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Rain Forest There exist two different kinds of Rain Forest in Brazil, the well-known Amazonas in the north of the country and the Mata Atlântica, the Rain Forest of the Atlantic Coastal Mountains. The latter one is, in comparison to the Amazon, much older (60 Mio. to 40 Mio years) and its diversity in plants is bigger than in the Amazon. During the time of the discovery of Brazil in 1500, the “Mata Atlantica” once covered the whole mountain chain of the brazilian coast (approx. 7000 km of coastline), the states Parana, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul and some parts of the State of Sao Paulo. Because of urbanization the majority of that Rain Forest was cut during centuries. The biggest areas of preserved Rain Forest are located between Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, approx. 140km south of Sao Paulo and in the state of Parana. Being the home of many species of plants and animals threatened by extinction, not only the Amazon, but also the Mata Atlantica has to be preserved and protected against further destruction. |
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RAIN
FOREST