Atlantic forest – Wikipedia

The Atlantic forest defined by WWF.

The Atlantic forest (in Portuguese : Atlantic forest ) is a tropical wet forest type biome located along the Brazil coast and which also stretches in the extreme North of Argentina and Paraguay. It is a hot point of biodiversity.

In 1991, the region, on a surface of 89 687 000 ha , is declared a biosphere reserve by UNESCO ^{[ first ]} .

This area stretches over a current area of ​​around 100,000 km ² . The ecosystems are varied, including in particular humid tropical plain and mountain forests, dry forests and mountain savannas. Precipitation is therefore varied and go from 700 to more than 2,000 mm / and According to the region. The Atlantic forest partly encompasses the Brazilian plateau and includes among the highest areas in the country, including the peak of La Bandeira, the third summit in Brazil.

Although extremely degraded, the Atlantic forest concentrates exceptionally dense biodiversity. Because it was separated from the rest of the wooded areas of South America and in particular from the Amazonian basin, by dry savannas, the Atlantic forest has a very high rate of endemism. About 20,000 plant species are counted, 8,000 (40%) which are only in this region ^{[ 2 ]} . Bois-Brazil, for example, produces a red dye like “embers” which gave the name “Brazil. »»

Many species of vertebrates are also present including 934 species of birds, 264 species of mammals, 311 species of reptiles and 456 species of amphibians, with a large number of endemic species in the region ^{[ 2 ]} . Many of these species are extremely threatened such as the Hocco mitou who has disappeared in nature, or the tamarine lions of the genre Leontopithecus to the very small distribution area ^{[ 3 ]} as well as a kind of guinea pig Intermediate guinea pig Present only on the moleque islands do sul and classified in 2012 on the list of 100 species most threatened by the IUCN ^{[ 4 ]} .

Its original extent was approximately 1,290,700 km ² , or 15% of the current Brazilian territory. Today there are only 95,000 km ² , that is to say 7.3% of its initial area ^{[ 5 ]} . It covered large mountain and hills areas in the Hauts-Plateaux. Because of deforestation, mainly since the start of XX ^{It is} A century, it is today extremely reduced in surface, and constitutes one of the most threatened tropical forests in the world. In addition, urbanization represents a threat, the Brazilian coast concentrating almost 70% of the 200 million Brazilians with large metropolises such as São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Recife, Salvador de Bahia or Porto Alegre ^{[ 6 ]} .

Many NGOs work to protect and restore this environment. One of the means used is the creation of organic corridors. The World Bank has donated $ 44 million for the creation of a corridor which will be known as Central Biodiversity Corridor , and another in Amazonia ^{[ 7 ]} . In order to preserve diversity, the state of Sao Paulo created the Restingua State Park in Bertioga, a park of 93 000 hectares which also serves as an organic corridor by connecting coastal regions to the mountain range Serra do Mar ^{[ 8 ]} . Certain organizations, such as The Nature Conservancy, plan to restore parts of the forest that have been lost and build corridors compatible with the lifestyle of indigenous peoples ^{[ 9 ]} . The Franco-Brazilian photographer Sebastião Salgado allowed the almost entire reforestation of a valley thanks to the Terra Institute which he founded, planting 2.5 million trees on 700 hectares, which allowed the return of many species that had deserted the area ^{[ ten ] , [ 11 ]} .

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