Communications of the ACM
Brazil Could Save More Species at Half the Cost With New Forest Restoration Plan
An international research team developed customized software to determine the best strategy for Brazilian reforestation efforts.
Credit: Mongabay
An international research team developed customized software to determine the best strategy for Brazilian reforestation efforts, determining how best to divide space in that nation’s Atlantic Forest to maximize biodiversity and climate change mitigation.
This approach promises to preserve 745 plant and animal species and sequester twice as much carbon dioxide, while slashing restoration costs 57% through regrowth.
Said Imperial College London's Morena Mills, "Our study provides guidance on how multiple interests, in nature and agriculture, can be reconciled when developing forest restoration plans."
The team's software considered different land-use priorities, like biodiversity conservation, to prioritize the most valuable lands to reforest, while also focusing on the least valuable lands for farming.
Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro's Bernardo Strassburg said, "We show that science can help guide decisions about where to restore, multiplying benefits and saving billions of dollars in costs."
From Imperial College London
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