The city of Sao Felix do Tocantins promoted on May 5th a public consultation for submission of the preliminary studies for the creation of the first municipal conservation unit of integral protection of Tocantins: the Natural Monument Canyons and Rapids of the Rio Sono. (Monumento Natural Canyons e Corredeiras do Rio Sono).
The local community, representatives of public and private institutions, environmentalists, tourism companies and local farmers discussed the proposal and directed questions to the JICA consultant responsible for the study, Renato Santos. The Jalapão Ecological Corridor project supports the initiative since the identification of that critical area for preservation and will finance the preparation of area’s management plan.
The protected area project objectives to promote and regulate the ecotourism potential of the Sono River and contribute to the preservation and restoration of landscapes and natural fragments. Its limits are on the north by the areas of permanent preservation (APP in portuguese) associated with the river and the topography along the Sono river; on the south by the limits of the Jalapão State Park (that also coincides with the municipal division of São Felix with Mateiros); on the east from the Alecrim beach; and on the west by the confluence of the Sono river with the Novo River.
Participatory process
Comments and questions about the conservation area should be addressed to the Secretary of Tourism and Environment of Sao Felix, sr. Irael Carlos Ribeiro, until the day May 25, 2012.
Rafting inaugural
With the support of the NGO Cooperar Institute and tour operator Rota da Iguana, technicians involved in the project experienced the inaugural rafting trip on a stretch protected area, from the Alecrim beach to the Araras waterfall. Mr. Magdal, local landowner, accompanied the group and enjoyed some of the scenic beauty of Sono river. "This park will be very good, we must preserve the river’s borders, we must preserv all this beauty we have here. That's what people want to see,” he says.
Author: James Possapp
