Semas signs agreement to enhance manatee conservation in the Amazon
Partnership with institutions and companies will strengthen rescue, rehabilitation, and environmental education actions in Pará
The State Secretariat for the Environment, Climate and Sustainability (Semas) consolidated, this Tuesday (16), a new cooperation agreement with Alcoa, ZooUnama, and the Igarapé Nhamundá Institute to enhance manatee conservation actions in Pará. The initiative integrates the biodiversity component of environmental licensing and provides direct support to public policies for the protection of the species and land use planning.
One of the fronts of the partnership involves ZooUnama, in Santarém, an institution linked to the University of the Amazon that works in the rescue and rehabilitation of wild animals. The project foresees the implementation of a floating structure dedicated to manatees in the Igarapé do Costa, with two aquatic rehabilitation tanks, a maloca for veterinary support, a docking pier, and the acquisition of a vehicle. The space will be dedicated to the care of animals in the final years of treatment, before reintegration into their natural habitat.
“We are strengthening existing structures, such as ZooUnama, and supporting new bases, like that of the Nhamundá Institute, expanding the capacity for rescue, rehabilitation, and protection of the species in regions of the Lower Amazon. The cooperation with Alcoa and these institutions ensures that efforts are more efficient and that conservation work is strengthened in the State,” said Rodolpho Zahluth Bastos, Deputy Secretary of Environmental Management and Regularity at Semas.
Professor Hipócrates Chalkidis, administrative supervisor of ZooUnama, highlighted that the partnership expands the institution's capacity to act. “It is a watershed moment in our trajectory. More than a hundred animals have already passed through our care, and this cooperation now forms an essential task force to protect an endangered species, also benefiting other wild animals in the region,” he emphasized.
Amazon Manatee SOS Project in Oriximiná
The agreement also includes the Igarapé Nhamundá Institute, in Oriximiná, strengthening the Amazon Manatee SOS Project. The initiative works in the rescue, rehabilitation, and placement of orphaned calves, in addition to promoting educational activities with riverside communities. The project is structured around three axes: building a physical base, specialized handling of calves, and environmental education actions, reinforcing the integration between biodiversity conservation and community participation.
“It is an honor to participate in this project and contribute to the preservation of one of the region's main icons, the manatee. This initiative reinforces our commitment to sustainable development and the protection of species that are so relevant to Pará,” highlighted Lucila Ribeiro, Director of Government Relations and Communication at Alcoa in Brazil.
Commitment to environmental policies
According to Semas, the union of efforts between the state government, companies, and research institutions strengthens Pará's environmental public policies and ensures significant advances in the conservation of the manatee, an endangered species and symbol of Amazonian biodiversity.
