The Mamiraua Sustainable Development Reserve (MSDR) is set in the Varzea (flooded forest) ecosystem of the Amazon floodplain at the confluence of the Solimoes and Japura rivers, near the town of Tefe. The total area of the reserve is 1,124,000 hectares divided into a focal area of 260,000 hectares and a subsidiary area of 86,400 hectares.

The focal area has a resident human population of 1,668 inhabitants, in 23 settlements, and a non-resident user population of some 3,600, living in 37 settlements peripheral to the focal area. All are dependent to a significant extent on the natural resources of the MSDR for their livelihoods and nutrition.

The area was designated as a fully protected Ecological Station by the State Government of Amazonas in 1990. Subsequent need to combine biodiversity conservation with the economic interests of local inhabitants led to a new legal category of Sustainable Development Reserve, created for Mamiraua in 1996, the first of its kind in Brazil.

The Institute for Environmental Protection of the State Government of Amazonas (IPAAM) has formal ownership of the MSDR, and has delegated to the National Science and Technology Council (CNPq) responsibility for the management of the reserve. In 1993, under an agreement with CNPq and IPAAM, a non-governmental organisation, the Sociedade Civil Mamiraua (SCM) was commissioned to prepare a management plan for the reserve. DFID and other funding agencies agreed to support this activity which became Phase I of a programme to create and implement a sustainable development reserve.

The CNPq and IPAAM have negotiated a second agreement with SCM to implement the management plan for the MSDR, and CNPq has committed funding for the creation of a Mamiraua Institute of Sustainable Development (MISD) for SCM. MISD activity is entirely focused on implementation of the MSDR, demonstrating strong Brazilian support for the policy of sustainable development as a conservation mechanism.

To conserve the biodiversity of the varzea flooded forest.

Phase I: the production of a Management Plan for the focal area of the reserve; and the improvement of local livelihoods through sustainable exploitation of natural resources and improved social services.

Phase II: to manage sustainably the biodiversity of the MSDR through partnership between local residents and users, and local institutions.

• Refinement and implementation of systems for the protection of MSDR and regulation of resource use.
• Improvement of community organisation for planning and improved management of community resources.
• Improved extension capacity to develop new economic opportunities and enhance quality of life for residents and users of the MSDR.
• Establishment of monitoring systems to measure institution, socio-economic and biodiversity impacts.
• Improved environmental awareness in MSDR communities.
• Assessment of ecotourism as a source of sustainable finance for conservation.