Protecting tropical forests is more cost-effective for biodiversity and climate than restoration

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By Leonardo S. Miranda  et al, Science. 

Editor's Summary: Restoring degraded ecosystems is increasingly recognized as necessary for maintaining biodiversity but may be less effective than avoiding degradation in the first place. Miranda et al. used counterfactual scenarios to compare the cost-effectiveness of different protection strategies in the Brazilian Amazon tropical forest, a globally important area for biodiversity and carbon storage that is threatened by deforestation and forest disturbances. Avoiding deforestation was most effective (and cost-effective) for carbon storage, whereas avoiding disturbances (fire and logging) had the most benefits for biodiversity. Restoration was least effective for both outcomes. Combining all three types of interventions was necessary to create net-positive outcomes, showing that restoration still has an important role to play. —Bianca Lopez. 

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