A legacy to protect
Almost 30 years ago, Rolex Awards for Enterprise Laureate José Márcio Ayres established the world’s largest continuous stretch of protected rainforest. Though he passed away in 2003, his legacy lives on in the heart of the Amazon.
In the heart of the Brazilian Amazon lies a stretch of protected rainforest larger than Costa Rica, a vast expanse of pristine canopy bustling with life: the Mamirauá Sustainable Development Reserve. Groundbreaking not only for its size, but its novel approach to conservation, the reserve was the brainchild of Brazilian primatologist, conservationist and Rolex Awards Laureate José Márcio Ayres.
