Editing Brazil (section)

=== Biodiversity and conservation ===
{{Main|Environment of Brazil|Wildlife of Brazil|Conservation in Brazil}}
{{Further|Environmental issues in Brazil|Protected areas of Brazil}}
[[File:Toco Toucan (Ramphastos toco) - 48153967707.jpg|thumb|The [[toco toucan]] is an animal typical of the [[Cerrado|Brazilian savannas]].]]
The [[wildlife of Brazil]] comprises all naturally occurring [[animal]]s, [[plant]]s, and [[fungus|fungi]] in the [[South America]]n country. Home to 60% of the [[Amazon Rainforest|Amazon rainforest]], which accounts for approximately one-tenth of all [[species]] in the world,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Amazon – World's largest tropical rain forest and river basin |url=http://www.worldwildlife.org/what/wherewework/amazon/index.html |access-date=3 June 2010 |publisher=[[World Wide Fund for Nature]] |archive-date=5 August 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120805092911/http://www.worldwildlife.org/what/wherewework/amazon/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Brazil is considered to have the greatest [[biodiversity]] of any country on the planet, containing over 70% of all animal and plant species catalogued.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Brazil |url=https://iucngreenlist.org/country/brazil/ |access-date=19 November 2022 |website=IUCN Green List |language=en-US |archive-date=19 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221119014359/https://iucngreenlist.org/country/brazil/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Brazil has the most known species of [[plant]]s (55,000), freshwater [[fish]] (3,000) and [[mammal]]s (over 689).<ref name="DannyP_2007_shoestring">{{Cite book |last=Palmerlee |first=Danny |title=South America on a Shoestring |publisher=[[Lonely Planet]] Publications |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-74104-443-0 |page=275 |oclc=76936293}}</ref> It also ranks third on the list of countries with the most [[bird]] species (1,832) and second with the most [[reptile]] species (744).<ref name="DannyP_2007_shoestring" /> The number of fungal species is unknown but is large.<ref name="Silva, M 1995">Da Silva, M. and D.W. Minter. 1995. ''Fungi from Brazil recorded by Batista and Co-workers''. Mycological Papers 169. CABI, Wallingford, UK. 585 pp.</ref> Brazil is second only to [[Indonesia]] as the country with the most [[endemic]] species.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Chapman |first=A.D |date=September 2005 |title=Numbers of Living Species in Australia and the World: A Report for the Department of the Environment and Heritage |work=Australian Biological Resources Study |publisher=Australian Biodiversity Information Services |url=http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/abrs/publications/other/species-numbers/05-comparisons.html |access-date=26 November 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071101090709/http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/abrs/publications/other/species-numbers/05-comparisons.html <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date=1 November 2007}}</ref>

Brazil's large territory comprises different ecosystems, such as the Amazon rainforest, recognized as having the greatest [[Biodiversity|biological diversity]] in the world,<ref name="WWF">{{Cite web |date=6 August 2007 |title=One fifth of the world's freshwater |url=http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/where_we_work/amazon/about_the_amazon/ecosystems_amazon/rivers/ |access-date=12 June 2008 |website=Amazon |publisher=World Wide Fund for Nature |archive-date=1 March 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110301055230/http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/where_we_work/amazon/about_the_amazon/ecosystems_amazon/rivers/ |url-status=live }}</ref> with the [[Atlantic Forest]] and the [[Cerrado]] sustaining the greatest biodiversity.<ref name="Encarta 10">{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Plant and Animal Life |encyclopedia=Encarta |publisher=MSN |url=http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761554342_2/Brazil.html |access-date=12 June 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091029034943/http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761554342_2/Brazil.html |archive-date=29 October 2009 }}</ref> In the south, the [[Araucaria moist forests]] grow under temperate conditions.<ref name="Encarta 10" /> The rich wildlife of Brazil reflects the variety of natural habitats. Scientists estimate that the total number of [[Wildlife of Brazil|plant]] and [[Wildlife of Brazil|animal species]] in Brazil could approach four million, mostly invertebrates.<ref name="Encarta 10" /> Larger mammals include carnivores [[Cougar|pumas]], [[jaguar]]s, [[ocelot]]s, rare [[bush dog]]s, and [[fox]]es, and herbivores [[peccary|peccaries]], [[tapir]]s, [[anteater]]s, [[sloth]]s, [[opossum]]s and [[armadillo]]s. [[Deer]] are plentiful in the south, and many species of [[New World monkey]]s are found in the northern [[Rainforest|rain forests]].<ref name="Encarta 10" /><ref>{{Cite news |date=1 October 2004 |title=Atlantic Forest, Brazil |work=Map: Biodiversity hotspots |publisher=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3707888.stm#brazil |access-date=12 June 2008 |archive-date=19 July 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080719212941/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3707888.stm#brazil |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:20220910 Amazon deforestation and degradation, by country - Amazon Watch.svg|thumb|Cumulatively, Brazil has the highest percentage of deforested and highly degraded rainforest of any Amazonia nation.<ref name="AmazonWatch_202209">{{Cite web |date=September 2022 |title=Amazon Against the Clock: A Regional Assessment on Where and How to Protect 80% by 2025 |url=https://amazonwatch.org/assets/files/2022-amazonia-against-the-clock-executive-summary.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220910025229/https://amazonwatch.org/assets/files/2022-amazonia-against-the-clock-executive-summary.pdf |archive-date=10 September 2022 |website=Amazon Watch |page=8 |quote=Graphic 2: Current State of the Amazon by country, by percentage / Source: RAISG (Red Amazónica de Información Socioambiental Georreferenciada) Elaborated by authors.}}</ref>]]

