The Rio Negro Right Bank Environmental Protection Area ( pt, Área de Proteção Ambiental Margem Direita do Rio Negro) is an
Environmental protection area (APA) in the state of
Amazonas, Brazil.
Location

Parts of the Rio Negro Right Bank Environmental Protection Area lies in the municipalities of
Iranduba
Iranduba is a municipality located in the Brazilian state of Amazonas.
The population of Iranduba in 2020 was 49,011 and its area is 2,215 km², making it the smallest municipality in Amazonas in terms of area. It is located south and west ...
(21.17%),
Manacapuru
Manacapuru (''Munychapur'') is a municipality located in the Brazilian state of Amazonas.
Population
The population of Manacapuru was 98,502 (2020) and its area is 7,329 km². The city is one of the biggest in the state. It is located about ...
(18.96%) and
Novo Airão
Novo Airão (or New Airão) is a municipality located in the state of Amazonas in northern Brazil on the Rio Negro River about 180 km upstream of Manaus. Its population was 19,928 (2020) and its area is 37,771 km². The town is reacha ...
(59.87%) in the state of Amazonas.
It covers most of the land along the right (west) bank of the
Rio Negro from the mouth of the
Puduari River
The Puduari River ( pt, Rio Puduari) is a river in the state of Amazonas, Brazil. It is a tributary of the Rio Negro.
Course
The river runs in a northeast direction to join the right bank of the Rio Negro to the north of the town of Novo Airã ...
, which separates it from the
Rio Negro State Park North Section
The Rio Negro State Park North Section ( pt, Parque Estadual do Rio Negro Setor Norte) is a state park in the state of Amazonas, Brazil.
It protects an area of Amazon rainforest to the west of the Rio Negro.
Location
The Rio Negro State Park Nor ...
south to the point where it joins the
Solimões River
Solimões () is the name often given to upper stretches of the Amazon River in Brazil from its confluence with the Rio Negro upstream to the border of Peru.
Geography
The Amazon / Solimões river just above the confluence of the Solimões and ...
to form 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 ...
at
Manaus
Manaus () is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Amazonas. It is the seventh-largest city in Brazil, with an estimated 2020 population of 2,219,580 distributed over a land area of about . Located at the east center of the s ...
, including part of the left bank of the Solimões. It does not include the section of the right bank covered by the
Rio Negro Sustainable Development Reserve
The Rio Negro Sustainable Development Reserve ( pt, Reserva de Desenvolvimento Sustentável do Rio Negro) is a sustainable development reserve (RDS) in the state of Amazonas (Brazilian state), Brazil.
Location
Parts of the Rio Negro Sustainable ...
, or the surroundings of the town of Novo Airão.
The section from Manaus to Novo Airão is mainly accessed by boat or float plane.
There is also access along the AM-340 highway.
The APA has an area of .
Environment
The Rio Negro Right Bank Environmental Protection Area is in the central Amazonia corridor and is part of the
Lower Rio Negro Mosaic
The Lower Rio Negro Mosaic ( pt, Mosaico do Baixo Rio Negro is a protected area mosaic in the state of Amazonas, Brazil. It coordinates between eleven conservation units of different types in the Amazon rainforest to the northwest of the state ca ...
.
It protects the extensive forests of the Rio Negro in the Central Amazon Plain.
The APA is drained by white water and black water rivers in the interfluvial region of the Rio Negro and Solimões basins, including
várzea lowland areas and higher terra firma.
In the section north of Novo Airão the forests are almost intact, but further south there are degraded areas in the municipality of Iranduba due to the proximity of Manaus.
There are over 40 species of mammals including the endangered
jaguar
The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus '' Panthera'' native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the largest cat species in the Americas and the th ...
(''Panthera onca'') and
giant otter
The giant otter or giant river otter (''Pteronura brasiliensis'') is a South American carnivorous mammal. It is the longest member of the weasel family, Mustelidae, a globally successful group of predators, reaching up to . Atypical of musteli ...
(''Pteronura brasiliensis'').
There are more than 300 species of birds, including the endangered
black-and-white hawk-eagle
The black-and-white hawk-eagle (''Spizaetus melanoleucus'', formerly ''Spizastur melanoleucus'') is a bird of prey species in the eagle and hawk family (Accipitridae). It is found throughout a large part of tropical America, from southern Mexic ...
(''Spizaetus melanoleucus'') and
harpy eagle
The harpy eagle (''Harpia harpyja'') is a neotropical species of eagle. It is also called the American harpy eagle to distinguish it from the Papuan eagle, which is sometimes known as the New Guinea harpy eagle or Papuan harpy eagle. It is the ...
(''Harpia harpyja'').
The APA is home to many species of frogs, lizards and snakes, and several of turtles and alligators, including the endangered
black caiman
The black caiman (''Melanosuchus niger'') is a species of large crocodilian and is the largest species of the family Alligatoridae. It is a carnivorous reptile that lives along slow-moving rivers, lakes, seasonally flooded savannas of the Amazon ...
(''Melanosuchus niger'').
Over 100 species of fish have been identified, including the endangered ''
Arapaima gigas
''Arapaima gigas'', also known as pirarucu, is a species of arapaima native to the basin of the Amazon River. Once believed to be the sole species in the genus, it is among the largest freshwater fish. The species is an obligate air-breather, so ...
''.
People
There are 30 communities in the APA, mainly engaged in subsistence fishing but also practising commercial fishing, farming, livestock raising and manufacture of flour, canoes and boats, brooms and handicrafts.
The main commercial fish are the
Semaprochilodus taeniurus
''Semaprochilodus'' is a genus of South American freshwater fish in the family Prochilodontidae. They have sometimes been included in the genus ''Prochilodus'' instead. Of the six species, three are from the Amazon Basin, two from the Orinoco Ba ...
and
Semaprochilodus insignis
The kissing prochilodus or flag-tailed prochilodus (''Semaprochilodus insignis'') is a species of South American freshwater fish in the family Prochilodontidae. It is native to central and western parts of the Amazon basin. It is migratory, mo ...
.
The APA has several archaeological sites.
The villages of Paricatuba and Acajatuba are tourist attractions.
History
The Rio Negro Right Bank APA was created by Amazonas state governor decree 16.498 of 2 April 1995.
State law 2646 of 22 May 2001 modified the limits of the Rio Negro State Park
North Section and
South Section, and the
Rio Negro Left Bank and Right Bank APAs.
The Rio Negro Right Bank APA, Puduari - Solimões Section, now had an area of .
It became part of the
Central Amazon Ecological Corridor
The Central Amazon Ecological Corridor ( pt, Corredor Ecológico Central da Amazônia) is an ecological corridor in the state of Amazonas, Brazil, that connects a number of conservation units in the Amazon rainforest. The objective is to mainta ...
, established in 2002.
The limits of the APA were again altered by state law 3355 of 26 December 2008.
On 9 September 2014 a working group was established to review the limits of the Puduari-Solimões section of the Margem Direita do Rio Negro Environmental Protection Area and the Rio Negro State Park North Section to compensate for land used to create the new campus for the
Amazonas State University
The Amazonas State University ( pt, Universidade do Estado do Amazonas, UEA) is a Brazilian public university operated by the state of Amazonas, located in Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil. It was established in 2001 by a state law that turned the Univer ...
.
Notes
Sources
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{{authority control
1995 establishments in Brazil
Environmental protection areas of Brazil
Protected areas of Amazonas (Brazilian state)