 | This article needs to be updated. (June 2019) |
The environment of Brazil is characterized by high biodiversity with a population density that decreases away from the coast.
Brazil's large area comprises different ecosystems, which together sustain some of the world's greatest biodiversity. Because of the country's intense economic and demographic growth, Brazil's ability to protect its environmental habitats has increasingly come under threat.
Extensive legal and Illegal logging destroys forests the size of a small country per year, and with it a diverse series of species through habitat destruction and habitat fragmentation.[1] In Brazil forest cover is around 59% of the total land area, equivalent to 496,619,600 hectares (ha) of forest in 2020, down from 588,898,000 hectares (ha) in 1990. In 2020, naturally regenerating forest covered 485,396,000 hectares (ha) and planted forest covered 11,223,600 hectares (ha). Of the naturally regenerating forest 44% was reported to be primary forest (consisting of native tree species with no clearly visible indications of human activity) and around 30% of the forest area was found within protected areas. For the year 2015, 56.% of the forest area was reported to be under public ownership and 44% private ownership.[2][3]
Between 2002 and 2006, an area of the Amazon Rainforest equivalent in size to the State of South Carolina was completely deforested for the purposes of raising cattle and wood-logging.[4] In April 2012 Brazil's powerful farm lobby won a long-sought victory after the National Congress of Brazil approved a controversial forestry bill that environmentalists say will speed deforestation in the Amazon as more land is opened for producing food.[5] By 2020, at least 50% of the species resident in Brazil may become extinct.[4]
There is a general consensus that Brazil has the highest number of both terrestrial vertebrates and invertebrates of any single country in the world.[6] Also, Brazil has the highest primate diversity,[6] the highest number of mammals,[6] the highest number of amphibians, the second highest number of butterflies,[6] the third highest number of birds,[6] and second highest number of reptiles.[6] There is a high number of endangered species,[7] many of them living in threatened habitats such as the Atlantic Forest.
- ^ USDA Forest Service website, Forest Service International Programs: Brazil, retrieved February 2007.
- ^ Terms and Definitions FRA 2025 Forest Resources Assessment, Working Paper 194. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. 2023.
- ^ "Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020, Brazil". Food Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
- ^ a b Wilson, E. O.; Peter, F. M. (1998). National Academic Press website. doi:10.17226/989. ISBN 978-0-309-03739-6. PMID 25032475. Retrieved 2007-06-12.
- ^ Brazilian Forestry Legislation Advances April 26, 2012
- ^ a b c d e f Marco Lambertini (2000). "A Naturalist's Guide to the Tropics". Retrieved 2007-06-19.
- ^ Ministério do Meio Ambiente. "Lista Nacional das Espécies da Fauna Brasileira Ameaçadas de Extinção" (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2007-06-20.