Last week (July 22), the Brazilian minister of the Environment, Carlos Minc, handed in to Brazil's O Boticário Foundation for Nature Protection a certificate which establishes the new Serra do Tombador Private Natural Heritage Reserve (Reserva Particular do Patrimônio Natural/RPPN) in Cavalcante (state of Goiás), 20 kilometres away from the Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park.
This proximity to the park and to other protected areas helps the RPPN make up an important "ecological corridor", contributing to the reproductive cycle of plants and animals in the region. The reserve - which belongs to the foundation and is the company's second RPPN - will protect 8.730,45 hectares of the Cerrado biome. The area is equivalent to around 10% of reserves in this Brazilian biome.
All in all, there are 132 RPPNs in the Cerrado. It is the second Brazilian biome in terms of RPPNs (79.396,83 hectares), second only to the Pantanal (244.376,10 hectares). The Ministry of the Environment - through the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio) - created 21 similar reserves similar to this one in the first months of this year. Brazil presently harbours 524 RPPNs, or 484.675,23 hectares of land protected by private owners.
"I am very proud and honoured to be handing in this certificate, because I know how hard it is to create an RPPN", said Minc. According to the minister, this type of nature reserve is essential to the preservation of Brazilian biomes. RPPNs are created by landowners who do not lose their right to the land, but thus perpetually guarantee the preservations of its fauna and flora.
Redes Sociais