The mapping field work of the coastal municipalities Apicum-Açu, Cedral, Cururupu, Mirinzal and Porto Rico of Maranhão began in November 16th and will continue up to December 9th.

The mapping fieldwork of the coastal municipalities Apicum-Açu, Cedral, Cururupu, Mirinzal and Porto Rico of Maranhão began in November 16^th and will continue to December 9^th. Carried out in a scale 1:100.000 and with the use of satellite images, the mapping is included in the cartographic project of the Pre-Amazon of Brazil, developed by the Cartographic Department of IBGE. The area to be mapped is located in one of the most notable and less known areas of Brazil, the Environmental Protection Area (APA) of the Hollows of Maranhão, declared to be of world interest by the Ramsar Convention, which took place in Iran in 1971, and ratified by Brazil in 1993. These hollows are curves that are formed along the coast due to tidal influences.

Acknowledging the importance of the Hollows of Maranhão to the Country, and aiming to protect the traditional subsistence means of the local population, and the sustainable use of the natural resources, the Federal Government established, in 2004, the Extractive Reservation of Cururupu, with more than 46,000 hectares of swamps.

The work carried out by IBGE is included in the Mapping Project of Cartographic Void of Pará/Maranhão, which covers an area of approximately 55.000 km² and about which there is not detailed cartographic information. Besides providing data on scarcely known areas, the project tries to improve the knowledge of the Territorial Base of IBGE, identifying, in an accurate way, the rural part of this area. The first release of information of the region is estimated to be available in four months and, as soon as it is published, it will be included in the territorial-based surveys of IBGE.