The Atlantic forest—covering parts of Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina—is one of the richest rain forests in the world, boasting of even richer biodiversity per acre than the Amazon.
However, the region houses 75 per cent of the Brazilian population which places a lot of pressure on the forests. Deforestation is mainly due to conversion of forest lands into croplands for pasture. According to a UNEP release, the 1960s and 1970s saw rapid deforestation of Brazil’s Atlantic rainforest, Mata Atlantica, to supply wood to saw mills and provide land for cattle grazing.
Eighty-five per cent of the forest has been lost and the remaining forest areas exists in pockets, says this non-profit.
A local mill planted trees on some 91,000 hectares and reports show that forest area reserved for conservation is now regenerating naturally.
But the Atlantic forest continues to fight for survival against urbanisation, with large cities like Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo in Brazil expanding inward.