Understanding the interactions between protected areas and the surrounding landscape has become a central issue to conservation of biodiversity. The important role of protected areas in the preservation of biodiversity in tropical hotpots is widely recognized, but the role of the landscape surrounding those hotspots is poorly understood, particularly with regard to insects. In this study, we evaluated the species richness, composition, and beta diversity of Odonata assemblages inside and in the surroundings of a protected area in the Atlantic Forest hotspot. Sampling was carried out in the Private Reserve of Natural Heritage Veracel Station and its surroundings in the southern region of Bahia. Forty sites were sampled, 22 within the reserve and 18 in the surrounding areas. We found both a greater total species richness, and a greater richness with regard to the suborder Anisoptera in the surrounding areas. In addition, the species composition differed less between the sampling sites inside the protected area. Some of the species found inside the protected area did, however, make a greater contribution of the individual species to beta diversity (SCDB). Our study suggests that the surroundings of a protected area can contribute to the maintenance of regional diversity of dragonflies, but the protected areas play a vital role in supporting critically endangered species and populations of forest specialists, e.g., phytotelmatous species. Implications for insect conservation: Our results show that the composition of the odonate species assemblages may provide a means to assess the importance of protected areas to Odonata communities. Our study also highlights the importance of PAs to the maintenance of the regional Odonata species pool, especially to forest specialist species and to threatened species. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.