest regions of South and Central America, with one species inhabit ...

armadillo Armadillos (meaning "little armored ones" in Spanish) are New World placental mammals in the order Cingulata. The Chlamyphoridae and Dasypodidae are the only surviving families in the order, which is part of the superorder Xenarthra, along wi ...

deer Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the reindeer ...

, macaw and

heron The herons are long-legged, long-necked, freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae, with 72 recognised species, some of which are referred to as egrets or bitterns rather than herons. Members of the genera ''Botaurus'' and ''Ixobrychus ...

. Aquatic species include

cichla Peacock bass or Brazilian tucunaré are large freshwater cichlids of the genus ''Cichla''. These are diurnal predatory fishes native to the Amazon and Orinoco basins, as well as rivers of the Guianas, in tropical South America. They are s ...

arapaima The arapaima, pirarucu, or paiche is any large species of bonytongue in the genus ''Arapaima'' native to the Amazon and Essequibo basins of South America. ''Arapaima'' is the type genus of the subfamily Arapaiminae within the family Osteoglossi ...

and

pterophyllum ''Pterophyllum'' is a small genus of freshwater fish from the family Cichlidae known to most aquarists as angelfish. All ''Pterophyllum'' species originate from the Amazon Basin, Orinoco Basin and various rivers in the Guiana Shield in tropical ...

. There are said to be some Amazonian manatee in the interior lagoons.

Conservation

The Cuniã Ecological Station was created on 27 September 2001, modified on 21 December 2007 and again modified by law 12.249 of 11 June 2010. It is administered by the federal

Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation The Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (Portuguese: ''Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação da Biodiversidade'', ICMBio) is the Brazilian Ministry of the Environment's administrative arm."Brazilian Federal Law 11.516/2007 (Por ...

(ICMBio). It is classed as

IUCN protected area category IUCN protected area categories, or IUCN protected area management categories, are categories used to classify protected areas in a system developed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The enlisting of such areas is par ...

Ia (strict nature reserve). The purpose is to protect the headwaters of the Aponiã and Cuniãzinho streams, tributaries of the middle Madeira River, with ecosystems in the transition from Savannah to Forest, and to support development of knowledge about the biodiversity of the Amazon region. The villagers of São Carlos and Nazaré often enter the unit at will and make use of the natural resources, since there are poor controls. An ordinance of 9 January 2012 provided for a consistent and integrated approach to preparing management plans for the conservation units in the BR-319 area of influence. These are the

Abufari Biological Reserve Abufari Biological Reserve ( pt, Reserva Biológica do Abufari) is a biological reserve in the state of Amazonas, Brazil. It is mostly lowland tropical rainforest, with very diverse flora and fauna. Location The Abufari Biological Reserve is in ...

, Cuniã Ecological Station, Nascentes do Lago Jari and

Mapinguari Mpinguari or Mpinguary, (also called the ''Juma'') are monsterous jungle-dwelling spirits from Brazilian folklore. Description There are two major depictions of it. Some described them as a hairy humanoid cyclops. This version is often said t ...

national parks, Balata-Tufari,

and Iquiri national forests, and the Lago do Capanã-Grande, Rio Ituxi, Médio Purus and Lago do Cuniã extractive reserves. The Cuniã-Jacundá Integrated Management (GICJ: Gestão Integrada Cuniã-Jacundá) is a proposed management organization that would take responsibility for three federal conservation units in Rondônia, the Cuniã Ecological Station, Jacundá National Forest and the Lago do Cuniã

extractive reserve An extractive reserve ( pt, Reserva Extrativista or RESEX) is a type of sustainable use protected area in Brazil. The land is publicly owned, but the people who live there have the right to traditional extractive practices, such as hunting, fishi ...

. All three are managed by ICMBio and have complementary objectives in maintaining a total of of Amazon biome and its transition to savannah.

Notes

Sources

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cunia Ecological Station 2001 establishments in Brazil Ecological stations of Brazil Protected areas of Amazonas (Brazilian state) Protected areas of Rondônia Protected areas established in 2001