Murici Pact Signed: May 19, 2004
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© Edson Endrigo/Birdlife The endangered Alagoas Antwren is confined to the Atlantic Forest of northeast Brazil. |
On May 19, 2004, Nature Conservancy and seven other international and Brazilian conservation organizations signed the Murici Pact to safeguard the future of what the American Bird Conservancy describes as "probably the most important place for bird conservation in the Western Hemisphere". Partners co-signing the Murici Pact are WWF-Brazil, BirdLife International, Conservation International-Brazil, the Center for Studies and Environmental Research of Northeast Brazil (CEPAN), SOS Atlantic Forest Foundation, the Friends of the Atlantic Forest Biosphere Reserve Institute (IA-RBMA), and the Northeastern Society of Ecology (SNE).
Located in Brazil’s Alagoas State, Murici is one of the largest remaining forest patches in the northeastern Atlantic Forest. Murici has gained worldwide attention in recent years because of its status as the last remaining woodland for several globally endangered bird species including six endangered and five critically-endangered.
Deforestation has been the primary source of pressure on Murici, caused decades ago by large landowners establishing sugarcane plantations in the region. In recent years, as sugarcane productivity has declined, much of the land has been converted to low-productivity cattle pasture and agriculture. Furthermore, Murici’s forests have fallen victim to the illegal logging of hardwoods, hunting and poaching; some of the area’s extraordinarily rare birds, in particular, are targets for the illegal pet market.
The Conservancy, together with its partners, signed the Murici Pact with the aim of creating and implementing an integrated action plan to promote the conservation of the Atlantic Forest of northeast Brazil. The first efforts will focus on the consolidation of the 15,000-acre Murici Ecological Station. Although created by the Brazilian government in 2001 and classified as the strictest protection conservation unit, Murici has essentially existed as a "paper park", with little real enforcement of legal protections and still with the presence of private owners within the area. The Pact also seeks to improve the quality of life of local communities, while protecting biodiversity and restoring degraded areas.
“The Alliance of eight major conservation organizations demonstrates an urgent need to take action to protect and restore one of the most important biodiversity areas on the planet”, says Miguel Calmon, Director of the Conservancy’s Atlantic Forest Program.
This Alliance is an innovative initiative with the potential to catalyze other private and public investments in the area, as well as to accelerate the actions of biodiversity conservation in the last fragments of the Atlantic Forest of northeast Brazil.
