The São Paulo City Green Belt Biosphere Reserve - GBBR, an integral part of the Atlantic Forest Biosphere Reserve, was created in 1994 stemming from a people's movement that collected 150,000 signatures. It extends throughout 73 municipalities including São Paulo metro and the Santos area. With approximately 17,000 km2, it is inhabited by about 23 million people, corresponding to more than 10% of the country's total population in an area equivalent to 2 thousandth of the Brazilian territory.
There are over 6,000 km2 of forests and other Atlantic Forest ecosystems at the Reserve, one of the planet's most threatened biomes. In addition to a spectacular biological diversity, the GBBR's ecosystems render valuable ecosystem Services. The creation of the Biosphere Reserve is an advance and an opportunity for the integrated management of its cities and ecosystems, complementing the traditional instances of territorial management such as municipalities, metropolitan areas, river basins and protected areas.