Atlantic Forest

You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Portuguese. (August 2024) Click [show] for important translation instructions. View a machine-translated version of the Portuguese article. Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing Portuguese Wikipedia article at [[:pt:Mata Atlântica]]; see its history for attribution. You may also add the template {{Translated|pt|Mata Atlântica}} to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.

Atlantic Forest Mata Atlântica
Area of the Atlantic Forest in Serra do Mar
Map
Map of the Atlantic Forest ecoregions as delineated by the WWF. The yellow line approximately encloses the forest's distribution. (Satellite image from NASA)
Geography
Location	Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay
Area	1,315,460 km2 (507,900 sq mi)

Discovery Coast Atlantic Forest Reserves

UNESCO World Heritage Site
Atlantic Forest in Bahia State, Brazil
Location	Brazil
Includes	Una Biological Reserve, PAU Brazil CEPLAC Experimental Station, Veracruz Station, Pau Brasil National Park, Descobrimento National Park, Monte Pascoal National Park, Linhares Forest Reserve and Sooretama Biological Reserve
Criteria	Natural: ix, x
Reference	892
Inscription	1999 (23rd Session)
Area	111,930 ha

Atlantic Forest South-East Reserves

UNESCO World Heritage Site
View from a trail in the Salto Morato Reserve
Official name	Atlantic Forest South-East Reserves
Location	Paraná and São Paulo, Brazil
Includes	25 protected areas
Criteria	Natural: (vii)(ix)(x)
Reference	893rev
Inscription	1999 (23rd Session)
Area	468,193 ha (1,807.70 sq mi)
Coordinates	24°10′S 48°0′W / 24.167°S 48.000°W / -24.167; -48.000

The Atlantic Forest (Portuguese: Mata Atlântica) is a South American forest that extends along the Atlantic coast of Brazil from Rio Grande do Norte state in the northeast to Rio Grande do Sul state in the south and inland as far as Paraguay and the Misiones Province of Argentina, where the region is known as Selva Misionera.

The Atlantic Forest has ecoregions within the following biome categories: seasonal moist and dry broad-leaf tropical forests, tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands, and mangrove forests. The Atlantic Forest is characterized by a high biodiversity and endemism.^[1]

It was the first environment that the Portuguese colonists encountered over 500 years ago, when it was thought to have had an area of 1,000,000–1,500,000 km² (390,000–580,000 sq mi), and stretching an unknown distance inland, making it, back then, the second largest rainforest on the planet, only behind the Amazon rainforest.^[2] Over 85% of the original area has been deforested, threatening many plant and animal species with extinction.^[3][4][5]