The Lago do Cuniã Extractive Reserve () is an

extractive reserve An extractive reserve ( 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, fishing and harvesting wild pla ...

in the state of

Rondônia Rondônia () is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the northern subdivision of the country (central-western part). It is bordered by Acre (state), Acre in the west, Amazonas, Brazil, Amazonas in the north, Mato Grosso in the east, and Bo ...

, Brazil.

Location

The Lago do Cuniã Extractive Reserve is in the municipality of

Porto Velho Porto Velho (, ''Old Port'') is the capital (political), capital of the Brazilian States of Brazil, state of Rondônia, in the upper Amazon River basin. The population is 460,434 people (as of the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, ...

, Rondônia. It has an area of . The reserve is on the left (west) bank of the

Madeira River The Madeira River ( ) is a major waterway in South America. It is estimated to be in length, while the Madeira-Mamoré is estimated near or in length depending on the measuring party and their methods. The Madeira is the biggest tributary of ...

. It adjoins the Cuniã Ecological Station to the east and north and the Rio Madeira Sustainable Yield Forest (''Floresta de Rendimento Sustentado'') to the north and west. The reserve contains the floodplains of large and small rivers, surrounded by fluvial terraces. The relief is one of soft, rounded hills. Altitude ranges from . The reserve drains into the Madeira River. The Cuniã Lake (Lago do Cuniã), after which the reserve is named, has an area of about and is fed by stream originating in the reserve.

Environment

Temperatures range from with an average of . Average annual rainfall is . The vegetation is mainly savanna-rainforest contact and pioneer fluvial forest. The reserve has rich fauna, with birds like

great egret The great egret (''Ardea alba''), also known as the common egret, large egret, great white egret, or great white heron, is a large, widely distributed egret. The four subspecies are found in Asia, Africa, the Americas, and southern Europe. R ...

(''Ardea alba''),

jabiru The jabiru ( or ; ''Jabiru mycteria'') is a large stork found in the Americas from Mexico to Argentina, except west of the Andes. It sometimes wanders into the United States, usually in Texas, but has also been reported in Mississippi, Oklahoma ...

(''Jabiru mycteria''), maguari stork (''Ciconia maguari'') and

Neotropic cormorant The neotropic cormorant or olivaceous cormorant (''Nannopterum brasilianum'') is a medium-sized cormorant found throughout the American tropics and subtropics, from the middle Rio Grande and the Gulf and Californian coasts of the United States so ...

(''Phalacrocorax brasilianus'') and large animals such as

black caiman The black caiman (''Melanosuchus niger'') is a crocodilian reptile endemic to South America. With a maximum length of around and a mass of over , it is the largest living species of the family Alligatoridae, and the third-largest crocodilian in ...

(''Melanosuchus niger'') and

porpoise Porpoises () are small Oceanic dolphin, dolphin-like cetaceans classified under the family Phocoenidae. Although similar in appearance to dolphins, they are more closely related to narwhals and Beluga whale, belugas than to the Oceanic dolphi ...

. As of 2001 the reserve was home to 50 families with about 400 people whose main economic activity was fishing for food and for sale. Almost all preserve traditional artisan techniques, including the skill learned from the Indians of making canoes.

History

The Lago do Cuniã Extractive Reserve was created by federal decree 3.238 of 10 November 1999, which was reworded on 9 May 2000. 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 part ...

VI (protected area with sustainable use of natural resources). Its basic objectives are to protect the livelihoods and culture of the traditional population and ensure the sustainable use of the natural resources. 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 a government agency under the administration of the Brazilian Ministry of the Environment. It is nam ...

(ICMBio). On 22 February 2002 lower limits were placed on fishing related to minimum size and period of fishing. The deliberative council was created on 20 June 2006. 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 imp ...

area of influence. These are the

Abufari Biological Reserve Abufari Biological Reserve () 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 the Amazon biome in the municipal ...

, Cuniã Ecological Station, Nascentes do Lago Jari and

Mapinguari Mapinguari or mapinguary are mythical monstrous jungle-dwelling spirits from Brazilian folklore. They are said to protect the Amazon rainforest and its animals. According to folklore, when humans grow too old they can transform into man-eating M ...

national parks, Balata-Tufari,

Humaitá Humaitá is a List of cities and towns in Paraguay, town and Districts of Paraguay, district 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 186 ...

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 10 July 2013.

Notes

Sources

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lago do Cunia Extractive Reserve Extractive reserves of Brazil 1999 establishments in Brazil Protected areas of Rondônia