The Canutama Extractive Reserve was created by Amazonas state decree 28421 of 27 March 2009. The conservation unit was created with five others totalling to help meet the requirements for granting an environmental license to reconstruction work on the
BR-319 highway that connects
Porto Velho to
Manaus. The minister of the environment defended implementation of what he called a "green pocket" around the highway. On 16 November 2009 the
Instituto Nacional de Colonização e Reforma Agrária (INCRA – National Institute for Colonization and Agrarian Reform) recognised the reserve as supporting 200 families who would be eligible for
PRONAF. The state-level conservation units in the BR-319 corridor are the
Piagaçu-Purus,
Rio Amapá,
Rio Madeira,
Igapó-Açu and
Matupiri sustainable development reserves, Canutama Extractive Reserve,
Canutama State Forest,
Tapauá State Forest and
Matupiri State Park. In December 2012 the Amazonas state government allocated more than R$6 million to these nine units, covering and 143 communities, to be coordinated by the State Center for Conservation Units (CEUC). The funding was for development of management plans, creation of management councils,
environmental monitoring, land survey, and production and marketing. The management plan was approved on 22 July 2014. As of 2016 the reserve was supported by the
Amazon Region Protected Areas Program. ==Notes==