The municipality shot to fame in December 2006, when a Brazilian maths teacher by the name of Ivani Valentim da Silva posted descriptions of miners scooping up thousands of dollars in gold in the area. In just three months, between 3,000 and 10,000 people poured into the area, cutting down trees, diverting streams and digging wildcat mines. The city was nicknamed Eldorado do Juma after the mythical El Dorado.[citation needed]
Geography
Conservation
The municipality contains 92% of the 2,467,244 hectares (6,096,690 acres) Apuí Mosaic, a jointly-managed collection of conservation units.[2]
It contains the 808,312 hectares (1,997,380 acres) Sucunduri State Park, created in 2005.[3]
It also contains the 492,905 hectares (1,217,990 acres) Sucunduri State Forest, a sustainable use conservation unit created in 2005.[4]
It contains 72% of the 150,465 hectares (371,810 acres) Guariba Extractive Reserve, also created in 2005.[5]
It also contains the 113,606 hectares (280,730 acres) Bararati Sustainable Development Reserve, created at the same time.[6]
The municipality contains part of the 1,958,200 hectares (4,839,000 acres) Juruena National Park, one of the largest conservation units in Brazil, created by decree on 5 June 2006.[7]
It also contains part of the 896,411 hectares (2,215,080 acres) Acari National Park created by president Dilma Rousseff in 2016 in the last week before her provisional removal from office.[8]
The municipality contains about 17% of the 751,302 hectares (1,856,510 acres) Aripuanã National Forest, a sustainable development unit created at the same time.[9]