Mission Blue this week announced it had designated the Abrolhos Region off Brazil’s South Atlantic coastline as the latest Hope Spot.
Stretching between the Brazilian states of Bahia and Espírito Santo, Abrolhos is one of the major centers of marine biodiversity for the South Atlantic Ocean. Spanning 56,000 square kilometers (19,305 square miles), the region harbors Brazil’s largest coral reef system, vast mangroves, deep and shallow reefs as well as the world’s largest continuous rhodolith beds — underwater forests of calcified algae that store carbon and sustain marine life.
Danieli Marinho Nobre, senior conservation analyst at WWF-Brazil, and Guilherme Fraga Dutra, executive secretary of Abrolhos Forever (Abrolhos para Sempre) were named as Mission Blue’s “Hope Spot Champions.”
According to Mission Blue Founder Dr. Sylvia Earle:
“I’m delighted to share wonderful news about one of the most extraordinary places in the ocean, Abrolhos, a Hope Spot that truly lives up to its name. That’s why the creation of the Abrolhos Forever Coalition makes such a vital step in terms of making a difference. The Hope Spot Champions, along with the coalition, are working to catalyze action to build partnerships and of course to ensure that the Abrolhos continues to thrive as a beacon of hope.”
Abrolhos is widely recognized as the area of highest marine biodiversity in the South Atlantic and is home to the largest coral reef system in Brazil.
The core of this area is the Abrolhos Marine National Park (AMNP), created in 1983 as Brazil’s first marine national park.
AMNP Manager Josângela Jesus says:
“The Abrolhos Marine National Park plays a key role in the conservation of the Abrolhos Region. The efforts made by the park’s management authority, ICMBio, in partnership with local organizations and social actors, to generate knowledge and monitor biodiversity, promote responsible visitation, foster environmental education, and ensure protection of the area itself, are examples we hope to see replicated in other protected areas of the region.”
Learn more about the Abrolhos Hope Spot at missionblue.org, or check out the video below.
