Brazil has announced the establishment of the Tumucumaque National Park in the north of the country 鈥� the largest tropical forest park in the world.
The park covers a remote and mountainous area of the Amazon. At 39,000 square kilometres it is double the size of Wales, and marginally bigger than the current record holder 鈥� the Salonga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo in Africa.
鈥淭his one is a biggie,鈥� says Sandra Charity, WWF鈥檚 head of Latin American conservation in the UK. 鈥淚t鈥檚 hugely significant.鈥�
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The park covers one per cent of the Amazon forest in Brazil. It is the first to protect a unique 鈥榚co-region鈥� called Guyana moist forest. WWF has identified 220 different eco-regions globally as conservation targets.
鈥淭hese are the most special places on the planet that we really, really must conserve,鈥� says Charity.
The area contains endangered species, such as the harpy eagle, jaguar and spider monkey, which are all on the International Conservation Union鈥檚 red list of endangered species.
But Charity says that the region is so remote that scientists have very little information about it. 鈥淭he truth is they don鈥檛 know what new species might be out there,鈥� she says.
Government pledge
In 1998, the Brazilian government pledged to conserve ten per cent of its Amazon forests. At the time, protected areas covered just three per cent of forests. The new park takes the total to about 4.5 per cent.
The pledge has led to the Amazon Region Protected Areas programme, a project involving WWF, the World Bank, the Global Environment Facility and the Brazilian government.
At the World Summit in Johannesburg next week, these partners will commit to raising US$140 million between them over the next ten years to fund national parks in Brazil.
The money will go into a trust fund, which should finance protected areas indefinitely.
Extremely remote
Paying for officials to police illegal activities such as logging and poaching will be essential if countries are to successfully conserve biodiversity, says Charity. 鈥淭hey are very good at creating protected areas,鈥� but not so good at implementing protective strategies, she says.
Tumucumaque is extremely remote and difficult to access, so it has few problems with poaching. However, there is some small-scale mining of the tin ore cassiterite, which the park authorities will try to stop.
But there are no indigenous tribes in the park so conservationists will not have to balance protecting biodiversity with the needs of local people.