accoriding to the inventário florestal nacional (national forest inventory) - ifn, inside the rio de janeiro state territory an area of 8297 km2 is still covered by native forests, concentrated in four regions including, itatiaia, bocaina, serra dos órgãos e santa maria madalena. the remaining forest areas were scattered in small isolated patches across the rest of the state.

under federal and state jurisdiction and administration, the state of rio has approximately 4300 km2 of protected conservation units. there are 19 federal units, including national parks, biological reserves, environmental protection areas administered by the brazilian institute of environment and renewable natural resources (ibama), as well as 26 state units, biological reserves, ecological stations and areas of environmental protection, administered by the state environment institute and the environmental secretary of the state.