List of Atlantic Forest conservation units

There are 131 federal, 443 state, 14 municipal and 124 private conservation units in the Atlantic Forest area, spread over sixteen states in Brazil, with the exception of Goiás. Protected areas cover less than 2% of the biome and integral protection areas protect only 24% of the remnants. Many units consist of very small, isolated fragments and half of the threatened vertebrate species are not found in any protected area. Other related problems are the lack of infrastructure to maintain the conservation units and a series of impasses with indigenous leaders, as seen in the Ilha do Cardoso State Park, Superagüi National Park and Monte Pascoal National Park.

Among all the categories of conservation units in Brazil, Natural Heritage Reserves (RPPNs) are the most important for establishing new protected areas, as most of the remaining forest is still privately owned. In the Northeast, RPPNs protect important fragments with endemic and highly endangered species, especially birds. Another strategy for creating new units is the ICMS Ecológico, a tax compensation granted to municipalities and states that have officially declared protected areas.

In Argentina and Paraguay, there are important conservation units in the Alto Paraná Atlantic Forest ecoregion, which in Brazil are concentrated in the Iguaçu National Park, the Morro do Diabo State Park and the Turvo State Park. The protected areas in the Misiones Province, the Serra do Mar and southern Bahia comprise the largest continuous remnants of the Atlantic Forest. In order to maintain biodiversity and important ecological processes, it is proposed to create wildlife corridors linking the conservation units in each of these regions.

Significant Integral Conservation Units
There are a large number of conservation units in the Atlantic Forest domain, most of them small and isolated. This section lists protected areas that play a fundamental function as "core zones" in important ecological corridors.

Biosphere Reserves
The Biosphere Reserve is a collection of conservation units established by UNESCO with the aim of promoting more regional actions in the conservation of the different biomes around the world. There are four reserves in the Atlantic Forest domain spread over Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay.