Its largest area is occupied by pastures, vegetable fields and quarries for sand to be used in construction.

[4] The Bacia do Rio Macacu Environmental Protection Area was created by state law 4.018 of 5 December 2002.

Its objective is to protect marginal areas in the basin of the Macacu River, the largest contributor to Guanabara Bay.

[1] It is included in the Central Rio de Janeiro Atlantic Forest Mosaic, created in December 2006.

[5] The management plan was prepared in 2009 by the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa) in cooperation with other institutions, within a regional planning strategy for the mosaic which considered opportunities for forming corridors between the protected areas and for ecologically sound agriculture.