THE MOST DANGEROUS SPECIES ON THE PLANET

The Atlantic Forest is a rainforest biome. The incidence of light, temperature and availability of water, rainfall regime and soil composition form dense ecosystems in these forests where a large part of the planet biodiversity is concentrated, including half of species of existing fauna and flora. Present in Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina, the Atlantic Forest has 163 thousand km², a little more than 12% of its original extension, fragmented and degraded by human action. It remains a precious life treasure formed by different types of ecosystems; also river basins, rivers and aquifers are located in the Atlantic Forest.

Besides us, thousands of species live in the Atlantic Forest; among the most well-known are 20 thousand species of plants with 8 thousand being endemic, that is, they live in this biome only; 298 species of mammals, 200 species of reptiles, 370 of amphibians, 350 of fishes, 992 of birds in addition to insects and other invertebrate animals. Its flora is also exuberant with estimates of 16 thousand species; the Atlantic Forest covers less than 1% of the planet land surface, but it is the home of more than 5% of vertebrate species and 5% of the world flora; but many species living therein are at risk: out of the 633 species of endangered animals in Brazil 383 live in the Atlantic Forest.

The high rates of species extinctions indicate that the global diversity is endangered. The organization International Conservation keeps a list of the planet regions that concentrate most of the global diversity but which are endangered by human pressure – the so-called biodiversity hotspots. In total there are 35 regions including the Atlantic Forest spread out through America, Caribbean, Europe, Africa, Asia and Oceania, most of them in the tropics region. Hotspots gather 50% of global biological heritage in only 2.3% of the planet surface. More than half of species of plants and almost half of species of birds, mammals reptiles and amphibians live in these sites only; to be a hotspot the region should have 30% or less of its original vegetation although sheltering at least 1.500 species of plants that live in these environments only. In Brazil the Cerrado is also part of this list of irreplaceable and endangered sites.

In the 15th century the Europeans with their great navigations discovered America and its rainforest paths; but the Atlantic Forest was already occupied by humans more than 10 thousand years ago. Originally the Forest would cover an area equivalent to 1.315.460 km2 – an extension larger than many countries, for instance France and Spain – spreading out from north to south of the Country, predominantly on the coastline, although it would also advance on the continent inland. But the arrival of Europeans started the transformation of the landscape with exploration of the forest for economic purposes and construction of the first hamlets similar to European cities. First came the extraction of pau-brasil which dyeing essence extracted from the wood was used for dye of fabrics and production of paints serving the European trade. Then other economic cycles such as sugarcane, coffee and gold continued with deforestation for centuries on end by degrading the habitat of thousands of species.

The data on the deforestation of Atlantic Forest were announced by the Foundation SOS Mata Atlântica and INPE – National Institute of Spatial Research; the study points out to a deforestation of 184 km² over the biome in 2014 and 2015, including a 1.69 km2 deforestation arising out of the breach of the Fundão mining waste dam in the city of Mariana, Minas Gerais, which caused a huge environmental disaster in the Doce River. Between 2010 and 2015 the annual rate varied between 140 km2 and 240 km2; it was much worse before. Between 1985 and 1995 this rate was above 1.000 km2; from 1995 to 2005 it dropped from 891 km2 to 349 km2, and in 2010 was above 151 km2. Adding all that deforestation reached more than 4.769 km2 in the last three decades; but the result from little more of five hundred years of deforestation is that the Atlantic Forest which originally occupied large part of the territory is now fragmented and reduced to the Serra do Mar scarps and slopes.

The Atlantic Forest offers essential resources to the Brazilians life; among them are the help in the climate regulation, the water springs, soil fertility in addition to the purification of air. The Forest also contributes to the protection of soil, rivers and springs, providing the water supply in the cities; the estimate is that 100 million Brazilians benefit from the Atlantic Forest water resources. Additionally the forest is also important to the economy – when not predatory – including fishing, extractive activities, power generation and tourism.