The Brazilian Atlantic Rainforest is one of the worlds most diverse and threatened ecosystems. Located between the raised Brazilian plateau and the Atlantic Ocean this green ribbon of exuberant vegetation extends over 3,000km between the NE of the country virtually to Uruguay in the south varying in width from a few km to over 50km in certain parts, an original area of some 1.3 million sq.km. With 8.000 endemic plant species and 654 endemic species of terrestrial vertebrates it is one of Nature’s five richest regions, though today sadly only 7 percent is left scattered in small fragments over its original domain.
Reserva Ecologica de Guapi Assu (REGUA) is located 80km NE from the sprawling city of Rio de Janeiro. The second largest city in Brazil it has a population of over 10 million people. It takes only 2 hours to get to REGUA which is located at the foot of the mountains in a traditionally rural area.
The destruction of the Atlantic Rainforest originated with the arrival of the first colonisers and continues well into our present time. The majority of the forest has been destroyed in the second half of this century after being exploited for its precious woods, suffering the cycles of coffee, sugar, citrus plantations to be finally abandoned as poor grazing land. More recently, urban sprawl has also become an important contributor to its demise.
The Atlantic rainforest is widely recognised as being in a critical state and the Brazilian authorities with the aid of international donors and renowned conservation organisations are trying to preserve what is left. Even though logging was prohibited two decades ago, virtually every lowland forest including the unique swamp forests were cut down and replaced with pasture. Illegal hunting and urban sprawl are still today eroding this important biome and as a result bigger animals such as the Brazilian tapir, the jaguar and the red brocket deer have become extinct.
Fortunately the Atlantic rainforest has been given world heritage status from UNESCO and several parks have been created over the years in an effort to save the forested remains. Corridors have also been created to link protected areas, a recent one being the 3 Picos park , 46,000 ha of continuous quality high altitude forest although outside our reserve none of this park is patrolled and hunting continues.
The Reserva Ecológica de Guapiaçu (REGUA) is a non-governmental organisation with a mission to save the forests of the upper catchment of the Guapiaçu river basin, located within the municipality of Cachoeiras de Macacu in the Rio de Janeiro state, approximately 70km north of the city of Rio de Janeiro. It was established in 1996 by a group of local landowners with the aim to preserve the forest and wildlife on their lands which are part of one of the biggest fragments of the Atlantic rainforest left in Brazil; the Serra dos Orgões mountain range. History of REGUA. The geographic characteristics of this region have contributed immensely to its conservation, high altitudes and steep slopes with difficult access and it still harbours an immense biodiversity. REGUA is currently responsible for the care of 5,500 ha of prime Atlantic Forest, 2,500 ha of which it owns and its members privately own the other 3,000ha. It borders the 3 Picos State Park to form a continuously covered mountain range from 30m a.s.l to 2200m a.s.l.
REGUA has an active land purchase policy and plans to extend the reserve as soon as funds are available.