According to a study released today in Belém points to an area located between the states of Pará and Maranhão called the Belém Endemism Center as the most deforested region in Amazonia, with only 23% of its original forest cover still standing.  The area was the first area of human occupation in Brazilian Amazonia and covers 147 municipalities (62 in Pará and 85 in Maranhão) and includes 42 protected areas.  The study shows that of 33% of the forest areas still standing, some 23% are intact forests and 10% are already-logged forests.

The Mapping of Remaining Forests of CEB was conducted by researchers of the Biota Pará project, a joint project between the Emílio Goeldi Museum and Conservation International.  It is the most detailed scientific study to date on the region and serves as a warning to what could happen to other areas of Brazilian Amazonia.

"This is a lesson to the other parts of Amazonia, because everyone says that indigenous lands and reserves or conservation units slow deforestation.  This is true when there is a surrounding forest, but when the forests outside the conservation units or indigenous lands are logged and no longer accessible, people enter the reserves and conservation units because it becomes economically attractive to do so, it becomes worth the risk", said biologist José Maria da Silva, Science Vice-President of Conservation International -Brazil to Reuters.  According to the study, protected areas are suffering heavy pressure, some of them are even in a critical situation.

The map also showed that the CEB area is where the largest number of endangered species in Pará is located, and that some of them have probably already become extinct.  Other conclusions include that the remaining forest is more susceptible to species loss, invasion by other species and forest fires and that regeneration areas are of utmost importance to biodiversity.

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