It is a strictly protected area and is closed to the public except for research and environmental education.

[1] The reserve is in the cerrado biome, and covers 5,196 hectares (12,840 acres) in the municipalities of Leme do Prado and Turmalina.

Fauna include armadillo, maned wolf, common agouti, paca, collared peccary (Pecari tajacu), robust capuchin monkey and broad-snouted caiman (Caiman latirostris).

In April 2013, the Public Ministry and Justice department of Minas Gerais charged that the State Forestry Institute had been failing to comply with environmental legislation.

There were serious problems such as lack of a management plan, physical structures and personnel, and land tenure issues with the ecological stations of Mata do Acauã and Mata dos Ausentes and the state parks of Biribiri, Alto Cariri, Rio Preto and Serra Negra.