Maracá Ecological Station ( pt, Estação Ecológica de Maracá) is an ecological station in

Boa Vista, Roraima Boa Vista (, literally ''Good View''; figuratively "Fairview") is the capital of the Brazilian state of Roraima. Situated on the western bank of the Branco River, the city lies from Brazil's border with Venezuela. It is the only Brazilian stat ...

, Brazil. It consists of a large island in the Uraricoera River that is covered by Amazon rainforest.

History

The Maracá Ecological Station was established by presidential decree on 2 June 1981. The station consists of the island of Maracá between the Santa Rosa and Maracá branches of the

Uraricoera River The Uraricoera River (Uraricuera) is a river of Roraima state in northern Brazil. The confluence of the Uraricoera and Takutu Rivers forms the Branco River. Basin The river drains the Guayanan Highlands moist forests ecoregion. Part of the river' ...

in the municipality of

, with an area of . The Maracá Ecological Station now covers . It was established with the purpose of preserving a representative sample of the Amazon ecosystem. A grid of trails was designed by the Roraima regional center of PPBio, and completed in March 2006.

Status

As of 2009 the Ecological Station was a "strict nature reserve" under

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 part ...

Ia, with a terrestrial area of . It is administered by the

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 ...

. The conservation unit is supported by the

Amazon Region Protected Areas Program The Amazon Region Protected Areas Program (ARPA; pt, Programa Áreas Protegidas da Amazônia) is a joint initiative sponsored by government and non-government agencies to expand protection of the Amazon rainforest in Brazil. Foundation The Amaz ...

. It would be included in the proposed

Northern Amazon Ecological Corridor The Northern Amazon Ecological Corridor ( pt, Corredor Norte da Amazônia) is a proposed ecological corridor connecting conservation units and indigenous territories in the north of the Amazon rainforest of Brazil. Background The first version ...

. The

White-bellied spider monkey The white-bellied spider monkey (''Ateles belzebuth''), also known as the white-fronted or long-haired spider monkey, is an Endangered species, endangered species of spider monkey, a type of New World monkey. It is found in the north-western Amaz ...

(''Ateles belzebuth'') is a protected species in the reserve.

References

Sources

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Maraca Ecological Station Ecological stations of Brazil Boa Vista, Roraima Protected areas of Roraima Protected areas established in 1981 1981 establishments in Brazil