The Roraima National Forest ( pt, Floresta Nacional de Roraima) is a
national forest in the state of
Roraima, Brazil.
History
The Roraima National Forest and
Amazonas National Forest
The Amazonas National Forest ( pt, Floresta Nacional do Amazonas) is a national forest in the state of Amazonas, Brazil.
Location
The Amazonas National Forest is in the municipalities of Barcelos and Santa Isabel do Rio Negro in the state of ...
were created by President José Sarney in 1989.
The Roraima National Forest was created by decree nº 97545 of 1 March 1989 and covered of the
Amazon biome.
This had the effect of dividing the territory of the
Yanomami
The Yanomami, also spelled Yąnomamö or Yanomama, are a group of approximately 35,000 indigenous people who live in some 200–250 villages in the Amazon rainforest on the border between Venezuela and Brazil.
Etymology
The ethnonym ''Yanomami' ...
people into several separate areas.
In 1990 three gold mining reserves were created within the Roraima National Forest.
The Yanomami Indigenous Territory was demarcated in 1992 in the lead up to the
Earth Summit
The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), also known as the Rio Conference or the Earth Summit (Portuguese: ECO92), was a major United Nations conference held in Rio de Janeiro from June 3 to June 14, 1992.
Earth Su ...
in
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...
.
The indigenous territory was created on 25 May 1992 with an area of , and it was thought that this territory completely covered the national forest area.
This was followed by a vigorous international campaign in support of the Yanomami people.
The gold mines were closed and the miners removed.
In an indigenous territory the indigenous people have the exclusive right of use according to their customs and traditions.
Although technically the Roraima National Forest remained, exploitation of the forest would violate these rights.
In 2001
IBAMA
Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources ( pt, Instituto Brasileiro do Meio Ambiente e dos Recursos Naturais Renováveis, IBAMA) is the Brazilian Ministry of the Environment's administrative arm. IBAMA supports anti-d ...
realized that 5% of the forest, or , had been left out of the indigenous territory, and decided to repossess the unit.
However, in the mid-1990s two settlements, Samaúma and Vila Nova, had taken , leaving unclaimed.
To regularize the situation, the boundaries were revised by law 12058 of 13 October 2009, and the forest now has an area of .
The resized national forest now excludes the indigenous territory.
Location
The Roraima National Forest is in the municipalities of
Alto Alegre and
Mucajaí
Mucajaí () is a municipality located in the midwest of the state of Roraima in Brazil. Its population is 18,172 (2020) and its area is 12,461 km².
Mucajaí started as Colônia Agrícola Fernando Costa, an agricultural colony, in 1951. In 1 ...
of the state of Roraima.
It adjoins the
Yanomami Indigenous Territory to the west.
Average annual rainfall is .
Temperatures range from with an average of .
The climate is tropical rainy in the eastern sector and tropical rainy monsoon on the west.
The terrain is undulating with hills that stand out from the surrounding land.
The forest contains parts of the
Mucajaí
Mucajaí () is a municipality located in the midwest of the state of Roraima in Brazil. Its population is 18,172 (2020) and its area is 12,461 km².
Mucajaí started as Colônia Agrícola Fernando Costa, an agricultural colony, in 1951. In 1 ...
,
Apiaú and
Uraricoera sub-basins of the
Branco River basin.
In the Mucajaí sub-basin there is small farming and extensive livestock raising.
There are also stretches of seasonal forest and dense rainforest in rugged terrain.
The Apiaú is a right tributary of the Mucajaí and delimits the southern boundary of the national forest where it meets the Yanomami Indigenous Territory.
A small part of the north of the national forest is in the Uraricoera basin, an area of extensive cattle ranching with some subsistence and semi-commercial farming.
Conservation
The Roraima National Forest 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 ...
IV (habitat/species management area), with the purpose of supporting sustainable multiple use of forest resources and scientific research, with emphasis on methods for sustainable exploitation of native forests.
The conservation unit 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 ...
.
Notes
Sources
*
*
*
*
*
*
{{authority control
National forests of Brazil
Protected areas of Roraima
Amazon basin
1989 establishments in Brazil
Protected areas established in 1989