Central Amazon Conservation Complex

Central Amazon Conservation Complex
Photo provided by Michael Ayers.

The Central Amazon Conservation Complex comprises a landscape of rivers, islands, lakes and forests with high biodiversity.

Specific species include the varzea forest, electric fish, river dolphins, and manatees.

The site includes the following four parks:

  • Jaú National Park
  • Amana Sustainable Development Reserve
  • Demonstration area of the Mamirauá Sustainable Development Reserve
  • Anavilhanas Ecological Station
2 Locations 2 Reviews 12 Ratings 34 Connections 38 Visitors

Map of Central Amazon Conservation Complex

Load map

Community Reviews

Write a review

Zoë Sheng

Chinese-Canadian - 05-Jun-22 -

Central Amazon Conservation Complex by Zoë Sheng

Amazon, heart of the planet, you'd think it's an instant 5 star visit... Not so much. The inscribed areas are rather poor, especially the ecological centers where they feed dolphins as a tourist attraction. To truly enter protected areas you will need to take a boat cruise into Jaú National Park. That means taking a 3h drive from Manaus, then traveling further in for at least a day and finally reach the ranger station.

The cruises are also super tourist driven, so I can't recommend them. Macaw watching, cayman catching, piranha fishing, visit to ruins (read: rubber baron remains, not exactly native) and shopping with a local tribe: Portuguese immigrants, not indigenous at all. To get anything more you will need to find a deep trekking tour instead and while I'm sure the Amazon is great, other places to see them are much better visits.

 

João Aender

Brazil - 25-Feb-13 -

During carnival this year, unlike most Brazilians, I opted not to party, but, instead, to reach Central Amazon Conservation Complex, the WHS Brazil dedicated to its largest bioma.

First stop is Manaus, a large 2-million people city situated in the heart of Amazon forest. After that, with a rental car one must drive 200 km (paved roads in good condition) to a town called Novo Airão, from where you can easily visit the Anavilhanas National Park (it is no longer an Ecological Station since 2008). Anavilhanas comprises an average of 400 river islands and islets, depending on the dry or wet season. All of them are located within the Rio Negro (Black River), the largest blackwater river in the world and one of the most important tributary rivers of Amazon River.

Truly amazing! Rio Negro has pure and tepid waters, black-tea-like coloured, very good for bathing. If you have luck, one might sight a "boto rosa" (pink freshwater dolphin), one of the symbols of Amazon forest.

From Novo Airão, one can also reach another protected area of the WHS: Jaú National Park. It is the largest national park in Brazil and one of the largest in the world. Jaú has approximately the same size of Belgium.

3 hours in a boat are necessary to reach the park entrance and prior visiting authorisation is required. I opted not to sleep withing the forest - which is what some people do to have more time to visit the NP -, but still, I could have a good idea of this enourmous and virgin slice of the Amazon Forest.

I was truly overwhelmed by this WHS.

Your Rating
Rate

Site Info

Full Name
Central Amazon Conservation Complex
Unesco ID
998
Country
Brazil
Inscribed
2000
Type
Natural
Criteria
9 10
Categories
Natural landscape - Rivers, Wetlands and Lakes
Link
By ID

Site History

2003 Extended

Extension of Jaú National Park, to include: the Amana Sustainable Development Reserve, the Demonstration area of the Mamirauá Sustainable Development Reserve and the Anavilhanas Ecological Station

2003 Name change

From "Jaú National Park" to "Central Amazon Conservation Complex"

2000 Inscribed

Site Links

Unesco Website
Central Amazon Conservation Complex
Official Website

Anavilhanas Ecological Station

Jaú National Park

Locations

The site has 2 locations

Central Amazon Conservation Complex: Jau National Park, Amana Sustainable Development Reserve and Demonstration Area of Mamiraua Sustainable Development Reserve
Central Amazon Conservation Complex: Anavilhanas Ecological Station

