With endangered status and more than 8,000 endemic species, the Atlantic Forest is one of the world's 25 biodiversity hotspots. Less than 100,000 km 2 (about 7%) of the forest remains. In some areas of endemism, all that is left are immense archipelagos of tiny and widely separated forest fragments. In addition to habitat loss, other threats contributing to forest degradation include the harvesting of firewood, illegal logging, hunting, plant collecting, and invasion by alien species-all despite the legislation that exists for the forest's protection. More than 530 plants and animals occurring in the forest are now officially threatened, some at the biome level, some throughout Brazil, and some globally. Many species have not been recorded in any protected areas, indicating the need to rationalize and expand the parks system. Although conservation initiatives have increased in number and scale during the last two decades, they are still insufficient to guarantee the conservation of Atlantic Forest biodiversity. To avoid further deforestation and massive species loss in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, the challenge is to integrate the diverse regulations, public policies, new opportunities, and incentive mechanisms for forest protection and restoration and the various independent projects and programs carried out by governments and nongovernmental organizations into a single and comprehensive strategy for establishing networks of sustainable landscapes throughout the region. Retos y Oportunidades para la Conservación de Biodiversidad en el Bosque Atlántico BrasileñoResumen: En peligro y con más de 8,000 especies endémicas, el Bosque Atlántico es uno de los 25 sitios de importancia para la conservación de biodiversidad en el mundo. Actualmente quedan menos de 100,000 km 2 (cerca de 7%) de bosque. En algunasáreas de endemismo, loúnico que queda son inmensos archipiélagos de fragmentos de bosque pequeños y muy aislados. Adicionalmente a la pérdida de hábitat, otras amenazas que contribuyen a la degradación del bosque incluyen -a pesar de la legislación existente para la protección del bosque -la recolección de leña, la tala ilegal, la cacería, la recolección de plantas y la invasión de especies exóticas. Más de 530 especies de plantas y animales ahí presentes están amenazadas oficialmente, algunas a nivel de bioma, algunas en Brasil y algunas globalmente. Muchas especies no han sido registradas en ningúń area protegida, lo que indica la necesidad de racionalizar y expandir el sistema de parques. Aunque las iniciativas de conservación han aumentado en número y escala durante las dosúltimas décadas, aun son insuficientes para garantizar la conservación de la biodiversidad del Bosque Atlántico Brasileño. El reto, para evitar mayor deforestación y pérdida masiva de especies en el Bosque Atlántico Brasileño, es integrar a las diversas regulaciones, políticas públicas, nuevas oportunidades y mecanismos para incentivar la protección y restauración del bosque y los diversos proyectos y programas independientes llevados a cabo...

RESUMO Durante um período de, compreendendo três tipos principais de biomas: Cerrado, Caatinga e Mata Atlântica. Dentre estes, a Mata Atlântica foi, por fatores históricos, aquele que sofreu o mais intenso processo de devastação, estando atualmente reduzido a aproximadamente 5% de sua cobertura vegetal original (Fonseca, 1985a). Provavelmente menos de 1 % de sua extensão é representada por áreas não pertubadas (Mittermeier et alli, 1982).Embora altamente ameaçada, a mastofauna da Mata Atlântica é pouco

The Brazilian Atlantic Forest is a highly threatened biodiversity hotspot that has been the subject of several complementary conservation assessments and prioritysetting initiatives in the last 30 years. Results of these initiatives have relied on distinct types of distribution data for biodiversity features and differ in the objectivity and repeatability of their methodologies. Here we refine earlier priority-setting exercises using the key biodiversity areas (KBA) approach. We evaluate how well these KBAs are represented in the existing protected areas system, prioritize among them, and analyze critical aspects of the KBA methodology in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest context, such as its ability to guide specific conservation strategies. Building upon an extensive database with 1,636 species records and 122 previously identified Important Bird Areas, we demonstrate that conservation assessments in highly fragmented landscapes may be benefited by high resolution species data as is required by the KBA process. We identify 538 KBAs for 141 globally threatened vertebrate species. Prioritizing among these KBA, we highlight the 24 most irreplaceable sites for terrestrial vertebrate species conservation in the Atlantic Forest, based on existing data.

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Private conservation lands are essential for protecting biodiversity, but few national‐level studies have assessed their coverage and the legal frameworks that support them. Here, we review the legal mechanisms enabling conservation on private lands in Brazil and evaluate these lands' potential to reinforce the national protected area system. We found that conserving native vegetation on private lands is the most important mechanism to protect biodiversity in five out of the six Brazilian biomes. Because Brazil has a law that mandates landowners to set aside conservation areas, remnants of native vegetation were protected rather than converted to other land uses in areas of old economic frontiers. These remnants can be the cornerstones of effective regional conservation systems. Still, upgrading these remnants to privately protected areas and integrating these privately protected areas into the national protected area system remains a challenge. We suggest that the Brazilian experience provides important lessons on how other countries can design innovative policies to recognize and expand private land conservation.