About the Furnas River Reserve

The Furnas River Reserve (Reserva Rio das Furnas) is private natural heritage reserve in the municipality of Alfredo Wagner, Santa Catarina State, in southern Brazil. It is situated at the apex of a canyon filled with Atlantic Forest. The vegetation comprises a transition of lowland Atlantic rain forest, araucaria forest, and high-elevation grasslands.

Due to its isolated location that is difficult for humans to access, the reserve is a safe home for numerous animals, fungi, and plants. The main goals of the reserve are to protect the organisms that live in it and to study these organisms to better understand the Atlantic Forest, one of the most threatened biomes on Earth.

The reserve was founded by Renato Rizzaro and Gabriela Giovanka in 2002 as a 10 ha site and expanded to 53.5 ha in 2013. In July 2019, Renato and Gabriela sold the reserve to mycologist Maria Alice Neves and botanists Pedro Fiaschi and Nathan Smith to be used as a research center for studies related to biology.

The original website for the reserve is at: https://riodasfurnas.blogspot.com/

Visiting the Reserve

The reserve is closed to the general public. This is to minimize the impact of humans. If you are a researcher and would like to visit the reserve, please complete the form here.

History of the Reserve

Below are two videos made with Renato Rizzaro and Gabriela Giovanka about the reserve.