Connections

The site has

Constructions
Petroglyphs: "petroglyphs at the mouth of the Jaú" (nom file)
Ecology
Turtles and tortoises: Yellow-footed tortoise plus 10 freshwater turtles
Rainforests: "The forest cover of JNP is linked to the extensive and continuous tropical rainforests of the Amazon Central Plain" (AB ev)
Notable examples of multiple speciation in one site: "The water bodies existing in these reserves (Mamirauá and Amana) contain 64 species of electric fishes in seven families, including 3 species new to science, which represent the highest known diversity of this unique group of organisms in the world, with a level of radiation and adaptation akin to that of cichlids in the Rift Valley of Africa"
Crocodiles: Black caiman and Spectacled caiman
Otters: Giant Otter
Endemic Bird Species: Amazon flooded forest, Jaú National Park: Chestnut-headed Nunlet (Nonnula amaurocephala), Klages's Antwren (Myrmotherula klagesi)
River Dolphins: Amazonian River Dolphin " Expansion of the site also enhance the protection of key threatened species including .... two species of river dolphin." (AB for 2003 extension). But IUCN now only recognises 1 species of Amazonian River Dolphin with 3 sub species
Siraneans: Amazonian manatee "Numerous species of global conservation concern live within Jau NP, including .....Amazonian Manatee," and Anavilhanas "Here it is easy to see spectacular ildlife, including ...manatees" (AB)
Salamanders: 3 species of worm-salamanders
Tapirs: Brazilian tapir
Sloths: brown-throated sloth, two-toed sloth
Anteaters: giant anteater, silky anteater, southern tamandua
High-Biodiversity Wilderness Area: Amazonia
Jaguar habitat: "Numerous species of global conservation concern live within JNP, including jaguar" (AB ev)
Swamps and Marshes: "a significant number of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems associated with the forest which are periodically inundated by seasonal flooding, as well as swamps." (OUV)
Fish: Crit x "The "pirarucu" (Arapaima gigas), the largest freshwater fish in South America......... In addition, 64 species of electric fish, which is the strongest known diversity for this group unique in the world, with a circulation range and an adaptation rate comparable to those of cichlids in the African Rift Valley, have been identified in the property"
Geography
Amazon Basin: "the largest protected area in the Amazon Basin" (OUV)
Archipelagos: "Anavilhanas contains the second largest archipelago of river islands in the Brazilian Amazon" (AB ev)
Individual Rivers: Amazon
Individual People
Cousteau: 1983
Timeline
Pliocene: Aufgrund der damit verbundenen Sperrung des Abflusses kehrte sich vor circa 10 bis 15 Millionen Jahren der Flusslauf um. Weil aber zunächst im Zentrum des Amazonasbeckens eine Hebung stattfand, geschah dies in zwei Phasen: Während die Osthänge bereits über einen Amazonas-Vorläufer in den Atlantik entwässerten, bildeten sich auf der Westseite riesige Binnenseen, deren Ablagerungen heute großenteils den Untergrund der Terra firme ausmachen. Erst als diese Seen nach rund fünf Millionen Jahren ebenfalls nach Osten entwässerten, konnte sich das heutige Flussnetz entwickeln. (Wiki)
Trivia
Featured in the Go Jetters: Series 1: Episode 19: The Amazon rainforest
Visiting conditions
No road access: 3 hours in a boat are necessary to reach the park entrance of Jau. The 2nd location, Anavilhanas, is closer but also boat only.
WHS on Other Lists
World Biosphere Reserves: Central Amazon (2001)
World Heritage Forest Programme
Ramsar Wetlands: Mamirauá, 1993
New 7 Wonders of Nature: Amazon
U.S. Ambassadors Fund : Documentation of Amazonian Oral Traditions (2008)
World Heritage Process
Already inscribed still on T List: Anavilhanas Ecological Station
Natural sites rejected for cultural criteria: Proposed as a cultural landscape in 2003 in the nomination dossier, but no follow-up by ICOMOS
Name changes: From Jaú National Park (2003)
Extended: 2003: Extension of Jaú National Park, to include: the Amana Sustainable Development Reserve, the Demonstration area of the Mamirauá Sustainable Development Reserve and the Anavilhanas Ecological Station

Visitors

Community Members have visited.