The Rio Urubu State Forest () is a

state forest A state forest or national forest is a forest that is administered or protected by a sovereign state, sovereign or federated state, or territory (country subdivision), territory. Background State forests are forests that are Administration (gov ...

in the state of Amazonas, Brazil.

Location

The Rio Urubu State Forest is in the municipality of Rio Preto da Eva, Amazonas. It has an areas of . The forest is about north of

Manaus Manaus () is the List of capitals of subdivisions of Brazil, capital and largest city of the States of Brazil, Brazilian state of Amazonas (Brazilian state), Amazonas. It is the List of largest cities in Brazil, seventh-largest city in Brazil, w ...

, east of highway

BR-174 BR-174 is a federal highway of Brazil. The road connects Cáceres to Pacaraima on the Venezuelan border. It is the only road connection of the state of Roraima with the rest of the country. 458 kilometres are under construction, and there is n ...

and south of AM-240. The Caverna do Maroaga Environmental Protection Area is to the north, and the Biological Dynamics of Forest Fragments Project Area of Relevant Ecological Interest is to the south. The Urubu River forms the northeast boundary of the forest.

History

The Rio Urubu State Forest was created by state decree 23.993 of 22 December 2003. Objectives were to manage use of natural resources, maintain and protect water resources and biodiversity, recover areas of degraded land, conduct scientific research and environmental education, and support sustainable development of natural resources in the surrounding areas. The forest became part of the

Central Amazon Ecological Corridor The Central Amazon Ecological Corridor () 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 maintain genetic connectivity between the protected ...

, created in 2002.

Environment

The forest is in the interfluvial region between the Rio Negro and the

Uatumã River The Uatumã River (sometimes spelled Uatamã) is a river flowing through the state of Amazonas in Brazil. It is a northern tributary of the Amazon River, and known for its extensive peacock bass population. It is a blackwater river. The river ...

. About half of the terrain is slopes cut by streams. Features include extensive areas of

buriti ''Mauritia flexuosa'', known as the moriche palm, ''ité'' palm, ''ita'', ''buriti'', ''muriti'', ''miriti'' (Brazil), ''canangucho'' (Colombia), ''morete or acho'' (Ecuador), ''palma real'' (Bolivia), or ''aguaje'' (Peru), is a palm tree. It gro ...

palms in the Urubu River floodplain, rapids and waterfalls of great scenic beauty. Vegetation is mostly intact primary terra firma rainforest, with trees up to tall. The area is among the most diverse in tree species of all tropical forests in the world. Common tree species are ''

Couroupita guianensis ''Couroupita guianensis'', known by a variety of common names including cannonball tree, is a deciduous tree in the flowering plant family Lecythidaceae. It is native to lowland tropical rainforests of Central and South America, from Costa Rica, ...

'', ''

Dinizia excelsa ''Dinizia excelsa'' is a South American Canopy (biology), canopy-Rainforest#Emergent layer, emergent tropical rainforest tree species in the family Fabaceae, native to primarily Brazil and Guyana. In Portuguese it is known as Angelim Vermelho, An ...

'', ''

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, originally native to the Amazon basin, but is now p ...

'', ''

Aniba rosaeodora ''Aniba rosaeodora'', also known as pau-rosa, is a species of Magnoliid tree in the family Lauraceae. Often confused as ''rosewood,'' the plant doesn't grow on any tree of the genus '' Dalbergia''. It grows in parts of the tropical rainforest o ...

'', ''

Licaria brasiliensis ''Licaria'' is a flowering plant genus in the family Lauraceae, native to Central America and South America. It is a Neotropical genus with around 80 species. Overview ''Licaria'' is a Neotropical genus consisting of about 80 species distributed ...

'', ''

Aniba canelilla ''Aniba'' is an American neotropical flowering plant genus in the family Lauraceae. They are present in low and mountain cloud forest in Caribbean islands, Central America, and northern to central South America. Description They are shrubs o ...

'' and ''

Dipteryx odorata ''Dipteryx odorata'' (commonly known as "cumaru", "kumaru", or "Brazilian teak") is a species of flowering tree in the pea family, Fabaceae. The tree is native to Northern South America and is semi-deciduous. Its seed In botany, a seed ...

''. The rich fauna includes rare species such as

harpy eagle The harpy eagle (''Harpia harpyja'') is a large Neotropical realm, 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, New Guin ...

(''Harpia harpyja''),

grey-winged trumpeter The grey-winged trumpeter (''Psophia crepitans'') is a member of a small family of birds, the Psophiidae. It is found in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela. Taxonomy The grey-winged trumpeter was f ...

(''Psophia crepitans''),

Guyanan red howler The Guyanan red howler (''Alouatta macconnelli'') is a species of howler monkey, a type of New World monkey, native to Suriname, Guyana, Trinidad, French Guiana, Venezuela and Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is ...

(''Alouatta macconnelli'') and

red-handed tamarin The golden-handed tamarin (''Saguinus midas''), also known as the red-handed tamarin or Midas tamarin, is a New World monkey belonging to the family Callitrichidae. Distribution and habitat This species is native to wooded areas north of the Am ...

(''Saguinus midas''). There are three settlements in the forest. The forest has a detailed plan for a special economic zone with potential activities including large-scale timber extraction by private companies or local communities, extraction of non-timber products, with the possibility of a community management model, ecotourism, scientific research and conservation.

Notes

Sources

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rio Urubu State Forest State forests of Brazil Protected areas of Amazonas (Brazilian state) 2003 establishments in Brazil