The local communities that surround the reserve use it for sustainable extraction of products such as Brazil nuts.

The Rio Iratapuru[a] Sustainable Development Reserve is divided between the municipalities of Laranjal do Jari (69.01%), Mazagão (18.68%) and Pedra Branca do Amapari (12.1%) in Amapá.

[3] The reserve is bounded by the Waiãpi Indigenous Territory to the north and part of the Jari Ecological Station to the south.

The Jari River also forms the western boundary of the Tumucumaque Mountains National Park, just north of the reserve.

[6] On 16 February 2012 the company Natura Inovação e Tecnologia de Produtos was authorized to access traditional knowledge for the purpose of bio-prospecting and technical development under the "Perfume do Brasil" project.

Of small mammals the most common are Proechimys spiny rat species and the brown four-eyed opossum (Metachirus nudicaudatus).

[1] Potential threats identified by a technical mission of the Guiana Shield Facility in April 2008 included logging, mining, road building, human settlements and agricultural development.

As of 2013 the harvest of Brazil nuts was declining, perhaps due to poor regeneration and over-harvesting by the growing human population.

Communities along the Jari River in the south are Retiro, Padaria, São José, Santo Antônio da Cachoeira, São Francisco do Iratapuru and Comunidade do S. The residents on these communities may legally use the reserve's natural resources.

[11] SEMA, which manages the reserve, restricts human activities to hunting, fishing, Brazil nut collection, subsistence farming and ecotourism.