The Trésor Regional Nature Reserve (

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

: ''Réserve naturelle régionale Trésor'') is a regional

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geologic ...

French Guiana French Guiana, or Guyane in French, is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France located on the northern coast of South America in the Guianas and the West Indies. Bordered by Suriname to the west ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. The reserve is adjacent to the national Kaw-Roura Marshland Nature Reserve on the flank of the Kaw Mountain. The reserve is located about 20 kilometres from

Roura Roura () is a commune of French Guiana, an overseas region and department of France located in South America. The city of Roura is bordered by Matoury and Montsinéry-Tonnegrande in the North, Kourou and Saint-Elie in the North West and Wes ...

Overview

The Trésor Regional Nature Reserve contains a variety of ecosystems ranging from mountain forest, marsh forest to savannah. The high mountain. is an obstacle to the

trade winds The trade winds or easterlies are permanent east-to-west prevailing winds that flow in the Earth's equatorial region. The trade winds blow mainly from the northeast in the Northern Hemisphere and from the southeast in the Southern Hemisphere ...

leading to a very high humidity resulting in an abundance of plant- and animal life. Over 1,100 plant species have identified as well as 101 mammals and 70 reptiles. A great number of butterflies can be seen in the reserve. Small forest areas at the base are home to rare and endemic plants like '' Vochysia neyratii'' and '' Astrocaryum rodreguiseii''. In 2006,

Cambior Cambior Inc. was a Canadian based international gold producer with operations, development projects and exploration activities in the Americas. Cambior's shares traded on the Toronto (TSX) and American (AMEX) stock exchanges under the symbol "CBJ" ...

was active in the region with a controversial

gold mining Gold mining is the extraction of gold by mining. Historically, mining gold from Alluvium, alluvial deposits used manual separation processes, such as gold panning. The expansion of gold mining to ores that are not on the surface has led to mor ...

project. The clearing of 30 km² of

old-growth forest An old-growth forest or primary forest is a forest that has developed over a long period of time without disturbance. Due to this, old-growth forests exhibit unique ecological features. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Natio ...

near camp Caïman triggered protests from environmental agencies and the

Palikur The Palikur are an Indigenous people located in the riverine areas of the Brazilian state of Amapá and in French Guiana, particularly in the south-eastern border region, on the north bank of the Oyapock River. The Palikur Nation, or ''naoné'', ...

Amerindians. On 30 January 2008, the President of France cancelled the project. On 12 February 2010, the

General Council of French Guiana The General Council of French Guiana ( French: ''Conseil général de la Guyane'') was the deliberative executive assembly of the French Department of French Guiana. (French Guiana was also a French region France is divided into eighteen ad ...

voted to protect the mountain and surrounding area as a regional nature reserve.

References

External links

Official website
(in French) * {{authority control Environment of French Guiana Protected areas of French Guiana Roura