The Fazendinha Environmental Protection Area ( pt, Área de Proteção Ambiental da Fazendinha) is an environmental protection area in the state of

Amapá Amapá () is one of the 26 states of Brazil. It is in the northern region of Brazil. It is the second least populous state and the eighteenth largest by area. Located in the far northern part of the country, Amapá is bordered clockwise by Fr ...

, Brazil. There has been ongoing conflict between the residents and the state agency responsible for preserving the environment and developing the ecotourism potential.

Location

The Fazendinha Environmental Protection Area (APA) is in the municipality of

Macapá Macapá () is a city in Brazil with a population of 512,902 (2020 estimation). It is the capital of Amapá state in the country's North Region. It is located on the northern channel of the Amazon River near its mouth on the Atlantic Ocean. The c ...

, Amapá. It has an area of . It is on the north shore of the mouth of the

Amazon River The Amazon River (, ; es, Río Amazonas, pt, Rio Amazonas) in South America is the largest river by discharge volume of water in the world, and the disputed longest river system in the world in comparison to the Nile. The headwaters of t ...

on the border with the municipality of

Santana Santana may refer to: Transportation * Volkswagen Santana, an automobile * Santana Cycles, manufacturer of tandem bicycles * Santana Motors, a former Spanish automobile manufacturer Boats * Santana 20, an American sailboat design by W. D. Sch ...

, from the state capital, Macapá. The APA lies between the Salvador Diniz highway to the north and the Amazon river to the south, bounded by the Igarapé Paxicu to the east and the Igarapé Fortaleza to the west.

Environment

Average annual temperature is about . The APA is scenically beautiful, has diverse fauna and flora and has potential as a quality ecotourism destination. The main ecosystem is '' Várzea'' forest, estuarine wetlands that are often flooded. Flora includes açaí palm (''Euterpe oleracea''), ''

Pentaclethra macroloba ''Pentaclethra macroloba'' is a large and common leguminous tree in the genus ''Pentaclethra'' native to the wet tropical areas of the northern Neotropics, which can form monoculture, monocultural stands in some seasonally flooded habitats. It ha ...

'', ''

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 ...

'', '' Carapa guianensis'',

liana A liana is a long- stemmed, woody vine that is rooted in the soil at ground level and uses trees, as well as other means of vertical support, to climb up to the canopy in search of direct sunlight. The word ''liana'' does not refer to a ta ...

bromeliad The Bromeliaceae (the bromeliads) are a family of monocot flowering plants of about 80 genera and 3700 known species, native mainly to the tropical Americas, with several species found in the American subtropics and one in tropical west Africa, ...

s and

orchid Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowering ...

s. There is a varied fauna of birds, reptiles and fish.

History

The area was made the Macapa Forest Park in 1974. The Fazendinha Biological Reserve was created by state decree 020 of 14 December 1984 to fully preserve and protect the ecosystem and natural resources of the area. Law 873 of 31 December 2004 created the APA in the same area, with the objective of reconciling environmental protection with rational and sustainable economic use of natural resources by the local population. Law 873 did not mention the former biological reserve. The APA is part of the

Amapá Biodiversity Corridor The Amapá Biodiversity Corridor ( pt, Corredor de Biodiversidade do Amapá) is an ecological corridor in the state of Amapá, Brazil. It provides a degree of integrated management for conservation units and other areas covering over 70% of the ...

, created in 2003.

Population

The 2004 census recorded 267 families in the APA with a total of 1,332 people in 192 houses. Most are illiterate or poorly educated. The first report by the Amapá Secretariat of the Environment (SEMA) on the process of occupation, use and degradation of the biological reserve was issued in 1995, updated in 1998, 2003 and 2009. A 2011 thesis said the APA was still the scene of land disputes and conflicts over socio-environmental issues. A study published in 2012 concluded that there was still no well-defined framework for environmental management in the APA.

Notes

Sources

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fazendinha Environmental Protection Area Environmental protection areas of Brazil Protected areas of Amapá 2004 establishments in Brazil