This group currently co-manages the Mamirauá and Amaña Reserves, covering a combined total of 3.5 million hectares of flooded tropical forest and wetlands in the heart of the Amazon rainforest. Founded in 1992, the initiative is an environmental policy and research body that brings together academic institutes and local communities in the sustainable management of the area's wetland resources. The results of the initiative's work led to the declaration of Mamirauá as a "Sustainable Development Reserve" in 1996 – a new category of protected area under Brazil's National System of Conservation Units.

Since 1999, the Mamirauá Institute for Sustainable Development has monitored a vast range of ecological, social, and economic indicators. These data inform ongoing analysis of the effectiveness of community-based resource use plans, and have been used to demonstrate the efficacy of community-based management to government partners and donors.

 

Key Facts 

Equator Prize Winner: 2004

Founded: 1992

Location: Central Amazon Conservation Complex

Beneficiaries: 45 settlement communities

Biodiversity: Mamirauá Reserve and Amaña Reserve

 

Case Study

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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