Feliciano Miguel Abdala Private Natural Heritage Reserve (Portuguese: Reserva Particular do Patrimônio Natural Feliciano Miguel Abdala), formerly the Fazenda Montes Claros and then the Caratinga Biological Station, is a privately owned sustainable-use protected area in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil.
The reserve is home to rare buffy-headed marmosets and to one of the last wild populations of northern muriqui woolly spider monkeys.
Feliciano Miguel Abdalla, the son of a Lebanese immigrant, obtained the Fazenda Montes Claros estate in the state of Minas Gerais in 1944 on condition that he preserve the forest on the property.
[2] The biological station was supported by Abdala, the Federal University of Minas Gerais, the World Wildlife Fund and the Brazilian Foundation for the Conservation of Nature (FBCN).
[3] Researchers found buffy-headed marmosets, an endangered species, as well as healthy populations of brown howler and tufted capuchin monkeys.
[1] The private non-profit Society for Muriqui's Preservation, "Preserve-Muriqui", created by the Abdala' family, now manages the reserve.
The pit viper Lachesis muta and the Natterer's longwing butterfly (Heliconius nattereri) are considered endangered.
[7] Preserve-Muriqui aims to guarantee survival of the northern muriqui in its natural environment and to support research, while working with the inhabitants of neighbouring properties and providing jobs for local people.
[4] The reserve has been the subject of many scientific studies including 22 independent research projects and ten PhD theses.
[14] The Preserve Muriqui has started seedlings of native trees and guided the neighbours to reforest the hilltops to revitalise the springs.