The Ducke Forest Reserve (Reserva Florestal Ducke) is one of the most important research bases of the National Research Institute of Amazonia (Instituto Nacional e Pesuisas da Amazônia - INPA). Although this reserve stands out in the scientific milieu, the documents produced and accumulated during its existence were disorganized. By undertaking an intense collection of documents, these archives were rescued and safeguarded. In the present article, the results of this experience are related. The safeguarding of the document patrimony of the Ducke Reserve was undertaken in three stages: first - collecting documents; second - putting the material collected into digital notation; and third - the compilation of research instruments. Having collected and organized the material, a source of edition was carried out as well as two documentary and bibliographic catalogues The documentary patrimony of the Ducke Reserve presented multiple possibilities of thematic studies based on the contents of the documents. In this sense, some thematic annotations were made about the documents, emphasizing the following: Adolfo Ducke, creation of the reserve, infrastructure, research, illegal occupation, degradation versus preservation of the botanical garden. Finally, the results of this research are expected to disseminate and facilitate public access to the documents on Ducke Reserve and consequently reveal hidden and forgotten facts along its existence.
Digitization of collections; Forest Reserve Ducke; Preservation of documents
