Dec 13, 2013

• This venture, in the Serra da Capivara National Park, will exhibit a collection of fossils of species that once occupied the region

The Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES) has approved financial support to the tune of R$ 13.7 million for the Museum Foundation of the American Man, located in the city of São Raimundo Nonato (PI), to build and implement the Nature Museum in the Serra da Capivara National Park, which is situated in the neighboring municipality of Coronel Dias.

The operation falls within the scope of the BNDES’ Program to Develop Cultural Economy (BNDES Procult), with non-reimbursable resources from the Bank’s Cultural Fund. The BNDES’ participation corresponds to 68% of the total amount required for the project.

Located near the Park’s Visitor Center and a handmade pottery factory, the museum will house a collection of fossils of the macrofauna that occupied the region and survived climate change some 10,000 years ago. Some of these fossils are species discovered in the region, while others are of animals that today only exist in the Amazon Rainforest.

With two floors and a total constructed area of approximately 43,000 ft² (4,000 m²), the Nature Museum will have space for exhibitions, a restaurant, an auditorium, stores, an area reserved for the collection, administration facilities and restrooms.

In addition to this, animation, photographs, digital perspectives and interactive features will be used, as well as projectors, computers, sensors, liquid crystal and plasma screens, interactive tools, networking, sound, lighting and automation systems.
The project also includes a security system, with emergency lighting, electronic surveillance, alarms and fire extinguishers. The Museum is expected to be completed in two years.

Park – Covering 129,000 hectares and with a 214 km perimeter, the Serra da Capivara National Park is situated in the southeast of the state of Piauí, occupying areas in the municipalities of São Raimundo Nonato (the region’s largest urban center), João Costa, Brejo do Piauí and Coronel José Dias.

The most significant attractions for visitors are the several archaeological sites, prehistoric cave paintings with characteristics in the region. One of them, the Boqueirão of Pedra Furada, a prehistoric monument in which human groups recorded their culture over a 29,000 year period in paintings on the walls of rocks, is the oldest archaeological site in America.

In its surroundings, a 10-km Permanent Preservation Area was created, which is part of an additional protection belt. It lies 530 km from Teresina, the capital of the state, while Petrolina, one of the main cities in the neighboring state of Pernambuco, is approximately 300 km away. Both cities feature airports, and the main access road to the Park leads to these urban centers.

Protected by the Institute of National Artistic and Historical  Heritage (Iphan), the Park was declared a cultural humanity heritage by the United Nations Educational,   Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco), in 1991. Of the more than 1,000 archaeological sites discovered in the region, some 172 are open to visitors, but protected from man-made and nature’s touch.