10/30/2015

AbouttheAtlanticForestinBrazil|TheNatureConservancy

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AbouttheAtlanticForestinBrazil

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AtlanticForest

TheAtlanticForestharborsarangeofbiologicaldiversitysimilarto
thatoftheAmazon.
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Five hundred years ago, the Atlantic Forest of Brazil covered approximately 330 million acres
(about twice the size of Texas), but today more than 85% of this forest has been cleared
and what remains is highly fragmented.
Despite its diminished state, the Atlantic Forest still ranks as a global conservation priority.
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Although it is just a small fraction of the size of the great Amazon rainforest, the Atlantic
Forest still harbors of a range of biological diversity similar to that of the Amazon.
Brazils eastern seaboard has always been the main locus of
its population and industry. Today it accounts for 70% of
Brazils population, including megacities like Rio de Janeiro
and Sao Paulo, and about 80% of its gross domestic product.
The Atlantic Forest has thus endured the brunt of Brazils
population growth and development ever since Europeans first
landed in Brazil in 1500. At present, less than 2% of the
whole biome is under protected status.
LOCATION
The Atlantic Forest domain stretches from the northeastern to the southern regions of Brazil
and northern Argentina and southeastern Paraguay. In the northeastern part of Brazil it
occupies a thin coastal strip not exceeding 40 miles in width, while in the south it extends
from the coast to as far as 200 miles inland.
MAJOR HABITAT TYPE
Moist tropical forest
ANIMALS
The Atlantic Forest harbors around 2,200 species of birds, mammals, reptiles and
amphibians 5% of the vertebrates on Earth. This includes nearly 200 bird species found
nowhere else, and 60% of all of Brazils threatened animal species call this forest home.
Brazil as a whole is the worlds leader in primate diversity, with 77 species and subspecies
identified to date. Of these, 26 are found in the Atlantic forest, of which 21 are found
nowhere else in the world.
Some of the Atlantic Forests most charismatic species include the golden lion tamarin,
wooly spider monkey, redtailed parrot, and maned threetoed sloth.
PLANTS
The Atlantic Forest of Brazil is also home to around 20,000 species of plants, representing
8% of the Earths plants. In fact, in the 1990s researchers from the New York Botanical
Garden counted 458 tree species in 2.5 acres more than double the number of tree
species in the entire U.S. eastern seaboard. New species of flora and fauna continue to be
discovered.
The forest structure of the Atlantic Forest contains multiple canopies that support an
extremely rich vegetation mix. This includes an astonishing diversity of ferns, mosses and
epiphytes (air plants or plants that attach to other plants), including lianas, orchids and
bromeliads.
WHY THE CONSERVANCY WORKS HERE
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The remaining 12% of the Atlantic Forest is still among the biologically richest and most
diverse forests in the world and exhibits a high number of species that can be found nowhere
else on Earth.
The most acute risk to the survival of the Atlantic Forests biodiversity is the very fragmented
state of forest remnants and their ecological isolation from one another.
The primary continuing threats to these fragments include:

Illegal logging and extractive activities of valuable timber species

Land conversion to pasture, agriculture, and forest plantations
Expansion of urban areas and suburban development
These stresses not only threaten the Atlantic Forests biological diversity, but they are also
threats to the Atlantic Forests poorer traditional rural communities whose livelihoods are
directly linked to the conservation and sustainable use of natural resources.
WHAT THE CONSERVANCY IS DOING
The Nature Conservancy, which has been working in the Atlantic Forest since 1991 with a
wide range of partners, has an ambitious plan to protect and restore 30 million acres of this
magnificent forest by 2015.
Rebuilding the Atlantic Forest means stitching together a mosaic of land in various stages of
development and in different uses. The concept that underlies this effort is the development of
forest corridors. From a biodiversity perspective, these corridors, which are contiguous
swaths of land covering thousands to millions of acres, are critical to conservation because
they assure genetic exchange between populations. This allows for the survival of the
greatest possible spectrum of species.
In order to build forest corridors it is necessary to first identify key areas for biodiversity
conservation, then reestablish connection among isolated forest patches through creating
public and private protected areas and restoring deforested zones.
Yet, to develop viable Atlantic Forest corridors, the needs of people living in the region
cannot be ignored. Development of economic alternatives that are compatible with forest
protection is imperative.
In order to create these enormous forest corridors, the Conservancys Atlantic Forest
Conservation Program is implementing strategies that fall into tightly integrated strategies:

The creation and effective conservation of public protected areas

The creation of private reserves
The restoration of degraded forests
The implementation of Water Producer Programs
In 2008, the Conservancy also launched an ambitious campaign to restore one billion native
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trees to the Atlantic Forest, bringing it back from the brink of destruction.

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