The Atlantic Forest (Portuguese: Mata Atlântica) is a moist broadleaf forest that extends along the Atlantic coast of Brazil from Rio Grande do Norte state in the northeast to Rio Grande do Sul state in the south and inland as far as Paraguay and the Misiones Province of Argentina, where it is known as the Missionary rainforest (Spanish: Selva ...

The Atlantic Forest stretches from northeast Brazil southward along the Atlantic coastline and inland into northeast Argentina and eastern Paraguay. It is a complex comprising 15 ecoregions, including tropical and subtropical rain forest, coastal forest, mangroves, and Araucaria moist forest.

Stretching from northeastern Brazil, down along the Atlantic coastline, and inland to eastern Paraguay and northeastern Argentina, the Atlantic Forest is a vital global biodiversity hot spot.

Five hundred years ago, the Atlantic Forest of Brazil covered approximately 330 million acres (about twice the size of Texas), but today more than 85% of this forest has been cleared and what remains is highly fragmented.

Encompassing a variety of tropical forest habitats—from dry forests to moist forests to coastal mangroves—the Mata Atlântica once stretched up-and-down Brazil's coastline, and covered parts of Paraguay, Uruguay, and Argentina. Today, it survives largely in small degraded patches and protected areas.

The Atlantic Forest, or Mata Atlântica, is a biodiversity hotspot that once covered 1.3 million square kilometers along Brazil 's Atlantic coast, stretching into eastern Paraguay and northeastern Argentina.

Even so, it is considered one of the world’s greatest biodiversity hotspots, home to more than 20,000 plant species—half of them endemic—and 5% of all known vertebrates. In Brazil, the forest stretches across 17 states and is home to 154 million people, about 72% of the national population.

But along Brazil’s Atlantic coast, another forest has shaped the country’s history, wildlife, cities, and landscapes for centuries: the Mata Atlântica Forest. Known in English as the Atlantic Forest, the Mata Atlântica is one of the most biodiverse and most threatened forests on Earth.

The Atlantic Forest is one of the world’s top biodiversity hotspots, with extremely high levels of endemism. After centuries of deforestation, just 7% of the Atlantic Forest remains, mainly in isolated remnants.

The Atlantic Forest South-East Reserves, in the Brazilian states of Paraná and São Paulo, contain some of the best and most extensive examples of Atlantic forest in Brazil. These 25 protected areas, covering some 470,000ha, are listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.