The project is located within the Amazon, the largest remaining rainforest on our planet. The Amazon is known for its amazing biodiversity; home to 10% of all species, including some endangered species that rely on it for their survival.News Update - Portel-Par� REDD Project is Safe and ProtectedThe project is safe and is unaffected by recent fires in the Amazon reported in the media. We have a fire management program in place and a permanent presence of site to protect against them.The main fires are in Acre and Rondonia, and there were some fires 30km south of Portel but they have been extinguished.Forest fires are all part of the natural cycle and regeneration of the forest � they often get started by lightning. The issue here is it is believed many of the fires in Brazil have been started deliberately, and the press is reporting that there isn�t much action by the government to stop them. The RMDLT Portel Par� project is funded to be able to manage any forest fires.This Portel-Par� REDD project is working to prevent unplanned deforestation in native forests, which has occurred due to logging, squatting and attempts to implement pastures. The project is expected to avoid over 22 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent greenhouse gas emissions over a 40 year period. This will be achieved by managing the land in the form of a "private conservation reserve", through rigorous monitoring and enforcement. From 2012 the project has scaled-up its monitoring activities by employing and properly training local villagers for monitoring and enforcement activities.The Project Area comprises 177,899.5 Ha in 17 privately owned parcels, or �Glebas�, adding up to a total of 194,402.8 Ha in the Portel municipality, located in the Portel micro region. Local population is comprised mainly of settlers known as �Ribeirinhos�, who live along the rivers and along the igarap�s (small streams). There are no indigenous communities located either in the Project Area.The project is in an area of extreme importance for biodiversity conservation.According to the Brazilian Ministry of Environment, this area holds a great diversity and abundance of species, not only important for the maintenance of ecological relationships, but also of socio-economic importance such as Brazil nut trees and other noble tree species. The Par� REDD project zone also holds innumerous species of animals, including mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish. In the Primates group, Cebus kaapori (Ka�apor Capuchin) and Chiropotes satanas (Black Bearded Saki) are critically endangered both by IUCN and IBAMA. In the Carnivores, Leopardus tigrinus (oncilla) is considered vulnerable and the Pteronura brasiliensis (giant otter) endangered. Other threatened mammals are: Mymecophaga tridactyla (giant anteater) and Priodontes maximus (giant armadillo), both considered vulnerable and endangered.