Environmental assets

The inventory of water resources in the Buritis Brooks is still in progress. However, we already know that BB has one water source, preserved under tall buritis trees and a closed gallery forest. Reports from local people speak of other mines, unfortunately now no longer active.

The Reserve has three water beds, one of which (in which the above mine is located), is perennial. The other two are not perennial. This totals 2.64 KMs of waterbed divided as follows:

• 920 meters, in the waterbed east of BB, which serves as the boundary between Mirador de Santana and Baixa do Sucupira

• 1 KM on the eastern part of the Buritis Island, part of which remains perennial

• 720 meters on the west side of Buritis Island.

The Reserve has more than 12% of its total area (>10 hectares) in Brooks, of high importance for the recharge of local water sources.

The area of the Buritis Brooks is inserted in the Pouso Alto Environmental Protection Area, neighboring the Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park, and follows a corridor with several neighboring RPPNs. It is an area of high biodiversity value, inserted in one of the centers of endemism and species diversity in the central area of the Cerrado biome.

The biodiversity of the flora of the BB is spectacular. The forest inventory catalogued 130 tree species in the different phytophysiognomies of the BB. There is high beta diversity (floristic and structural dissimilarity) between savanna and forest formations in the BB (cerrado sensu stricto and gallery forest) with abrupt changes in tree species composition and density.

Several plants for human use have been catalogued in the RNVB such as Caryocar spp. (Pequi), Hancornia speciosa (Mangaba), Anacardium occidentale (Cajuí), Pouteria ramiflora (Grão-de-galo, Maçaranduba), Byrsonima crassifolia (Murici-de-galinha), Byrsonima coccolobifolia (Murici-de-galinha), Annona coriacea (Araticum), Salacia elliptica (Bacupari) and Hymenaea stigonocarpa (Jatobá-do-cerrado). Vanilla from the Cerrado has also been catalogued in the area.

Pharmacological species include: Favela (Dimarphandra mollies), Barbatimão (Stryphnodendron astringens) and Lafoensia pacari (Mangabeira-brava, Pacari) from the cerrado stricto sensu areas, and Copaíba (Copaifera langsdorffii), Micuíba (Virola urbaniana) and Amescla (Protium spruceanum) typical of riparian formations.

The biodiversity of the shrub and grass flora has not yet been catalogued.

The fauna is also very rich. 10 species of large mammals have been sighted in the RNVB (see fauna section below), more than 50% of which are threatened with extinction and on the IUCN Red List (e.g. giant anteater, puma and maned wolf). Certainly several other mammals have the RNVB as their habitat.

Regarding the avifauna, BB has not yet conducted its inventory. In the RPPN Vale das Araras, neighboring to BB, almost 200 bird species have already been recorded in the Bird Platform, which indicates the high richness in avifauna in BB. In addition, several IUCN Red List avifauna species are found in the municipality of Cavalcante such as the black grouse (Alectrurus tricolor), the field flycatcher (Culicivora caudacuta) the black-faced blackbird (Coryphaspiza melanotis), the gray-tailed godwit (Sporophila cinnamomea), and the black-billed toucan (Ramphastos culminatus).

Herpetofauna and invertebrates have not yet been catalogued.