Bahia protects Chapadinha mountains as Wildlife Refuge
Summary and headline written by AI from the source article. How we work
After decades of advocacy and three years of focused effort, the government of Bahia, Brazil, officially created the Serra da Chapadinha Wildlife Refuge on August 31st.
The new refuge protects approximately 18,000 hectares across four municipalities in the Chapada Diamantina region. Environmentalists celebrate the refuge’s role in connecting the Chapada Diamantina National Park to other protected areas, forming a crucial ecological corridor.
The Serra da Chapadinha acts as a natural reservoir, providing water to the Una River basin which supplies over 80 municipalities in Bahia, including Salvador and its metropolitan area. Jurists and environmentalists particularly praise the decree for explicitly including the subsurface within the protected area’s boundaries, legally hindering mining ventures in a region already facing numerous applications. Despite this victory, the creation of the refuge does not erase long-standing tensions.
The area has a history of land conflicts, inequality, and competing interests involving traditional farming communities, land grabbers, and recent corporate and real estate speculation. Local environmental activists recently faced a violent shooting and required federal protection. Gislene Moreira of the Chapada Diamantina Observatory stresses that securing the area requires advancing investigations into these attacks and punishing those responsible.
The state’s environmental institute, Inema, has up to five years to develop a management plan for the refuge, and will create an advisory council including landowners, government, and local communities.
