A national reference in the production of environmental information, the IBGE's  Ecological Reserve (RECOR), located in the Federal District, celebrates its 50th anniversary in December. To mark five a total of decades dedicated to research and the conservation of the Cerrado, the IBGE the book "IBGE's Ecological Reserve – Volume 2" this Wednesday (10).

The creation of the IBGE Ecological Reserve - Recor, on December 22, 1975, was an  avant-garde initiative. Motivated by the interest to provide scientific support for sustainable territorial planning of the Central-West Region, which at the time had been incorporated as the newest national agricultural frontier, and following principles established by the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (ECO-92, held in Rio de Janeiro), the IBGE transformed its geodetic and topographic research unit in Brasília into a protected area, developed an unprecedented ecological research program for the Cerrado biome, implemented appropriate infrastructure, and established partnerships with a large number of national and foreign researchers.

The history of Recor therefore carries the mark of innovation – a common feature in its own institutional history. Strategic guidelines formulated by the IBGE Management, supported by the Federal and Federal District Governments, as well as by the scientific and conservationist communities, influenced its creation, supported its structuring, and guided its consolidation, aiming to make it a reference area in the production of geoscientific information (geodetic, cartographic, ecological, environmental, and geographic), under the governance and management of the country's official statistical agency.

After more than 60 years of managing this unique institutional heritage, 50 of which as a protected area of scientific interest, RECOR enjoys broad recognition at local, nationa and global levels, for its relevance and contributions to science, both in biodiversity conservation and in the dissemination of reliable geoscientific information to society.

The editorial work IBGE's Ecological Reserve is a tribute to this journey of knowledge and conservation and to its successful management by the Executive and Geosciences Directorates (strategic leadership), the IBGE State Superintendency in the Federal District (tactical leadership), and the Management of the IBGE's Ecological Reserve (operational leadership). In this successful path, it also relied on interinstitutional cooperation, factors that greatly contributed to integrating RECOR into important national and global networks of geoscientific information producers and biodiversity conservation.

The first volume of the work, released in 2011, presented a summary of the knowledge produced at the IBGE's Ecological Reserve regarding the land biodiversity of the area and its importance for the Cerrado Biome. This second volume, published on the 50th anniversary of the Reserve, reaffirms the institutional commitments to biodiversity, science, and society, which have shaped its organizational identity and guided its governance and management. This volume also includes an independent assessment, produced by researchers and environmental managers invited to evaluate the contributions of this field to society and its future prospects.

The new volume is available at: https://biblioteca.ibge.gov.br/visualizacao/livros/liv49522_v2.pdf