City in Brazil swallowed by the largest river archipelago on the planet and by 400 islands looks like a hidden movie set: depends on boats to connect streets, lakes, flooded forests, and channels in the Rio Negro

Written by Romário Pereira de Carvalho

Published on 19/05/2026 at 08:05

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On the banks of the Rio Negro, Novo Airão serves as an urban base for the Anavilhanas National Park, where hundreds of islands, lakes, channels, and flooded forests shape tourism, conservation, and riverside life

With about 400 islands and 60 lakes in the lower Rio Negro, Anavilhanas positions Novo Airão, in Amazonas, as a base for tourism, research, and conservation in a large river archipelago.

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Novo Airão connects city, river, and Anavilhanas

Novo Airão occupies a strategic position on the banks of the Rio Negro, where the urban area connects to islands, channels, lakes, flooded forests, and channels protected by the Anavilhanas National Park.

The municipality hosts the administrative headquarters of the federal unit, according to the official registry. The park is located in the Amazon biome, covers 350,469.8 hectares, and has its institutional address in the municipality itself.

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Archipelago gathers islands, lakes, and flooded forest

The Anavilhanas archipelago is located in the lower Rio Negro and consists of islands, lakes, channels, beaches, and flooded forest areas. Official tourist information describes the park as the second-largest river archipelago in the world.

The landscape changes according to the water regime. During the flood, paths disappear, and the flooded forest dominates the experience. During the dry season, beaches, sandbanks, and exposed banks appear.

These changes alter routes, attractions, and circulation. Therefore, visits depend on the river level, local knowledge, and navigation in a natural system.

Novo Airão, Anavilhanas, Rio Negro, river archipelago, tourism in the Amazon — Image: Reproduction

Streets seem to end at the channels of the Rio Negro

In Novo Airão, the relationship between city and river is direct. The journey to Anavilhanas happens by boats, with local departures to protected areas, channels, and islands.

The city functions as a transition point between urban infrastructure and Amazonian navigation. The visitor leaves inns, restaurants, and shops and enters a complex river system.

During the journeys, orientation depends on guides, river level, and accumulated knowledge of those who navigate the region. The impression is that the streets end in water.

Aquatic complex depends on the pulse of the waters

The Anavilhanas complex combines river, forest, islands, and floodable areas. The attraction lies not only in the landscape but also in the ecological functioning of this system.

The water reorganizes access, habitats, beaches, and routes throughout the year. Among the central elements are the Rio Negro, river islands, interior lakes, narrow channels, passages used in local navigation, and flooded forests.

Also part of this environment are the seasonal beaches, the fauna associated with aquatic spaces, and the riverside communities. These components show that the park is not just a set of islands.

It is a dynamic territory where conservation, tourism, navigation, and ways of life depend on the annual pulse of the Amazonian waters and the knowledge of the riverside communities.

Environmental management guides visitation and preservation

ICMBio is responsible for managing federal conservation units, including the Anavilhanas National Park.

The official record notes its creation by Decree No. 86.061, of 1981, and recategorization by Law No. 11.799, of 2008.

This management defines rules for visitation, research, biodiversity conservation, and public use. In sensitive areas, control prevents disorderly tourism, protects aquatic habitats, and guides compatible activities.

Natural heritage reinforces the identity of the city of Novo Airão

The recognition of Anavilhanas enhances the tourist relevance of Novo Airão. Iphan records that the river part of the park, with more than 400 islands, represents 60% of the unit.

The mainland corresponds to the remaining 40% of the 350 thousand hectares. This composition connects city, river, and conservation, strengthening the local identity in the face of a rare territory.

Novo Airão acts as an urban base of a natural labyrinth of the Amazon, where daily life coexists with islands, channels, and flooded forest.

With information from Market Monitor.

City in Brazil swallowed by the largest river archipelago on the planet and by 400 islands looks like a hidden movie set: depends on boats to connect streets, lakes, flooded forests, and channels in the Rio Negro

On the banks of the Rio Negro, Novo Airão serves as an urban base for the Anavilhanas National Park, where hundreds of islands, lakes, channels, and flooded forests shape tourism, conservation, and riverside life

Novo Airão connects city, river, and Anavilhanas

Archipelago gathers islands, lakes, and flooded forest

Streets seem to end at the channels of the Rio Negro

Aquatic complex depends on the pulse of the waters

Environmental management guides visitation and preservation

Natural heritage reinforces the identity of the city of Novo Airão

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City in Brazil swallowed by the largest river archipelago on the planet and by 400 islands looks like a hidden movie set: depends on boats to connect streets, lakes, flooded forests, and channels in the Rio Negro

On the banks of the Rio Negro, Novo Airão serves as an urban base for the Anavilhanas National Park, where hundreds of islands, lakes, channels, and flooded forests shape tourism, conservation, and riverside life

Novo Airão connects city, river, and Anavilhanas

Archipelago gathers islands, lakes, and flooded forest

Streets seem to end at the channels of the Rio Negro

Aquatic complex depends on the pulse of the waters

Environmental management guides visitation and preservation

Natural heritage reinforces the identity of the city of Novo Airão

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Australia installs giant concrete structures on the seabed 800 meters from the shore to create an ocean intake for desalination that will draw in saltwater and produce 30 million liters of drinking water per day.

While cities spend fortunes patching potholes and tons of plastic become waste, the Netherlands transforms over 218,000 recycled cups into a modular bike path that can conceal drainage, cables, and pipes.

A public school student single-handedly created a machine capable of treating water for up to 50 people using only solar energy. It was awarded third place at one of the most important science fairs in the world.

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