In the far west of Brazil, on the border with Peru, Serra do Divisor National Park holds a rare sight in the Amazon: a chain of mist-covered peaks and plateaus rising unexpectedly from an otherwise flat sea of lowland rainforest. It forms a natural watershed between the Ucayali and Juruá river basins.
These forests shelter an extraordinary wealth of species and countless endemics – many still unknown to science – from jaguars and white-lipped peccaries to the rare red uakari monkey. The park is a UNESCO World Heritage candidate and, with its Peruvian sister park, a vital cross-border corridor.
- Protected area / landscape name: Serra do Divisor National Park
- Country: Brazil
- Location: Most western point of Brazil, bordering Peru
- Ecosystem: Amazon rainforest
- Size: Approx. 8,300 km²
- Protection status: National Park, Key Biodiversity Area, UNESCO World Heritage candidate
- FZS presence since: 2025
Serra do Divisor National Park lies in the far west of Brazil’s Acre state, right on the border with Peru. It covers about 8,300 km² and is spread across five municipalities, including Cruzeiro do Sul and Mâncio Lima. The park is remote and the main access is by boat along the Moa or Juruá rivers.
The park protects a mosaic of dense and open rainforest, palm and bamboo formations, alluvial plains, and mountain habitats. More than 1,200 animal species have been recorded so far, and new species are still being discovered in this little-explored region. Its forests are home to jaguars, white-lipped peccaries, harpy eagles, and rare primates such as the bald uakari (Cacajao calvus) and Goeldi’s monkey (Callimico goeldii).
Serra do Divisor is a rare sight in the Amazon: a chain of mountains rising unexpectedly from the flat lowland rainforest, which creates a mosaic of habitats and makes the area exceptionally rich in species and endemism.
Its intact forests store large amounts of carbon and help regulate the water cycle of the western Amazon, acting as a natural watershed between the Ucayali and Juruá river basins. The park has been on Brazil’s UNESCO World Heritage tentative list, and together with its Peruvian sister park it forms a vital cross-border corridor.
Serra do Divisor is a living landscape, home to Indigenous peoples and traditional communities – including riverside dwellers (ribeirinhos) and rubber-tapper families – who have lived along its rivers for generations.
In the northern part of the park, along the Rio Moa, live two Pano-speaking Indigenous peoples: the Nawa, whose land inside the park is being formally recognised by Brazil’s Indigenous affairs agency FUNAI, and the Nukini, whose territory borders the park and who take part in joint monitoring and protection of the area.
In the southern part, along the Rio Juruá and bordering the Alto Juruá Extractive Reserve, several hundred traditional families live inside the national park and make a living from small-scale farming, fishing, and forest products.
The greatest threat is a proposed transnational road linked to the BR-364 highway, which would cut through the park to create a trade corridor to Peru and risks opening the forest to illegal logging and land grabbing. The park is also threatened by a pending bill that would downgrade it to a less-protected ‘Environmental Protection Area.’
Recurring forest fires, unregulated land use, and agricultural activity inside the park add further pressure, even though only about 1–2% of its forest has been lost so far.
FZS Brazil has partnered with the federal nature conservation agency ICMBio since 2025 to strengthen the park’s protection. In practice, this means keeping ICMBio base inside the park operational, providing boats, motors, for presence in the park, and supporting the revision of the park’s Management Plan (originally from 1998). FZS also funds biological monitoring, helps train community fire brigades, and promotes community-based ecotourism – always working hand in hand with ICMBio and local communities.
Our conservation work in Serra do Divisor National Park
We support Brazil’s federal nature conservation agency ICMBio and local partners in strengthening the protection and management of Serra do Divisor National Park. This includes improving infrastructure and equipping rangers with boats, engines, and communication tools so they can conduct river patrols and maintain a permanent presence in the park. We also help to update the park’s Management Plan and build the technical capacity of the management team for effective, long-term protected area management.
We facilitate biodiversity monitoring, expanding knowledge of the park’s exceptional species richness and ecological processes across its rare Amazonian mountain-and-lowland landscape. Research and monitoring are carried out in close collaboration with traditional communities, strengthening local capacity and supporting the sustainable use of ecologically and economically important species such as the pirarucu (Arapaima gigas), whose populations are in decline.
We promote sustainable, community-led ecotourism, building on a bird-life inventory and a birdwatching guide that showcase the park’s remarkable avifauna and its endemic species. Combined with environmental education for visitors and traditional communities, this creates nature-based income that gives local families a tangible economic stake in keeping Serra do Divisor’s forests standing.
Partners
Successful conservation is always the result of great teamwork. We collaborate with local communities, national authorities, and conservation organizations. Our partners make our conservation work possible.
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