Yesterday, June 5, on World Environment Day, the Brazilian government created three new conservation units and a national park in Brazil.
The decrees were signed by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva as part of the launching of a package of measures for the sustainable development of the Amazon region.
The new units raise the total of protected areas in the officially delimited Amazon region (Amazônia Legal) to 48.3 million hectares, equivalent to 9.6% of the region.
The Juruena National Park, which extends from southwestern Amazonas to northern Mato Grosso, contains 1.9 million hectares and is the country’s fourth largest national park.
The three new conservation units are the Terra Grande-Pracuúba and Rio Iriri extractive reserves in Pará, in the Amazon region, and the Canavieiras conservation unit in Bahia.
ABr