More than one-fifth of the Amazon rainforest in Brazil has been completely destroyed, and more than 70 mammals are endangered.<ref name="DannyP_2007_shoestring" /> The threat of extinction comes from several sources, including [[Deforestation in Brazil|deforestation]] and [[poaching]]. Extinction is even more problematic in the [[Atlantic Forest]], where nearly 93% of the forest has been cleared.<ref>{{Cite web |year=2007 |title=Places We Work: The Atlantic Forest of Brazil |url=http://www.nature.org/wherewework/southamerica/brazil/work/art5080.html  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100702223313/http://www.nature.org/wherewework/southamerica/brazil/work/art5080.html |archive-date=2 July 2010 |access-date=5 December 2007 |publisher=[[The Nature Conservancy]]}}</ref> Of the 202 endangered animals in Brazil, 171 are in the Atlantic Forest.<ref name="mre.gov">{{Cite web |last=Capobianco |first=João Paulo |title=Biodiversity in the Atlantic Forest |url=http://www.mre.gov.br/cdbrasil/itamaraty/web/ingles/meioamb/biodiv/matatlan/biodiv/index.htm  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071215123917/http://www.mre.gov.br/cdbrasil/itamaraty/web/ingles/meioamb/biodiv/matatlan/biodiv/index.htm |archive-date=15 December 2007 |access-date=5 December 2007 |website=Brazil on CD-ROM and Internet |publisher=Ministry of External Relations}}</ref> The Amazon rainforest has been under direct threat of deforestation since the 1970s because of rapid [[economic]] and [[demographic]] expansion. Extensive legal and [[Illegal logging|illegal]] [[logging]] destroy [[forest]]s the size of a small country per year, and with it a diverse series of species through [[habitat destruction]] and [[habitat fragmentation]].<ref name="usda">[[United States Department of Agriculture|USDA]] Forest Service website, [http://www.fs.fed.us/global/globe/l_amer/brazil.htm Forest Service International Programs: Brazil] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200406090854/https://www.fs.usda.gov/about-agency/international-programs |date=6 April 2020 }}, retrieved February 2007.</ref> Since 1970, over {{convert|600,000|km2|sqmi|sp=us}} of the Amazon rainforest have been cleared by logging.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Butler |first=Rhett A. |date=28 March 2006 |title=Brazil to Protect Amazon Rainforest |publisher=MongaBay.com |url=http://news.mongabay.com/2006/0328-amazon.html |access-date=28 November 2007 |archive-date=5 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200405222718/http://news.mongabay.com/2006/0328-amazon.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2017, preserved native vegetation occupied 61% of the Brazilian territory. Agriculture occupied only 8% of the national territory and pastures 19.7%.<ref>{{Cite web |date=27 January 2017 |title=Preserved native vegetation occupies 61% of Brazil's area, says Embrapa |url=https://g1.globo.com/mato-grosso-do-sul/noticia/2017/01/vegetacao-nativa-preservada-ocupa-61-da-area-do-brasil-diz-embrapa.html |access-date=14 August 2021 |archive-date=12 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112015832/http://g1.globo.com/mato-grosso-do-sul/noticia/2017/01/vegetacao-nativa-preservada-ocupa-61-da-area-do-brasil-diz-embrapa.html |url-status=live }}</ref> For comparison, in 2019, although 43% of the entire European continent has forests, only 3% of the total forest area in Europe is of native forest.<ref>{{Cite news |title=How Europe has multiplied its forests and why this can be a problem |work=BBC News Brasil |url=https://www.bbc.com/portuguese/internacional-50162105 |access-date=14 August 2021 |archive-date=14 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210814031104/https://www.bbc.com/portuguese/internacional-50162105 |url-status=live }}</ref> Brazil has a strong interest in conservation, as its agriculture sector directly depends on its forests.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ruiz |first=Sarah |date=12 November 2021 |title=Climate change is pushing Brazil's farmland out of agricultural suitability range |url=https://www.woodwellclimate.org/brazils-farms-losing-agricultural-suitability/ |access-date=22 September 2022 |website=Woodwell climate research center |publisher=Nature Climate Change |archive-date=22 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220922162632/https://www.woodwellclimate.org/brazils-farms-losing-agricultural-suitability/ |url-status=live }}</ref>