Atlantic Forest - Conservation and Nongovernmental Organizations

Conservation and Nongovernmental Organizations

Due to the Atlantic Forest’s vast diversity of endemic plants and animals as well as the fragmentation affecting these species, many groups and organizations are working towards the restoration of this unique ecosystem. Non-governmental Organizations (NGO) are huge benefactors in Brazil, providing funding as well as professional help to the Atlantic Forest due to the Brazilian Environmental Movement. One organization, called BirdLife International, is using their research to preserve bird biodiversity of the area by primarily working with people towards sustainability in the use of natural resources.

Some organizations are receiving grants from the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF) if they abide by their directions. These include:

• Species protection program
• The Program for Supporting Private Natural Heritage Reserves
• The Institutional Strengthening Program

Another strategy being implemented to maintain biodiversity within the Atlantic Forest is creating wildlife corridors. The World Bank is donating $44 million to create a corridor, which will be known as the Central Biodiversity Corridor, in the Atlantic Forest and one in the Amazon. The Brazilian Development Bank has been financing, with non-reimbursable loans, 16 to 18 ecosystem restoration projects totaling 3,500 hectares and costing approximately $22 million under the so-called Iniciativa BNDES Mata Atlântica. In order to preserve diversity, the state of Sao Paulo has created the Restinga de Bertioga State Park, a 9.3 thousand hectares park which is also serves as a wildlife corridor linking the coastal regions to the Serra do Mar mountain range. Some organizations, such as the Nature Conservancy, are planning to restore parts of the forest that have been lost and to build corridors that are compatible with the lifestyles of the native people. The Amazon Institute is active in reforestation efforts in the northeastern state of Pernambuco, Brazil. During 2007, Joao Milanez and Joanne Stanulonis have planted 5,500 new trees in the mountains commencing with Gravata, adding to the precious little, ancient forest left.

The Pact for Atlantic Forest Restoration has assembled over 100 businesses, nongovernmental and governmental organizations around the goal of having 15 million hectares of the original ecosystem restored by 2050.