José Márcio Ayres

José Márcio Ayres

José Márcio Ayres in 2002
Born February 21, 1954
Belém, Brazil
Died March 7, 2003 (aged 49)
New York
Fields Conservation biology
Primatology
Institutions Mamirauá Institute
Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi
Wildlife Conservation Society
Alma mater University of São Paulo
National Institute of Amazonian Research
University of Cambridge
Academic advisors Paulo Vanzolini
David J. Chivers
Notable students Helder Queiroz
Known for Amazon conservation
Notable awards The Duke of Edinburgh Conservation Medal[1]
Ordem Nacional do Mérito Científico[2]
Rolex Awards for Enterprise[3]

José Márcio Ayres (1954 — 2003) was a Brazilian primatologist and conservationist who founded the Mamirauá Sustainable Development Reserve in 1996, followed by the Amanã Sustainable Development Reserve in 1998.[4] The two reserves are located in the central region of the Brazilian state of Amazonas, and are joined by adjacent Jaú National Park to form a corridor spanning over 20,000 square miles (52,000 km2) of protected rainforest.[5]

Ayres devoted his life to the preservation of the unique biota and ecosystems of the Amazon, as well as to developing a method by which rural dwellers would benefit from the conservation of natural resources.[6] He realized that the uakari monkeys he had been studying for his doctoral thesis would stand no chance of survival unless new community-based models of natural resource management were applied to the much exploited Amazon River flood basin.[7]

Ayres' doctorate in primatology at Cambridge, in 1986, was for his thesis Uakaris and Amazonian flooded forest, the field work for which was undertaken on the upper Amazon River floodplain, near Tefé.[8][9]

Publications

References

  1. "The Duke of Edinburgh Conservation Medal". WWF.
  2. "Membros da Ordem Falecidos". Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovação.
  3. "José Márcio Ayres: Overview". Rolex Awards for Enterprise.
  4. Saxon, Wolfgang (March 11, 2003). "José Márcio Ayres Dies at 49; Saved Heart of the Amazon". The New York Times.
  5. "Central Amazon Conservation Complex". UNESCO World Heritage Centre.
  6. Lima, Deborah (2011). "The Contribution of Márcio Ayres to a Transdisciplinary Approach to Conservation". In Pinedo-Vasquez, Miguel; Ruffino, Mauro L.; Padoch, Christine; Brondízio, Eduardo S. The Amazon Várzea. Springer. ISBN 978-94-007-0145-8.
  7. Ayres, J.M. (1986). "The conservation status of the white uakari" (PDF). Primate Conservation.
  8. "University of Cambridge - Library Search".
  9. Ayres, J.M. (1986). Uakaris and Amazonian flooded forest (Ph.D.). University of Cambridge.

External sources