The Abrolhos Seascape, located off Brazil’s central coast, is a biodiversity hotspot that contains the largest concentration of coral reefs in the South Atlantic, along with mangrove estuaries and other important coastal habitats. Currently there are four federal marine protected areas in this region: the Abrolhos National Marine Park, a no-take area covering 882.5 km², and three extractive marine reserves totaling 2,900 km² that were developed through collaboration between the Abrolhos Community and the international conservation organization Conservation International. While Cassurubá, the newest of these three extractive marine reserves, was created in 2009, Conservation International has conducted new marine habitat surveys and has developed a proposal to expand the MPA network in the Abrolhos Seascape by expanding the Abrolhos National Marine Park by 10,000 km² and creating a new marine protected area:  a 71,000 km² multiple-use Abrolhos Environmental Protected Area.

Conservation International – Abrolhos Seascape: http://www.conservation.org/global/marine/initiatives/seascapes/pages/brazil.aspx

Waitt Foundation – Abrolhos Seascape MPA Expansion: http://waittfoundation.org/abrolhos-seascape-mpa-expansion

International Conservation Fund of Canada – Strengthening protection and management of Marine Protected Areas in Abrolhos, Brazil: http://icfcanada.org/abrolhos.shtml

Satoyama Initiative – Abrolhos Seascape, a field demonstration model (2011): http://satoyama-initiative.org/en/case_studies-2/area_americas-2/abrolhos-seascape-a-field-demonstration-model-conservation-international-brazil/