Protecting tropical forests is more cost-effective for biodiversity and climate than restoration.
Avoiding deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon delivers the highest biodiversity and carbon benefits at lower costs compared to restoration efforts.
- Why it matters: Understanding the most cost-effective strategies is crucial for optimizing investments in combating biodiversity loss and climate change in tropical forests.
- What they did: The study analyzed biodiversity and carbon outcomes of avoidance, restoration, and combined interventions using field assessments and remote sensing data from the Brazilian Amazon, comparing observed and counterfactual scenarios.
- The result: Avoidance interventions proved most cost-effective, but combining strategies yielded the greatest overall gains, highlighting the importance of integrated approaches for reversing ecological losses.