Conserving Brazil's Atlantic forests

Abstract

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.