A MIDA case study on Brazil's Atlantic Forest, a complex mosaic of the world's largest Biosphere Reserve, three World Heritage Sites and a Ramsar Site that delivers ecosystem services to tens of millions of people.
Description
The Mata Atlântica once blanketed Brazil's eastern and southeastern seaboard and stretched into Argentina and Paraguay; although only about 10% of the original cover remains, it is still a living mosaic of mangroves, marshes, sand spits and upland grasslands with extraordinary endemism. Designated in 1991, the Mata Atlântica Biosphere Reserve spans nearly 90 million hectares across 17 states, making it the largest in the world, with hundreds of core zones and buffer areas functioning as ecological corridors for wildlife from golden lion tamarins to jaguars; over half the tree species and nearly 40% of mammals are found nowhere else. UNESCO inscribed the Discovery Coast Atlantic Forest Reserves, spanning 112,000 ha across Bahia and Espírito Santo, and the Atlantic Forest South-East Reserves, protecting 25 areas across Paraná and São Paulo, as World Heritage Sites in 1999, followed by the mixed site of Paraty and Ilha Grande in 2019, while the Environmental Protection Area of Cananéia-Iguape-Peruíbe was designated a Ramsar Site in 2017. Surrounding major cities such as Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, the forest filters water, stores carbon, regulates climate and protects soils. Over 145 million Brazilians live within the biome and 40 million inside the Biosphere Reserve itself, where Payments for Environmental Services (PES) incentivise wise use and local stewardship.
