Last remnants of Atlantic forest to be preserved

Stretch of the São João River running through the Atlantic forest in the Poço das Antas Reserve. © WWF-Canon / Edward PARKER

October 2009. Argentina and Paraguay on Tuesday made a historic pledge to save one of the world's most threatened forests.

The two governments agreed to work towards zero net deforestation in the Atlantic Forest, and to implement a package of measures that include national legislation to enforce those commitments.

Only 7.4% of forest left
The Atlantic Forest once covered 500,000 square kilometres, distributed across Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay. However, only 7.4 percent of the forest is left today - or about 35,000 square kilometres, making it one of the most threatened and fragment subtropical forests in the world.

To preserve the Atlantic Forest, Argentina will implement new land-use plans that will ensure the conservation of approximately 1.1 million hectares of the forest. Meanwhile, Paraguay has extended the country's zero deforestation law to 2013, and is working to introduce economic alternatives to people who depend on the Atlantic Forest for their livelihood.

Brazil
In Brazil, the government already has established a zero deforestation target by 2010 for the Atlantic Forest. Brazil also has pledged to establish protected areas covering at least 10 percent of the forest.

"This important commitment shows how coordinated policies between countries can address biodiversity loss and stop runaway climate change," said Diego Moreno, Director General of Fundación Vida Silvestre, a WWF partner organization in Argentina.

"We can, as developing countries, make efforts to address this problem, but we need a strong climate deal in Copenhagen in December that can help with the implementation of these policies and contribute to the sustainable development of our region," Moreno said.

Habitat threats
Agricultural expansion, construction, growth of cities, and non-sustainable exploitation led to forest destruction. The Atlantic Forest is home to more than 20,000 plants species - of which 8,000 can be found nowhere else - and 1,000 bird species, 372 amphibians, 350 types of fish, 197 types of reptiles, and 270 mammals.

The Atlantic Forest borders major cities such as Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, and Asuncion, and also provides freshwater to millions of people. In addition, the forest houses the world-famous Iguazu Falls, on the border of Brazil and Argentina.

13 million hectares of forest destroyed every year
Despite conservation efforts, global deforestation continues at an alarming rate - 13 million hectares per year, or 36 football fields a minute. It generates almost 20 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions and halting forest loss has been identified as one of the most cost-effective ways to keep the world out of the danger zone of runaway climate change

The announcement came as WWF challenged global leaders at the Congress to support a target of zero net deforestation by 2020.

"This is a global benchmark to avoid the looming climate change catastrophe and curb the current alarming loss of species," said WWF International's Forests Director Rodney Taylor.

In his keynote address at the Congress on Monday, WWF International's Forests Director Rodney Taylor said that zero net deforestation by 2020 is "a target that sets the scale and urgency with which these threats need to be tackled to maintain the health of the planet."

"This decision by Argentina and Paraguay is an example of how progress can be made to halt forest loss when you gather the political will to do it," Taylor said.