The Xixuaú reserve covers an area of ​​approximately 200,000 hectares of the Amazon forest. It’s located in the state of Roraima, in a remote zone along the Rio Jauaperi, a tributary of the Rio Negro, 500 km north east far from Manaus, capital of the Brazilian Amazon. The reserve is home to a community of about twenty families of “ribeirinhos†(river people) who have chosen to live in close contact with the environment and its biodiversity, as their indigenous ancestors did. The region is almost inaccessible. The Rio Jauaperi is the only connection with the rest of the country, but there are no public boat along its course. While it favored the preservation of the environment, on the other hand the isolation slowed economic and social development of the region, causing the exodus of the younger generation to major urban centers. To limit this phenomenon, the community has founded a social cooperative aimed at the protection and preservation of a large area of ​​the forest, with a sustainable economy based on fishing, on subsistence farming and marketing of crop products and handicraft . It is also equipped with a satellite system using solar power and an internet connection by which it was able to cancel the isolation and to establish contacts with the rest of the world. For the near future, members of the community are hoping for a commitment by the federal government to ensure that the Xixuaú is included into a larger protected area and obtain legal recognition of "Extractive Reserve".
