Amazon study finds protecting standing forests from fires and logging boosts biodiversity

September 21, 2026 at 05:03 PM2 min

This digest was compiled by AI from multiple sources — links to the originals are below.

A study published in Science finds that preventing disturbances like wildfires and selective logging in existing Amazon forests can deliver the greatest biodiversity benefits per dollar spent. Researchers from Lancaster University and partners analyzed over three million hectares in Brazil's Pará state from 2010 to 2020. The findings come as the 2026 El Niño intensifies, raising fire risk across the region.

Key Facts

The study examined more than three million hectares in Santarém and Paragominas, two regions in Brazil's Pará state, from 2010 to 2020.
Researchers combined high-resolution satellite imagery with 381 survey transects across 38 catchments and 499 rural properties.
The dataset included models charting the distributions of 160 bird species and 426 tree species.
Measures that reduced disturbances generated the largest benefits for forest biodiversity and were nearly as important as preventing outright deforestation for safeguarding carbon stocks.
Professor Jos Barlow of Lancaster University, senior author, said the findings highlight the need for policies to prevent and tackle wildfires that disturb and degrade tropical forests.

Study Design

An international research team from the UK, Brazil, Sweden and Australia, led by scientists at Lancaster University, carried out what the researchers describe as the first systematic comparison of its kind. The team evaluated different strategies for protecting existing forests and restoring forests on agricultural land. Researchers combined high-resolution satellite imagery with extensive field observations, including 381 survey transects across 38 catchments and 499 rural properties. The team then used observed changes in land use to construct counterfactual scenarios, estimating what might have happened to biodiversity and forest carbon stocks under different conservation approaches compared with what actually occurred. They also calculated the costs associated with each strategy, making it possible to compare how much environmental benefit each intervention could provide for the resources invested.

Key Findings

Preventing damage to forests emerged as especially important, with measures that reduced disturbances generating the largest benefits for forest biodiversity. These measures were nearly as important as preventing outright deforestation when it came to safeguarding carbon stocks. Dr. Leonardo Miranda of Lancaster University, lead author, said that while no one strategy is a silver bullet, the results provide clear evidence that conservation should begin by prioritizing the forests we have left. He added that protection must go beyond avoiding deforestation, as avoiding forest disturbances from wildfires or logging delivered the greatest benefits for forest biodiversity.

El Niño Context

Professor Jos Barlow of Lancaster University, senior author, said the findings highlight the need to put in place policies and resources to prevent and tackle the wildfires that disturb and degrade tropical forests. He said this is all the more urgent in this El Niño year, as these events combined with climate change result in longer, hotter and more intense dry seasons across the Amazon's 'arc of deforestation', greatly increasing the extent and severity of forest fires.