Atlantic Rainforest

The Atlantic Rainforest

"For each hundred trees of times long gone, only five remain to bear witness and to accuse
The centuries-old, relentless executioner.
Only five, no more: the ghosts of the proud primeval forest."
(Carlos Drummond de Andrade)

About the Rainforest
Bio-diversity
Bleak Outlook
Rosário da Limeira

About the Rainforest

The Atlantic Rainforest (Mata Atlântica) is quite different from its much more famous neighbor, the Amazon Rainforest. Like the Amazon, it is humid, with an average annual rainfall of about 2000 mm: however, it is cooler here with temperatures ranging on average from 14-21°C compared to 26-27 °C in the Amazon. The greater variations in temperature help contribute to the rainforest's immense variety of plants and animals.

Here we need to make a confession. The term "Rainforest" technically refers to forest that receives a minimum monthly rainfall of of 100mm throughout the year, and our part of the forest doesn't. So, technically, where we live is the Atlantic Forest, not the Atlantic Rainforest. But a significant part of the Atlantic Forest is true rainforest, and the whole forest has, by association, come to be known as the Atlantic Rainforest, so we stick to the name everybody knows, even if scientifically speaking it is not correct.

Within the Amazon Basin, the rainforest lies at more or less the same altitude. However, the Atlantic Rainforest stretches between Rio Grande do Norte to Rio Grande do Sul, and spreads from the coast up into the mountains. The vegetation of the forest varies greatly, according to latitude and altitude and as a result there are several different classes of forest. This, too, means that the Atlantic Rainforest can lay claim to a far greater biodiversity than even that of the Amazon Rainforest. The different classes of rainforest featured within the Atlantic Rainforest are:

Tropical moist broadleaf forest -- found on coastal plains: it is characterized by a dense population of tall trees, a second, sparser layer of smaller trees, shrubs and palms, and a large number of lianas and epiphytes. No large area of this forest remains;
Tropical semi-deciduous forest -- found farther inland.
The lower montane forest -- found at altitudes over 800m above sea level -- has a thinner canopy about 12-25m high, denser undergrowth and a great biological diversity. Above 1200m the forest generally gives way to shrubby vegetation and grassland

The mangrove forests found in bays, estuaries and lagoons, and the xeromorphic coastal dune forests called the "Restinga" are also found within the Atlantic Rainforest ecosystem. Both are under severe threat.

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Bio-diversity

Iin the State of Minas Gerais alone (slightly smaller than Texas), there are 750 different bird species only 60 fewer than are found in the whole of North America. An extraordinary number of the species here are endemic to this region -- that is, they are not found anywhere else in the world. 54% of the trees are endemic, as are 64% of the palms and 74% of the bromeliads. Among the fauna species, 80% of the primates are endemic, and 40% of all mammals, butterflies, reptiles, amphibians and birds.

This enormous biological richness is severely threatened. Figures published by IBAMA, the Brazilian Environmental Protection Institute, in 2003 show that 38 of the 69 severely endangered mammal species in Brazil are found in the Mata Atlântica (25 of them endemic), all the16 endangered amphibian species (all of them endemic), 118 of the 160 bird species, and 13 of the 20 endangered reptile species. Taking a closer look at the primates, there are 21 species and subspecies of monkeys found in the Atlantic Rainforest, of which 14 are endangered. Of these 14, thirteen are species found nowhere else in the world and several of these are literally on the edge of extinction. The Woolly Spider Monkey that is resident in the Serra do Brigadeiro is the New World's largest primate and is one of its most severely threatened species.

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The Destruction of the Forest

The destruction of the Amazon Rainforest receives a lot of publicity, but the fact is that the Atlantic Rainforest is much more seriously threatened. 20% of the Amazon forest has gone - but over 93% of the Atlantic Rainforest has disappeared, and with it the creatures that make it their home -- nearly 70% of the vertebrate species classified as endangered in Brazil are found in the Atlantic Rainforest.

It is generally believed that tropical forests restore their full biodiversity in 500 years. Yet, at today's rate, the Atlantic Rainforest does not have 500 years. The rate of destruction and forest clearance is not decreasing -- it is accelerating. In 1988, the Atlantic Rainforest was declared a national heritage and the government prohibited any further cutting or clearance. However, in the six years from 1990 to 1995 more than 500,000 ha. were destroyed.

In most of the Atlantic Rainforest region, and certainly around Iracambi, the main cause of recent destruction has been clearance for agricultural land, specifically to grow coffee. When the forest is cleared, the land rapidly loses fertility -- despite the abundance of the rainforest vegetation, the soil is not incredibly rich or fertile but quite the opposite. Rainforests survive due to complex relationships between the trees and plants and tiny micro-organisms or fungi from whom they can extract the minerals and nutrients they need to grow. When the forest is cleared these microorganisms also die, and the poverty of the soil quickly becomes apparent. Once cleared and intensively farmed, its fertility is lost within 20 years or less, after which the farmer needs to clear more land to maintain his level of income.

Add this to an unstable economy and real problems result. Much of the forest which disappeared in recent years did so because of the effects of the Brazilian economy going into a sharp decline in the 1980s. The oil crisis hit hard, just at the time when Brazil had to repay large bank loans issued to the mklitary government in the period 1965-85. Pressures on Brazil's farmers to overexploit their resources were immense. As a result, hillside soils were intensively farmed, and their fertility rapidly depleted by coffee. Then they were converted to pasture and massively over-grazed by cattle. Left unprotected against the heavy rainfall, the topsoil began to wash away and serious erosion damage set in. With the topsoil gone, the land was useless. The farmer had to clear more forest to plant his crops in order to survive.

Forest Fragmentation

This process of deforestation has left the Atlantic Rainforest in Minas Gerais severely fragmented, with few large patches of contiguous forest surviving. As you fly over Minas Gerais, you see a mosaic of forest patches, not the vast swathe of forest that you see when you fly over the Amazon. The Serra do Brigadeiro State Park, with its 15,000 ha. next to Iracambi, is therefore one of the largest fragments in the State: the size of fragments outside the park averages less than 100 ha. This is a satellite image of forest fragments near Iracambi: the park is the larger patch of dark green on the left.

IEF map

From the theory of island biogeography (the Arrhenius equation, S=cAz, if you’re into that stuff), we know that the smaller the fragment of forest, the fewer species it will be able to sustain and that as the fragments get smaller, species loss becomes higher. Even though some scientists do not agree that there is a universal size/species relationship, we can assume that, in the relatively homogeneous forest fragments of Southeastern Minas Gerais, this rule applies, though specialists can argue about the variables.

The important consequence of this for Iracambi is that firstly, we must learn to work with our fragmented forests and secondly we must do what we can to ensure that the process of fragmentation is halted. For this reason, our first priority in biodiversity conservation is preventing habitat loss and increasing fragment size through biological corridors.

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Rosário da Limeira

The situation of the smallholder in this region is still hard, although considerable progress is being made in terms of infrastructure. Limeira is now linked to the big world by a paved road, but all the other roads are dirt - dust in the dry season and mud in the rains! This makes it hard for farmers to have access to markets, and they tend to stay with what they know: subsistence crops, a few dairy cattle, and coffee. And for most farmers, planting more coffee means clearing more land. One of our top priorities at Iracambi is to work with the farmers to find other less destructive sources of income, particularly in the field of payment for environmental services. We are currently focusing on water conservation, ecotourism, and the growing market for carbon sequestration.

To see a MAP of Iracambi, please click HERE

To take a TOUR of Iracambi, please click HERE