Forests

Two-thirds of the forests around the world are concentrated in 10 countries: Russia (809 million hectares), Brazil (576), Canada (310), United States (303), China (197), Australia (164), Democratic Republic of Congo (134), Indonesia (88), Peru (69) and India (68), according to a report released by the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Natios (FAO).

In the whole world, 37% of existing forests are of the primary type, which have not suffered human intervention. In these forests, ecological processes have not been significantly disturbed. However, according to the FAO survey, part of the rare species of trees in these forests and woods that have high commercial value are at risk of extinction due to the increase in deforestation.

Brazilian forests

Amazon

The Legal Amazon area (the area encompassing the states of Acre, Amapá, Amazonas, Mato Grosso, Pará, Rondônia, Roraima, Tocantins and part of Maranhão) covers some 5 million square kilometers, of which forests occupy 3.3 million square kilometers, 40% of the Brazilian territory.

As the last large continuous area of tropical rainforest, the region has the greatest biodiversity in the world. It is estimated that only 10% of its biodiversity has already been cataloged. In addition to 18 million people who live in the area, there are 1,500 described species of fish (the actual number is believed to be at least twice this size), with about 10 million species of insects, 324 species of mammals and 300 species of snakes and lizards (reptiles). Concerning plants, it is estimated that there are 5 to 30 million species, only 30 thousand of which have already been identified.

Moreover, from all the water that pours into the oceans from all the rivers of the planet 1/5 comes from the Amazon basin, which covers 3.9 million square kilometers, 45% of the Brazilian territory. The Amazon River has more than 7 thousand tributary rivers and has 25 thousand kilometers of inland waterways, reaching depths of 120 meters in several places.

Atlantic Rainforest

Before the devastation caused by man, the Atlantic Rainforest expanded to 1.3 million square kilometers starting at the state of Rio Grande do Sul following the Brazilian coast up to the state of Piauí, through what now comprises 17 states and 15% of the Brazilian territory, and parts of Paraguay and Argentina .

However, today 93% of this biome has been devastated because the region is close to the coast where around 62% of the Brazilian population, about 110 million people, lives. These people depend on the conservation of what remains of the forest to ensure their water supply, soil fertility and climate regulation, to name only a few items.

The Atlantic Rainforest also comprises seven of the nine major river basins of the country and its lakes and rivers (including the São Francisco, Paraná, Tietê, Paraiba do Sul, Doce and Iguape rivers), which host rich ecosystems.

The biome comprises 261 species of mammals, including the golden lion tamarin (also known as golden marmoset, in Portuguese: mico-leão-dourado), the jaguar, the sloth and capybara, 620 species of birds, 200 reptiles, 280 amphibians and 350 fish, of which 567 are endemic, that is to say typical to the region. However, according to the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA), the Atlantic Forest is home to 383 of the 633 animal species threatened by extinction in Brazil.

This is not only due to the forest being reduced to 7.3% of its original cover, but also to suffering from predatory hunting and fishing, the introduction of exotic animals into the Atlantic Rainforest ecosystems, the deterioration and the removal of animal habitats caused by agricultural expansion and livestock raising, by urbanization and the poorly planned implementation of infrastructure works.

One of the richest forests in biodiversity on the planet, it has about 20 thousand plant species, 8 thousand of which are endemic. In southern Bahia, home to the largest botanical diversity in the world regarding woody plants, 454 species were recently discovered to coexist in only one hectare.

Conservation

Various efforts are being made by government and non-governmental organizations to ensure the preservation of the Atlantic Rainforest. Among these are projects developed by Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama), the Bioregional Management of the Baturité Range, the Atlantic Ecologic Corridor of Santa Catarina and the Ecologic Biodiversity Corridor of the Paraná River. Moreover, conservation units (UCs) have been created, which are areas defined by the government in order to protect the biodiversity of a region.

In the Atlantic Rainforest today there are about 860 protected areas, ranging from small sites transformed into Private Reserves of Natural Heritage (RPPNs) to huge areas like the State Park in Serra do Mar, which extends to 315 hectares. Several studies and initiatives have also been developed in recent years, generating a wealth of significant knowledge and experience, and laws are being created to ensure the protection of the biome