In December 2003 Fauna & Flora International purchased an area of land in the Amazon. This was done in partnership with the Cristalino Ecological Foundation with funding from a private investment trust. The land purchase effectively secured the 184,000-hectare Cristalino State Park - one of the highest priority conservation areas in the Brazilian Amazon.
Cristalino's conservation status is due to its high levels of endemism, diversity of vegetation and habitats, and the urgent need for its protection given the pressure upon it from smallholders, loggers, large cattle ranching prospectors and soya bean plantation owners.
As a whole, the region’s exceptional biodiversity is due to it being situated in the transition zone between ‘cerrado’ grassland and the Amazon forest. It also lies between two of the Amazon’s major tributaries, which prevents the dispersal of certain species. These factors account for why it is one of the few places on Earth where animals such as the white-whiskered spider monkey Ateles marginatus can be found.
Fauna & Flora International has been working with local partners to protect the Cristalino State Park as a model of ecotourism. We have also been working with other groups to conserve the landscape area around it - the Teles Pires - Tapajos Corridor, now a key part of our work with Cool Earth that encourages sponsorship of corridor forest.
Fauna & Flora International is also working with Cool Earth to increase support for the Teles Pires - Tapajos Corridor through direct public involvement.
In late 2006 the State government of Mato Grosso voted to reduce the Cristalino park by 27,000 hectares, a threat narrowly averted by a concerted campaign by Cristalino’s supporters. Although the Ministerio Publico has ruled that any reduction of the park is illegal, it is clear that there are vested interests in Mato Grosso state where the park lies that do not consider the preservation of forest to be important. Fauna & Flora International and its partners will continue to monitor the situation to ensure that the Cristalino State Park remains protected. We will also continue to work with the Federal authorities towards the declaration of the Teles Pires – Tapajos Corridor.
£100 or $50 could enable us to tag a turtle with a microchip for a census. This is an example of what your money could do. Please make a donation of however much you can afford.
Our world-renowned conservation journal, Oryx, publishes research and academic papers and disseminates models of best practices. Receive Oryx by joining FFI today.
