Mata Atlântica

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Mata Atlântica in the Serra do Mar overlooking the Bay of Antonina, Paraná

The Mata Atlântica (German Atlantic Rainforest ) is a tropical / subtropical form of vegetation that extends on the east coast of Brazil from Rio Grande do Norte to Rio Grande do Sul and in the interior of the continent to Goiás , Mato Grosso do Sul , Argentina and Paraguay . It is through the savannah region ( Cerrado ) of the central plateaus and through the northeastern dry areas ( Sertão ) of the much larger and better known tropical rainforestof the Amazon basin .

Area

Original extent of the Atlantic rainforest according to WWF in the NASA satellite image.

Due to the deforestation, which mainly took place in the 20th century, the area was extremely reduced. The Mata Atlântica is one of the most threatened tropical forests today. The biodiversity is one of the highest in the world, although only incoherent remnants still exist. The Mata Atlântica not only covered the often narrow coastal plains, but also the steep slopes of the Brazilian highlands in particular, resulting in great differences in vegetation and wildlife in a very small space. The steep slopes are still the best-preserved sections of the forest, even near major cities like São Paulo or Rio de Janeiro . In total it was about 1,290,000 km², 15% of the area of ​​Brazil, 1% is left. Of the 95,000 km² that are left, 75% are endangered. International and national protective measures are necessary. Relatively small areas fall under the SNUC ( Sistema Nacional de Unidades de Conservação ) as national parks or the like . Effective protection is often not possible due to a lack of on-site personnel.

In 1993, the Atlantic Forest has been in 14 states of Brazil to UNESCO - Biosphere Reserve declared. 17 states were more or less covered by the Mata Atlântica. From north to south these are (each with the proportion of the total area of ​​the state):

history

Waterfall near Curitiba

Due to the trade winds , the Mata Atlântica stretches unusually far into subtropical regions as a tropical forest. This was not always the case, during the Ice Age large areas were dry forest or even semi-deserts .

The exploration and development of Brazil by Europeans began from numerous coastal locations from its discovery in 1500. Early reports call the coastal jungle a dense, almost untouched forest that was inhabited by numerous indigenous peoples, including the Wassu , Pataxó , Tupiniquim , Gerén , Guarani , Krenak , Kaiowa , Nandeva , Terena , Kadiweu , Potiguar , Kaingang and Guarani M ' Bya .

In 1502 the first commercial contract for the exploitation of the wood was signed; the Brazilian wood gave the country its name ( Terra Brasilis ). In addition to wood, the Europeans obtained jaguars , hides from snakes, capybaras , caimans and other animals, turtle shells and feathers from the coastal forest .

In northeastern Brazil, the coastal forest has been almost completely cleared for the cultivation of sugar cane . In the south, coffee growing became the main cause of deforestation .

Between 1990 and 1995 about 5000 km² were cleared, in relation to the area that is more than in the Amazon region . The largest forest areas are still in Rio de Janeiro , Minas Gerais , São Paulo and Paraná , especially in the first three the stock is under pressure due to urbanization and sprawl.

A study published in 2009 shows that 80 percent of the remaining forest area consists of pieces less than 0.5 square kilometers that are on average 1.4 kilometers apart; this makes the migration of animals between the remaining areas extremely difficult. In addition, only 14 percent of these areas are designated as protected areas.

biodiversity

The biodiversity of the Mata Atlântica is higher than that of the Amazon basin . Due to the differences in altitude and latitude, the differences in flora and fauna are very high. Because of the high rainfall, especially on the mountain slopes, there is dense vegetation. Trees up to 60 meters high form a closed green blanket under which there is an ever-humid and shady microclimate. Different types of plants grow in several layers.

Typical and common plants are mosses , cipós , bromeliads and orchids . Including the insects, there are supposedly 1.6 million species. At least 8,000 plant and animal species are endemic : 55% of tree species, 70% of bromeliads, 64% of palms, 39% of mammals, 160 species of birds and 183 amphibians. Many species are certain to have died out before they were cataloged. Endangered species are z. B. Ring-necked sloth , marmosets and lion tamarins .

Protection of the Mata Atlântica

Dedo de Deus (“God's Finger”) rock formation in the Serra dos Órgãos National Park
Tijuca National Park , in the urban area of ​​Rio de Janeiro

More than 90 percent of the Mata Atlantica have been destroyed to this day. In 1988, the Mata Atlântica was protected by the constitution as a national heritage . Laws meanwhile regulate that the primeval forest is protected and that the exploitation of the secondary forest is regulated. Depending on the commitment of regional institutions and people, the destruction is stopped or the area is expanded with native vegetation. Yet Brazil has lost 45,000 square kilometers of protected areas in the past three decades. Existing reserves are repeatedly haunted by illegal loggers, gold diggers, farmers, fishermen and hunters.

There are 712 protected areas (131 state, 443 state, 14 urban, 124 private). Some of the most famous are:

In 1999 UNESCO designated two areas as World Heritage Sites : the Southeast Mata Atlântica in São Paulo and Paraná and the Costa do Descobrimento (“Coast of Discovery”) in Bahia and Espírito Santo .

Many citizen groups and non-governmental organizations across the country, mainly in the south and southeast, work for the protection and reforestation of the Mata Atlântica. They networked through the speech of the ONG's Mata Atlântica .

economy

About 2/3 of the Brazilian population live in the former area of ​​the Mata Atlântica. Today's economic use has little to do with the earlier vegetation. The headwaters of many rivers and their role as climate regulators are important today. New uses are the research of plants for medicinal purposes and ecotourism .

See also

Web links

Commons : Mata Atlântica  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Milton Cezar Ribeiro et al .: The Brazilian Atlantic Forest: How much is left, and how is the remaining forest distributed? Implications for conservation . In: Biological Conservation . tape 142 (6) , 2009, pp. 1141-1153 , doi : 10.1016 / j.biocon.2009.02.021 .
  2. ↑ Brazil: No growth at the expense of nature wwf.de