2 - 4 Dec 2005: 1st International Meeting for Transfrontier Conservation in the Atlantic Forest

Posted on December, 02 2005

A seminar to discuss the importance of working together in the conservation on transborder regions was held in Iguaçu National Park (Brazil), between December 2nd and 4th, 2005.

The "1st International Meeting for Transfrontier Conservation" was promoted by the National Board of Atlantic Forest Biosphere Reserve, in partnership with WWF-Brasil, UNESCO and Brazilian Environmental Ministry.

Many international professionals presented case studies about conservation in shared ecosystems around the world to foster conservation policies, projects and actions on the Atlantic Forest transborder area in Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay.

While the Atlantic Forest is one of the most biologically diverse tropical forests in the world, it is one of the most endangered. After over 500 years of growing human activities without any consideration of sustainable use of resources that were once plentiful, less than 7% of the original forest cover remains, which covered once about 1.3 million km², and it is degrading fast. Approximately 130 million people live in the area covered by the original Atlantic Forest.

Actions designed to sensibly preserve and manage natural resources, especially water, are most urgent because of the extremely high pressure exerted over these resources.