The Site is also important for the connectivity of protected areas, as it is adjacent to a number of existing Ramsar Sites: Cabo Orange National Park (Site no. 2190), Baixada Maranhense Environmental Protection Area (Site no. 1020), Reentrancias Maranhenses (Site no. 640), and Parque Estadual Marinho do Parcel Manoel Luís (Site no. 1021).
The Site and the wider Amazon estuary and coastal basins ecoregion are extremely biodiverse and of great international importance. Around 40 species found in the Site are both nationally and globally threatened, and 21 more listed as threatened on Brazil’s Red List. Marine, freshwater and terrestrial species including mammals, reptiles, birds and fish are included among these.
Fernando de Noronha Archipelago (Site no. 2333), an oceanic archipelago in the north-east of Brazil with an area of 10,927 ha, has been for millennia a refuge for many endemic species because of its isolated location. Of the 28 coral species occurring in Brazil, ten are found in all phases of their lives here. There are also great concentrations of spinner dolphins (Stenella longirostris), pantropical spotted dolphins (Stenella attenuata), and an area where humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) reproduce and rear their calves.The Site is also listed as a UNESCO Natural World Heritage property.