Notícias
Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden participates in an expedition to an unexplored region of the Amazon
Researcher Rafaela Campostrini Forzza (JBRJ) is on the team of 14 scientists who will take part in the expedition to the Serra do Imeri, between November 4 and 20, 2022. Organized by the University of São Paulo (USP), the expedition aims to make an inventory of the species of animals and plants that live in that area which, as far as is known, has remained untouched by mankind. The researchers also want to know how the local biodiversity relates to that found in lower-lying areas of the Amazon.
Zoologist Miguel Trefaut Rodrigues, from USP's Institute of Biosciences, will lead the expedition, which has the support of the Brazilian Army, funding from the São Paulo State Research Support Foundation (Fapesp), and three communication professionals. According to Rodrigues: "The main goal of the project is to collect material to understand the historical relationships and past contacts between the Amazon, the Andes and the Atlantic Forest during glacial and interglacial periods, with the expectation that these results will help us understand the reasons for our megadiversity."
Between 2011 and 2014, a team of researchers from the Botanical Garden of Rio de Janeiro, of which Rafaela Forzza was also part, conducted five expeditions to mountains in the Amazon (Serra da Mocidade, Serra do Aracá, Monte Caburaí, Serra Grande, and Pico da Neblina), led by Marcus Nadruz Coelho, and accompanied by photographer Ricardo Azoury. Already in 2017, a team from USP managed to reach Pico da Neblina which, geographically, is considered part of the Serra do Imeri. However, the 2022 expedition will go to a physically separate mountain range, 80 km away, and with very different characteristics.