Conserving Brazil's Atlantic forests

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Author(s)
Buckley, R
De Vasconcellos Pegas, F
Year published
2014
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
In their Report “Using ecological thresholds to evaluate the costs and benefits of set-asides in a biodiversity hotspot” (29 August, p. 1041), C. Banks-Leite et al. calculate that Brazil could protect the most biodiverse 30% of its 143 million hectares of endangered Atlantic forests by reallocating 6.5% of its agricultural subsidies to pay landowners to set aside land for restoration. Reallocations are unlikely, however, because agrosubsidies serve different political constituencies than conservation incentives (1). Meanwhile, a successful and much cheaper stepwise program could be expanded.In their Report “Using ecological thresholds to evaluate the costs and benefits of set-asides in a biodiversity hotspot” (29 August, p. 1041), C. Banks-Leite et al. calculate that Brazil could protect the most biodiverse 30% of its 143 million hectares of endangered Atlantic forests by reallocating 6.5% of its agricultural subsidies to pay landowners to set aside land for restoration. Reallocations are unlikely, however, because agrosubsidies serve different political constituencies than conservation incentives (1). Meanwhile, a successful and much cheaper stepwise program could be expanded.
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Journal Title
Science
Volume
346
Issue
6214
Copyright Statement
© The Author(s) 2014. This is the author’s version of the work. It is posted here by permission of the AAAS for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Science on Vol. 346 no. 6214, 5 December 2014, DOI: dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.346.6214.1193-a.
Subject
Impacts of Tourism
Environmental Management