IRREPLACEABLE
The Atlantic Forest is home to
nearly 100 endemic reptiles
Photo Carlos Gussoni
ust a hundred years ago, the Atlantic
Forest of South America was one of
the largest in the world – spanning
more than one million square
kilometres. Today, however, this crucial habitat
is a mere sliver of what it once was - with only
eight percent of the original forest remaining,
in sparse and isolated fragments. As a result of
logging, urban development and the spread of
invasive species, the once-imposing Atlantic
Forest has become a fragile ecosystem that we
are in grave danger of losing forever.
Stretching across the eastern coastlines of
Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay, the Atlantic
Forest, even in its current impoverished state,
remains an incredible collection of eco-regions
that house biodiversity to rival the Amazon.
Inside its boundaries are species not found
anywhere else on the planet: roughly 8,000
species of plants, 90 mammals, 94 reptiles, 286
amphibians and 133 species of freshwater fish.
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The destruction of this incredible forest
began centuries ago, when European colonists
began cutting down the forest for timber
and converting land to cultivate sugar cane,
chocolate and coffee. And human activity has
only increased: currently, the Atlantic Forest
coexists alongside a population of more than
148 million people. Two of the largest cities
in the world – San Pablo and Rio de Janeiro
– are located right in the heart of this forest,
and to accommodate this, large swathes
of surrounding forest have been converted
into soya plantations, pineapple farms and
ranchlands where cattle graze. Its vegetation
has been felled indiscriminately and many of the
OCT-DEC 2019 • BIRDLIFE
Yellow-fronted Woodpecker
Melanerpes flavifrons
Photo Emilio White
plants and animals within the forest have been
exploited to the point where they now teeter on
the border of extinction.
The few fragments of forest which remain
continue to deteriorate due to illegal logging,
urban expansion and the illegal trafficking of
wildlife. These threats are the same in every
country which houses the Atlantic Forest,
although the local pressures for each country
are unique.
But in unity there is strength, and BirdLife
Partners in all three countries have banded
together to protect what remains of this
irreplaceable forest and restore parts thought
to be lost forever. In 2018, the Aage V. Jensen
Charity Foundation, who have kindly funded
local work in Brazilian and Paraguayan sections
of the Atlantic Forest since 2004, awarded
BirdLife International a grant to assist with
the long-term conservation and restoration
of the Atlantic Forest. This investment will
considerably scale up our Partners’ activities
over the following four years, and will centre
around two main strategies. The first is to create
buffer zones of sustainable habitat management
around the forest. The second is to focus on
protecting 13 threatened bird species – of
which six are Critically Endangered, two are
Endangered and five classified as Vulnerable.
This cross-border partnership has the potential
to protect over one million hectares of IBAs.
ARGENTINA: PROTECTING THE
PROVINCE THAT HOUSES NEARLY HALF
THE ATLANTIC FOREST
Defined by its red earth and stunning waterfalls,
the rugged Misiones Province is home to over
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