Brazil's 1,663 Threatened Species

A Continent of Life Under Pressure

Brazil holds roughly 60% of the Amazon rainforest and an estimated 15-20% of all species on Earth, yet it now carries 1,663 threatened species on its national ledger. That single number captures a paradox: the most biodiverse country on the planet is also home to one of the largest concentrations of species at risk of disappearing.

Of those 1,663, 362 are Critically Endangered, 543 are Endangered, and 758 are Vulnerable — a pyramid of risk spread across six major biomes: the Amazon Rainforest, the Atlantic Forest, the Cerrado savanna, the Pantanal wetlands, the Caatinga dry forest, and Brazil's coastal marine ecosystems. Each biome has its own pressures, but the taxonomic breakdown reveals which branches of the tree of life are bearing the heaviest burden.

Key Finding: Of BR's 1,663 threatened species, 301 are Flowering plants — the most threatened taxonomic group in the country.

That plant-heavy skew is unusual compared with countries where mammals or birds dominate threat lists. It points to something specific about Brazil: much of its irreplaceable biodiversity is rooted in place, literally, in forests and savannas that cannot simply relocate when a bulldozer arrives.

Why Plants and Fish Top the List

Flowering Plants and the Fragmented Atlantic Forest

Brazil's flowering plants, including many species found nowhere else, are concentrated in two threatened hotspots: the Atlantic Forest and the Cerrado. The Atlantic Forest, once stretching along nearly the entire coastline, now retains only about 12% of its original cover, according to the conservation context behind Brazil's national assessments. What remains is fragmented into isolated patches too small to sustain the specialized pollinators and dispersal networks many plant species depend on. The Cerrado, meanwhile, is losing native vegetation faster than the Amazon itself as it is converted for soy and cattle pasture — a slower-motion but equally consequential crisis for the plants that evolved nowhere else on Earth.

Fish and Cartilaginous Fish: An Underwater Crisis

The second- and third-largest threatened groups — bony fish (183 species) and chondrichthyes, the sharks, rays, and chimaeras (102 species) — reflect pressures largely invisible from land. Brazil's rivers, wetlands, and coastal shelf waters face overfishing, damming, pollution, and habitat degradation in the Pantanal and along the Atlantic coast. The Pantanal, the world's largest tropical wetland, is particularly sensitive: its seasonal flood pulse sustains freshwater fish diversity that collapses when hydrology is disrupted by upstream dams or drought.

Insects (63 species) and amphibians (57 species) round out the list, both groups highly sensitive to microclimate shifts and habitat fragmentation. Species such as the Adonis' Ladybird (Endangered), the Red-breasted Copra Beetle (Vulnerable), and the American Bumblebee (Vulnerable) illustrate how insect declines often go unnoticed relative to the plants and fish that dominate the headline numbers, even though pollinator loss quietly undermines the ecosystems around them.

The Forces Driving Decline

Brazil's threat drivers vary by biome, but several recur across the national data:

• Agricultural expansion — cattle ranching and soy cultivation continue to convert Amazon and Cerrado habitat at scale.
• Fragmentation — the Atlantic Forest's 12% remnant cover leaves plant and amphibian populations isolated and genetically vulnerable.
• Illegal mining — extraction in indigenous territories, notably Yanomami lands, degrades rivers and forest simultaneously.
• Altered hydrology — dams and drought cycles disrupt the flood pulses that Pantanal fish depend on.
• Climate-driven fire — intensifying drought raises wildfire frequency across the Cerrado, Pantanal, and Amazon margins.

A country that holds a fifth of the planet's species also holds a fifth of the responsibility for keeping them alive.

What Conservation Is Getting Right

Brazil's response has not been passive. The country manages one of the world's largest protected area networks, covering more than 80 million hectares of national parks, biological reserves, and sustainable-use zones. Indigenous territories — legally recognized and covering 115 million hectares, about 13% of national territory — consistently rank among the best-preserved ecosystems in the country, underscoring the role of indigenous stewardship in biodiversity outcomes.

Other measures worth tracking:

• INPE's satellite-based deforestation monitoring gives real-time visibility into forest loss, a tool few countries can match.
• The Amazon Fund has channeled over $1.3 billion in international donations toward forest conservation since its creation.
• The Atlantic Forest Restoration Pact targets restoring 15 million hectares by 2050, directly addressing the fragmentation driving plant and amphibian declines.
• Brazil's REDD+ leadership has shaped global carbon-and-forest policy well beyond its own borders.
• A national commitment to end illegal deforestation by 2030 sets a measurable benchmark against which future assessments can be judged.

These commitments have not been consistent — Brazil's environmental policy has swung between protective measures and regulatory rollbacks in recent years — which means outcomes remain tightly linked to political will and sustained international pressure. For the full national breakdown, the Brazil country dashboard tracks how these numbers shift as new assessments are published.

Related on SpeciesRadar: Adonis' Ladybird (EN), Knob-fronted Cuckoo-Orchid bee (CR), Emerald Cuckoo-Orchid bee (CR).

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does Brazil have so many threatened plant species?

Brazil's flowering plants are concentrated in fragmented biomes like the Atlantic Forest, which retains only about 12% of its original extent, and the rapidly converted Cerrado savanna — both of which isolate plant populations and their pollinators.

Are Brazil's protected areas enough to stop the decline?

Brazil's protected areas and indigenous territories together cover a substantial share of national land and demonstrably preserve ecosystems better than unprotected land, but enforcement gaps and illegal activity, such as mining in Yanomami territory, continue to erode their effectiveness.

What role do indigenous territories play in conservation?

Indigenous territories cover 115 million hectares in Brazil and are consistently among the best-preserved landscapes in the country, making indigenous land rights a central pillar of biodiversity protection.

How does Brazil compare globally on species threat data?

Brazil's IUCN Red List profile shows 362 Critically Endangered, 543 Endangered, and 758 Vulnerable species, one of the largest national threatened-species counts anywhere, reflecting both its extraordinary biodiversity and the scale of pressure upon it.

A Future That Can Still Be Shaped

Species such as the Adonis' Ladybird (Endangered), the Red-breasted Copra Beetle (Vulnerable), and the American Bumblebee (Vulnerable) may seem small against the scale of Brazil's biodiversity crisis, but their trajectories are tied to the same forests, wetlands, and savannas that sustain the country's largest and most iconic species. Protecting flowering plant habitat, restoring the Atlantic Forest, and enforcing existing indigenous land rights would address a large share of the threat pyramid at once. Brazil's satellite monitoring, its Amazon Fund, and its restoration pacts show that recovery tools already exist — what remains is the political consistency to use them at scale.

Explore the complete species list and threat trends on the Brazil country dashboard, and see how these figures were compiled in our Methodology. Read the full country biodiversity pillar on SpeciesRadar to see how Brazil compares with other biodiversity superpowers.

Data sourced from SpeciesRadar (speciesradar.org), drawing on IUCN Red List 2025-2, GBIF, and national red list assessments from 200+ countries.