Mata Atlantica, Brazil

The Atlantic Forest

One of the most endangered rainforests on earth. Under 12 percent remains.

The Mata Atlantica once ran along the whole Brazilian coast. Today less than 12 percent of it is left, in fragments surrounded by cities and farmland. Our members plant the corridors that connect those fragments back together, so species that were cut off can move again.

What was lost

More than 88 percent of the original forest is gone. What remains is broken into islands too small for many species to survive in.

What comes back

Corridor planting reconnects the fragments. Golden lion tamarins, jaguars and hundreds of bird species regain range, and the watersheds that supply millions of people begin to recover.

Misty Atlantic Forest hills with a restored green corridor between fragments — Corridors reconnect fragments that have been isolated for decades.

Golden lion tamarin sitting on a mossy branch in the Atlantic Forest — Species like the golden lion tamarin need connected canopy to move.

Nursery workers sorting native seedlings in trays — Seedlings are raised in nurseries run by the surrounding communities.

Native species

The trees your membership plants here

Seeds are collected nearby and raised in local nurseries, so what grows back belongs to this place.

Jussara palm

Endangered

Euterpe edulis

Its fruit feeds more than 50 bird species. Overharvesting made it endangered across its range.

Pau-brasil

Endangered

Paubrasilia echinata

The tree that gave Brazil its name, and one of the rarest in the forest it comes from.

Jequitiba rosa

Endangered

Cariniana legalis

The giant of the Atlantic Forest. Some survivors are over a thousand years old.

Embauba

Cecropia glaziovii

A pioneer that grows fast and shelters the slower species planted beneath it.

Guapuruvu

Schizolobium parahyba

Reaches for the light quickly, closing the canopy over bare ground in a few seasons.

From the field

Updates from the people on the ground

Nursery workers preparing native seedlings

28 July 2026

Tamarins spotted in the young corridor

Two golden lion tamarins were recorded moving through a corridor planted four years ago. It is the first confirmed crossing on that stretch.

Ana Beatriz Souza, Monitoring lead, Mata Atlantica

Restore The Atlantic Forest with us

Join the cooperative and your trees are planted in the region our partners are working in. Each cluster of five trees and shrubs gets its own coordinates.

Become a member See our collective impact

SDG 1 · No povertySDG 2 · Zero hungerSDG 8 · Decent work and economic growthSDG 9 · Industry, innovation and infrastructureSDG 10 · Reduced inequalitiesSDG 11 · Sustainable cities and communitiesSDG 13 · Climate actionSDG 15 · Life on landSDG 17 · Partnerships for the goals