Restoring Brazil's Atlantic Forest

The forest corridors that you are helping us restore in Pontal do Paranapanema in Brazil, provide habitat for a number of animal species, many of which are listed as endangered or vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. One of the greatest threats to the survival of these species is, in fact, forest fragmentation. By reconnecting the Atlantic Forest, we are not only making earth cooler but also ensuring that jaguars, ocelots, giant anteaters, pumas and lowland tapirs can move safely across the landscape.

In early 2016, our project partner IPE set up a number of cameras in the newly restored areas to document the animals that pass through them. Their team analyses the images and audio recordings that cameras automatically capture when they detect movement. Data about the species and their migration paths helps us identify forest landscape restoration priorities and suitable methodologies.

The Atlantic Forest is one of the most important biodiversity hotspots in the world but has suffered severe deforestation. Once stretching more than 1.2 million square kilometers across Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay, the forest now retains only about 8% of its original size. A recent study co-authored by Dr. Laury Cullen of IPE found that jaguars lost around 85% of their habitat. Throughout the entirety of the Atlantic Forest, there are fewer than 300 jaguar individuals, scattered across small, isolated sub-populations. If this trend continues, the Atlantic Forest will be the first tropical forest ecoregion to lose a predator on top of its food chain.

However, there is hope. The study identified seven Jaguar Conservation Units: areas with a suitable habitat and a population of male and female jaguars. One of them is located near the Upper Parana-Paranapanema area, where WeForest has already restored more than 500 hectares of forest. Thanks to the footage from the forest cameras, we can see that jaguars and other species enjoy walking among the young trees we planted with your support.

More photos of jaguars and other species moving through the forest corridors are available here.