It is a sustainable use conservation unit in which logging is allowed subject to a management plan, and was created in an effort to curb illegal deforestation in the area.

It borders the Riozinho do Anfrísio Extractive Reserve to the east and the Jamanxim National Park to the south.

The fully protected areas, which cover 6,670,422 hectares (16,482,970 acres), are the Amazônia, Jamanxim, Rio Novo and Serra do Pardo national parks, the Nascentes da Serra do Cachimbo Biological Reserve and the Terra do Meio Ecological Station.

[9] A short study of herpetofauna in two locations of the forest in September 2009 recorded 94 species of amphibians and reptiles.

[12] 64 species of fish have been identified from the families of Characiformes (33), Siluriformes (16), Perciformes (7) Gymnotiformes (6), Cyprinodontiformes (1) and Synbranchiformes (1).

[12] The forest was created as part of a conservation strategy to contain the advancing arc of deforestation in the Amazon and to minimise the loss of biodiversity due to logging, monoculture, illegal farming and cattle.

[15] It is hoped that modern multiple-use forest management will increase the number of jobs in the region, providing income and improved quality of life to the population.

[2] Conversion of the rainforest into pasture, as has happened in other parts of Pará, will probably cause most species of herpetofauna to become locally extinct, since they are adapted to a humid microclimate.