Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Second Atlas of the Mata Atlantica

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SAO PAULO, Dec 23 2006 (IPS) - Less than seven percent of the Brazilian coastal forest ecosystem, the Mata Atlantica, remains intact, compared to its area in 1500, according to a study by the SOS Mata Atlantica Foundation and the National Institute of Space Research. The areas that saw the most deforestation since 2000 are concentrated in the more economically and socially developed states of the southern Mata, which extended across 1.36 million square kilometers, or about 15 percent of Brazilian territory.

“We invite the public to learn about the state of this biome. Data and maps are available at the portal www.sosma.org.br,” Marcia Hirota, director of SOS Mata Atlantica, told Tierramérica.

The first atlas of the remaining forest dates back to 1990. Since then, there has been a greater public mobilization in defense of the Mata, and Congress recently passed a law to protect the ecosystem — after 14 years.