EXPLORE BRAZIL’S ATLANTIC FOREST SOUTH-EAST RESERVES with this slideshow, check the location map and get all the facts and information below.
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Location and Values: Brazil’s Atlantic Forest South-East Reserves protect some of the last remaining fragments of South America’s Atlantic rainforests in 25 separate reserves. This is an area of exceptional biological value with very high numbers of plant and animal species as well as many found nowhere else on Earth. It is also an area of outstanding natural beauty with mountains covered in dense forests, caves, wetlands, coastal islands, mangroves and extensive dunes.
Conservation Status and Prospects. According to IUCN’s recent Conservation Outlook Assessment there is significant concern over the conservation status of Brazil’s Atlantic Forest South-East Reserves. The IUCN report notes that ‘this serial property is a most encouraging response to the fate of the biome and recognition of its global importance. The establishment of protected areas within the remaining Atlantic Forest was an important step to prevent the irreversible loss of a unique and exceptionally diverse forest ecosystem altogether. However, many of the conservation units that are included in the Atlantic Forest South-East Reserves are very small and vulnerable to outside influences and no broad-scale information about the spatial distribution of Atlantic Forest remnants exist that could guide conservation actions, especially when systematic biodiversity data are not available. However, there are important continuous blocks including Serra do Mar, Carlos Botelho and Intervales which urgently require increased protection to ensure long-term conservation of the area and remaining connectivity. Much of the implementation, in particular as regards coordination of efforts between actors and stakeholders, remains to be consolidated. Urgent action is needed to improve integrity and mitigate the existing threats, including ongoing illegal resource extraction and land use. Additional concerns refer specifically to human disturbance in the sensitive coastal areas. In the buffer zone agriculture, ranching, plantation forestry, infrastructure development and mining add up to put increasing pressure on the property. If predicated climate change is added to the factors, considerable erosion of important conservation values seems highly likely in the absence of major responses.’
Links:
Google Earth
Official UNESCO Site Details
IUCN Conservation Outlook
UNEP-WCMC Site Description
Birdlife IBA
Slideshow description
The photos in this slideshow are intended to ‘tell the story’ of Brazil’s Atlantic Forest South-East Reserves, showing the area’s landscapes, plants and animals, people, threats and conservation needs. It includes recent photographs from various parts of the world heritage site, including the coastal area around Peruibe (Jureia-Itatina Ecological Station), and the highland State Parks of PETAR (Parque Estadual Turistico do Alto Ribeira) and Carlos Botelho. This page of the website is still under development and a more detailed description of the various aspects of the site which are illustrated in the slideshow will be included in due course – so please come back again soon!
Factfile
Website Category: Tropical & Sub-tropical Forests
Area: 4,682 km2
Inscribed: 1999
Criteria:
- Outstanding natural beauty (vii);
- Ecological processes (ix);
- Natural habitat for biodiversity (x);
- Significant number of rare, endemic and/or endangered species (x)
