Nature

Given its awesome size, Brazil offers the tourist the opportunity to see many different ecosystems.

The most famous, of course, is the Amazon Rain Forest that dominates more than 40% of the national territory where is located the Mamirauá Project, the largest Sustainable Development Reserve in the world, that has over 1,124,000 ha of preserved forest.

Another important ecosystem is the Atlantic Rain Forest.

This forest used to occupy over 30% of the country, from Bahia to Paraná, but nowadays, only 7% of this native forest remains untouched, mostly in the states of Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Paraná.

An example of this exuberant forest can be seen in national parks like Parque Nacional da Tijuca in Rio de Janeiro, Parque Nacional do Itatiaia between the states of Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais and Parque Nacional do Iguaçu in the border of the state of Paraná and Argentina.

Pantanal is a swampy area in the interior of South America, between Brazil, Paraguay and Bolivia. During 4 months of the year, the rain floods the soil, changing the live of humans and animals. It is considered the cradle of an uncountable number of species, mostly birds, fishes and reptiles. It is the home of the carnivorous fish Piranha, the Brazilian jaguar, the beautiful Toucan and hundreds of other species.

A sanctuary in name of life…

Differently from other regions where the rain is abundant, the interior of northeast suffers with the weather. In this dry soil grows another important environment, the "Caatinga". Trees with twisted branches and cactus are part of this scenery.

Between Amazon, the Pantanal and the Caatinga, lays the "Cerrado", an ecosystem that is a transition among the first three ones. It is an amazing environment with mixed characteristics depending on what part of the country you are.

Sometimes it looks more similar to the Amazon, others to the Pantanal and so far. It is possible to observe this nature formation in regions close to the Chapada Diamantina and Brasília.

One jewel of the Brazilian nature is Fernando de Noronha, a national park in an archipelago of 21 islands. Its permanent population is small (roughly 1,500 people), living in total area of only 26km² (10 miles²).

Vila dos Remédios, the largest island, is the only one inhabited, preserving the wonderful beaches and the incredible marine life of the park.

The tourist needs a permission to get in and have the limit of 7 days to stay in the park. All efforts are made to permit tourism with environmental sustainability.