Protected Areas

Biodiversity RecordsThe Atlantic Forest is a “hotspot”: areservoir of high biodiversity, but atthe same time, under serious threat ofdestruction. Many Atlantic Forest speciesare endemic and endangered. Endemicmeans that they cannot be found in anyother place on the planet.The Atlantic Forest still contains morethan 20 thousand plant species, of which8 thousand are endemic. To give you anidea of how incredible these numbersare, just compare them to the estimatesof some continents: 17,000 species inNorth America, 12,500 in Europe. TheAtlantic Forest in the south of Bahiaholds the world record of diversity in treespecies in a single hectare: 454 distinctspecies.The preservation of remaining patches ofAtlantic Forest is essential to safeguardthe fauna. In total, the Atlantic Forestcontains 849 bird species, 370amphibian species, 200 reptiles, 270mammals and close to 350 fish species.What is really impressive is the enormousamount of endemic species: 73 mammalspecies, among them 21 primate species.Atlantic Forest LandscapesThe Atlantic Forest is composed ofvarious different ecosystems, conferring alarge variety of landscapes.• Dense Rain Forest- Stretching fromCeará to Rio Grande do Sul, locatedmainly along the foothills of the Serrado Mar and of the Serra Geral mountainranges and in islands located on the coastbetween the states of Paraná and Rio deJaneiro. It is marked by tall treetops thatform a canopy.• Mixed Rain Forest with Araucariaangustifolia– Known as Araucaria Forest,since the Brazilian Pine (Araucariaangustifolia) constitutes the canopy,with a considerably dense understory.It survives in the plateaus of the statesof Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarinaand Paraná, and can be found innoncontiguous patches in the moreelevated parts of the states of São Paulo,Rio de Janeiro and southern MinasGerais.• Open Rain Forest - The vegetation ismore open, without the presence of aclosed canopy. Located in regions wherethe climate presents a period of two to, atthe most, four dry months, with mediantemperatures between 24º C and 25º C.It is located, for example, in the states ofMinas Gerais, Espírito Santo and Alagoas.•Semi-deciduous Seasonal Forest -Known as Interior Forests, located inthe Brazilian plateau, in the states ofSão Paulo, Paraná, Minas Gerais, MatoGrosso do Sul, Santa Catarina and RioGrande do Sul. Some enclaves occur inthe Northeast, such as in the states ofBahia and Piauí.• Deciduous Seasonal Forest - One ofthe most threatened, with few remainingareas in the states of Bahia, MinasGerais, Espírito Santo, São Paulo andRio de Janeiro. Its vegetation occurs inlocations with two very well demarcatedseasons: a rainy one, followed by a longdry period. More than 50% of the treeslose their leaves during the dry season.Some enclaves occur in the Northeast,such as in the state of Piauí.• Natural Grasslands -Normally occur inelevations and on mountain ridgelinesand peaks, in montane and high montaneenvironments, associated or not to forestfragments. The characteristic vegetationis formed by grassland communities,21