MISIONES REGION TRI-NATIONAL ATLANTIC FOREST CONSERVATION PROJECT


(Project 9L0701)

T


he Atlantic forest region is among the most endangered tropical ecosystems on Earth. Once spanning the entire Atlantic coast of Brazil, and inland as far as eastern Argentina and Paraguay, today the forest is reduced to isolated fragments. These forest patches are found in areas of widely differing latitude, altitude, climate, and soil type, leading to astounding biological species diversity. Besides being a genetic bank, the remaining forest fragments play a crucial role in watershed protection, prevention of soil erosion and siltation, especially in Brazil where they border the two most heavily populated cities Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo.

The Misiones region contains one of the largest remaining blocks of the original Atlantic Forest in this area. Brazil has only two protected areas while the rest has been converted into soybean fields. In Argentina, a proportion is protected and timber extraction and agricultural expansion are taking their toll. In Paraguay, believed to have South America's highest deforestation rate, most of the remaining forest is unprotected and threatened.

Fragmentation, precarious viability, and the fact that they straddle three national borders imposing political, cultural, and language barriers, makes conserving the remnants of the Atlantic forests an almost impossible task. WWF is determined to act as a catalyst for an integrated tri-national approach to protect the Misiones forest region.

To this end, over the past five years, WWF has provided technical assistance, environmental education programmes, training and research, and encouraged sharing of information between various organizations working in the area.

In Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina, workshops to evaluate the current status of conservation efforts is a key element. WWF is also supporting action plans for specific areas of cooperation including ecotourism, environmental education, law enforcement, research, protected area management, forest policy, and natural resource management.




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