The Médio Purus Extractive Reserve ( pt, Reserva Extrativista do Médio Purus) is an

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 ...

in the state of Amazonas, Brazil.

Location

The Médio Purus Extractive Reserve is divided between the municipalities of

Lábrea Lábrea () is the southernmost municipality in the Brazilian state of Amazonas. Economy The population of the Lábrea municipality was 46,882 as of 2020. Its area is . This makes it the sixth largest municipality in Amazonas by area and the ten ...

(91.41%),

Pauini Pauini is a municipality located in the Brazilian state of Amazonas. The population of Pauini was 19,522 in 2020. Its area is . The municipality contains the Purus National Forest, created in 1988. It holds 8% of the Mapiá-Inauini National For ...

(8.26%) and

Tapauá Tapauá is a Municipalities of Brazil, municipality located in the States of Brazil, Brazilian state of Amazonas (Brazilian state), Amazonas. Its population was 17,015 (2020) and its area is 89,324 km2, making it the third largest municipalit ...

(0.33%) in the state of Amazonas. It has an area of . The reserve extends along the

Purus River The Purus River (Portuguese: ''Rio Purus''; Spanish: ''Río Purús'') is a tributary of the Amazon River in South America. Its drainage basin is , and the mean annual discharge is . The river shares its name with the Alto Purús National Park and ...

from just below the town of Pauini to the west, down to the town of Lábrea to the east. The Purus River has muddy waters and often shifts its bed. The reserve is largely surrounded by indigenous territories. The Canutama Extractive Reserve is downstream from the Médio Purus Extractive Reserve. The

Iquiri National Forest Iquiri National Forest ( pt, Floresta Nacional do Iquiri) is a national forest in the state of Amazonas, Brazil. It is a sustainable use conservation unit, so harvesting of forest resources such as timber is allowed in accordance with a managemen ...

lies to the south. Temperatures range from with an average of . Vegetation includes dense alluvial rainforest and dense tropical lowland rainforest. Tree species include Piranhea trifoliata,

Brazil nut The Brazil nut (''Bertholletia excelsa'') is a South American tree in the family Lecythidaceae, and it is also the name of the tree's commercially harvested edible seeds. It is one of the largest and longest-lived trees in the Amazon rainforest. ...

(''Bertholletia excelsa''), rubber tree (''

Hevea brasiliensis ''Hevea brasiliensis'', the Pará rubber tree, ''sharinga'' tree, seringueira, or most commonly, rubber tree or rubber plant, is a flowering plant belonging to the spurge family Euphorbiaceae Euphorbiaceae, the spurge family, is a large fami ...

''), ''

Hevea spruceana ''Hevea spruceana'' is a species of rubber tree in the genus ''Hevea'', belonging to the family Euphorbiaceae. It is native to the rainforests of northern Brazil and Guyana. It is named in honour of the English botanist Richard Spruce who spent ...

'' and ''

Parkia pendula ''Parkia pendula'' is a species of neotropical evergreen tree found throughout Central and South America.Hopkins, H.C., Parkia (Leguminosae: Mimosoideae). Flora Neotropica, 1986: p. 1-123. It is part of the ''Parkia'' genus, a group of flowering ...

''. The reserve is occupied by about 92 indigenous or riverine communities whose main economic activities are collection of forest products such as Brazil nuts, copaíba, andiroba, rubber, açaí, urucurí and bacaba, and sustainable fishing.

History

The reserve was created in response to a request to IBAMA in 2001 by the local extractive community association for the right to occupy the land and to expel communities that were degrading the environment. The Médio Purus Extractive Reserve was created by federal decree on 8 May 2008. 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 ...

(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 ...

VI (protected area with sustainable use of natural resources). It aims to protect the livelihoods of the traditional residents and ensure the use and conservation of renewable natural resources traditionally used by these communities. On 18 September 2008 the

Instituto Nacional de Colonização e Reforma Agrária The Instituto Nacional de Colonização e Reforma Agrária - INCRA (''National Institute for Colonization and Agrarian Reform'') is a federal government authority of the public administration of Brazil. INCRA administers the land reform issues. ...

(INCRA – National Institute for Colonisation and Agrarian Reform) recognized the reserve as supporting 900 families, who would qualify for

PRONAF The agriculture of Brazil is historically one of the principal bases of Brazil's economy. While its initial focus was on sugarcane, Brazil eventually became the world's largest exporter of coffee, soybeans, beef, and crop-based ethanol. The s ...

support. This was revised to 1,400 families of 30 December 2008. On 29 April 2010 INCRA and ICMBio agreed to incorporate into the reserve the rural properties named Seringal Quichiã, Seringal Parijós I and Seringal Parijós II, with a total area of . The deliberative council was established on 4 November 2010. 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 BR-319 is an federal highway that links Manaus, Amazonas to Porto Velho, Rondônia. The highway runs through a pristine part of the Amazon rainforest. It was opened by the military government in 1973 but soon deteriorated, and by 1988 was impassi ...

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 Cuniã Ecological Station ( pt, Estação Ecológica de Cuniã) is a strictly protected ecological station in the states of Amazonas and Rondônia, Brazil. It preserves an area of savannah parkland on the border of the Amazon rainforest. The cons ...

, 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,

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. ...

and Iquiri national forests, and the Lago do Capanã-Grande, Rio Ituxi, Médio Purus and Lago do Cuniã extractive reserves. The usage plan of the reserve was approved on 8 November 2012.

Notes

Sources

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Medio Purus Extractive Reserve Extractive reserves of Brazil 2008 establishments in Brazil Protected areas of Amazonas (Brazilian state)