The Brazilian government published a decree on 7 June, 2004 creating the Serra do Itajaí National Park of 57,000 ha in the east of the state of Santa Catarina. The Itajaí valley was one of the 80 priority areas for the creation of parks and reserves in the Atlantic Forest identified during a workshop held in August 1999 in Atibaia, São Paulo: “Evaluation and Priority Actions for the Conservation of Biodiversity in the Atlantic Forest and Southern Grasslands”, organized by Conservation International do Brasil in collaboration with the Fundação SOS Mata Atlântica, IPÊ – Instituto de Pesquisas Ecológicas, Fundação Biodiversitas, Secretaria do Meio Ambiente do Estado de São Paulo – SEMAD/SP, and the Instituto Estadual de Florestas – IEF/MG, under the general coordination of the Ministry of the Environment (MMA). The initial proposal for the park, prepared by staff and researchers from the Brazilian Institute for the Environment (IBAMA), the Federal University of Santa Catarina, the Regional University of Blumenau (FURB), and the Santa Catarina State Environmental Secretariat, was sent to the MMA by the State Council for the Atlantic Forest Biosphere Reserve (Conselho Estadual da Reserva da Biosfera da Mata Atlântica) in 2002. The park includes parts of nine municipalities – Ascurra, Apiúna, Blumenau, Botuverá, Gaspar, Guabiraba, Indaial, Presidente Nereu and Vidal Ramos – and covers headwaters and springs vital for the region. The Itajaí valley has one of the largest remaining tracts of Atlantic Forest in southern Brazil, and researchers from the Regional University of Blumenau have found that the park protects 78% of the mammals, 38% of the birds and 47% of the trees and shrubs known to occur in the state. Source: Instituto Socioambiental, São Paulo. Website: < http://www.socioambiental.org>.