Trésor Foundation Utrecht
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Trésor Foundation Utrecht |
HistoryThe rainforest reserve is situated in area in the North of French Guyana called Montagne Trésor. The purchase of this area was not quite accidental. Over the years the Herbarium of the University of Utrecht (now department of the National Herbarium) has acquired extensive knowledge about the Guyanas. An important subject of the research by the Utrecht Herbarium is 'The Flora of the Guyanas', in which a dozen institutes participate, including two French scientific institutes, the National Natural History Museum (Paris) and the Institute for Developmental Reserach (IRD, previously ORSTOM) in Cayenne.
There is a great variety of biotopes in the Trésor reserve. It partly consists of sloping forests and partly of level lowland forests and wet savannahs, bordering the river. The water levels in the (border) river and creeks show tidal movement. There is no human habitation in the area.
It is unique in the world that the University of Utrecht together with the business community has taken responsibility for preserving the rainforest. It has proved to have been a strong signal of undeniable impact. The people and the government of French Guyana have always witnessed this project with great interest and are now participating in several parts of it. Especially the building of local the visitors' centre (2002) and the construction of the educational trail (2001) with daily supervision of a reserve employee have been contributed to financially and organisationally by the local government (DIREN, Direction Régional Environnement et Nature). In 1996 a request was lodged with the Prefect of French Guyana to grant the acquired area the status of reserve. This official status of voluntary nature reserve (Réserve Naturelle Volontaire) has been granted by the Prefect of French Guyana on 20 May 1997. One of the greatest advantages of this status of the reserve is that now hunting is forbidden in the acquired area. Articles 4 up to and including 14 of the accompanying document state amongst others that plants and animals in the reserve should not be harmed and that the carrying of arms is prohibited in the reserve. Also research for mining purposes is forbidden. This ban has been proved quite relevant over the past years since gold is present in the soil of the area and with this continuous threats of mining or research into this as well.  |