Twenty three new species found in newly protected Amazon region.

02/04/2007 00:00:00 SEPTEMBER 2006. The Amapa State of Brazil has created the Amapa State Forest, a 5.7 million acre protected region of the Amazon, including some of the most pristine remaining Amazon forest. The Amapa forest is one of the most diverse areas in the world, including tropical forests, mangrove swamps, savannah, and wetlands. Recent scientific expeditions to the region, led by Conservation International (CI) and the Amapa State Institute for Research, found that the area has over 1,700 animals and plant species, including 430 birds, 104 amphibians, 124 reptiles and 127 mammals, 62 of which are bats. Amazingly 23 species are thought to be new to science, mostly fish, amphibians and reptiles, but including 1 mammal and 1 bird.

‘Brazil has raised the bar in terms of conservation commitment and has set a new global standard,’ said CI's vice president for science and Amazonia projects, Jose Maria Cardoso da Silva.

The State Forest of the Amapa will have a regulated production area that will allow a limited harvesting of both timber and non-timber products like vines and essential oils. Brazil has a huge system of protected areas, with nearly 270 federal reserves (Inc 57 national parks) and over 670 state reserves and numerous small municipal entities. Brazil’s overall protected areas total almost 125 million hectares, twice the size of France and a bit more.

The Amapa Biodiversity Corridor is a key component of the plans to conserve a vast swathe of the Amazon forest, including protected areas in Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana as well as the states of Para, Amazonas, and Roraima in Brazil. The region is the largest and most pristine tropical forest in the world, and one of the highest priorities of international conservation.

See more details about the work of Conservation International.