Background
The Central Amazon Conservation Complex is the largest protected area in the Amazon Basin and one of the planet's richest regions for biodiversity. UNESCO describes its várzea and igapó flooded forests, lakes and channels as a constantly evolving aquatic mosaic, home to the largest array of electric fish in the world, and to threatened species including the giant arapaima, the Amazonian manatee, the black caiman and two species of river dolphin.
Anavilhanas National Park, part of the listing, is a river archipelago of more than 400 islands in the Rio Negro between Manaus and Novo Airão, about 130 km long and 20 km wide. Wikivoyage calls it the second largest river archipelago in the world and explains that the islands formed from sediment of the Rio Branco; it became an ecological station in 1981 and a national park in 2008.
- 1981Anavilhanas becomes an ecological station
- 2000Inscribed as World Heritage; extended in 2003
- 2008Anavilhanas is made a national park
Find Your Way Around
The main parts of the site, in the order most visitors see them
- 1AnavilhanasHundreds of islands, lakes and channels in the black water of the Rio Negro.
- 2Novo AirãoThe riverside town at the archipelago's edge, known for its pink river dolphins.
- 3Igapó ForestForest flooded for months each year, explored by canoe.
- 4JaúThe vast national park of the Jaú river, the heart of the complex.
- 5ManausThe gateway city, with the Meeting of the Waters downstream.
Know Before You Go
From Wikivoyage and the GoGo guides
Into the Archipelago
Not yet in a GoGo guide
- 07:00Boat into the Anavilhanas8 hrsIslands, channels and dolphins on the Rio Negro.
Best Time to Visit
Best months: Aug–Oct. Rainy season Nov–Jul.
Typical highs
Climate: NASA POWER