In 1988 the Decree no. 96.693 established the National Marine Reserve of Fernando de Noronha, which is subordinated to the Ibama (Brazilian Institute for the Enviroment Preservation). In the same year the new Brazilian Constitution reintegrated Fernando de Noronha to the State of Pernambuco.
The National Marine Reserve of Fernando de Noronha - PARNAMAR / FN (PARNAMAR means Parque Nacional Marinho, or Marine National Park) consists of 2/3 of the main island and reaches up to the point where the sea has the 50 m isobathic line. All secondary islands are included in the Reserve. Its total area is 112.7 km2 and its perimeter 60 km long.
The purposes of the Reserve are to protect the representative samples of the terrestrial and marine ecosystem, to preserve the fauna, the flora and the remaining natural resources, to provide controlled opportunities for visiting, for leisure, for environmental education and for scientific researches, and also to contribute to the preservation of the historic sites.
Fernando de Noronha
( Portuguese pronunciation:
[fe?'n?~du d?i no'?õ??]
) is an
archipelago
of 21 islands and islets in the Atlantic Ocean, 354 km (220 mi) offshore from the Brazilian coast. The main island has an area of 18.4 square kilometres (7.1 sq mi) and had a population of 3,012 in the year 2010.
[ 1 ]
The area is a special
municipality
(
distrito estadual
) of the
Brazilian state
of
Pernambuco
(despite being closer to the state of
Rio Grande do Norte
)
[ 2 ]
and is also a
UNESCO
World Heritage Site
. Its
timezone
is
UTC-02:00
. The local population and travellers can get to Noronha by
plane
or cruise from
Recife
[ 3 ]
(545 km) or by plane from
Natal
(360 km). A small environmental preservation fee is charged from tourists upon arrival by
Ibama
(Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources).
