- Brazil’s Atlantic Forest is one of the richest biomes on the planet, hosting around 5% of Earth’s vertebrate species, but deforestation has decimated the region, with less than a quarter of original forests still standing.
- Reforestation efforts provide varying environmental, economic and societal values, also known as bioeconomics.
- New research weighs the economic potential of native plants to bolster the bioeconomics of reforestation projects, supporting conservation efforts and supporting small landowners and Indigenous communities.
The forests of the world are teeming with life, from the towering trees down to the microscopic organisms that quietly recycle and refuel the soil. That’s why clearing forests leads to biodiversity loss, problems with water and soil quality, and less carbon storage.
In Brazil’s Atlantic Forest, restoration projects have been underway for decades to combat clearing. While some successes have been noted, there are still barriers to starting — and sustaining — restoration efforts in the region. This is especially the case for privately owned land. Now, new research in the journal Ambio digs in to how to better balance reforestation efforts with economic benefits for landowners in the Atlantic Forest.
“We wanted to go beyond the classic, cliché narrative that says biodiversity has an invaluable market value and many active principles … we wanted to answer which ones,” says study lead author Pedro Medrado Krainovic, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of São Paulo.
The researchers were curious if they could find the reforestation sweet spot of increasing biodiversity, creating economic incentives and providing social support — a combination known as bioeconomics. In particular, they wanted to know if native plant species in restored patches of the Atlantic Forest could help bridge the gap between forest restoration goals and economic opportunities, by measuring how many of these species could be economically exploited.
The team surveyed vegetation in areas undergoing forest restoration, noting the variety and abundance of native plants. Using patent records for plants in medical, cosmetic and industrial uses, they cross-referenced the lists and found that nearly 60% of native species in these areas have bioeconomic potential. These native plants can be harvested in nondestructive ways (such as gathering leaves, bark or fruits), providing income to landowners, community members and Indigenous peoples while bolstering forest health and recovery.
Supporting reforestation
The Atlantic Forest stretches along the eastern coast of Brazil, extending into northern Argentina and southeastern Paraguay. A rich biome, the Atlantic Forest is home to an estimated 5% of all vertebrate species on Earth, as well as most of Brazil’s people, concentrated in megacities like São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.
“[Our] study addresses the critical reality of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, a highly threatened biome that is home to approximately 70% of the Brazilian population,” Krainovic says. “Over centuries, land-use change has been massive and frequent, leaving a legacy of severe degradation.”
Researchers estimate that only 24% of the original Atlantic Forest’s tree cover remains.
Since 2009, restoration efforts have been backed by the Atlantic Forest Restoration Pact. This collaborative initiative, spanning 17 of Brazil’s 26 states, aims to restore 15 million hectares (37 million acres) of forest. Landowners are a key player in restoration, as about 75% of the land in the biome is privately owned.
“The principal obstacle remains convincing landholders that restoration can be beneficial,” Krainovic says. He notes that benefits to water regulation, soil protection and pollination can be indirect. “For many years, forest restoration was viewed by landowners as a legal hurdle or a ‘waste of land,’ necessary only to comply with environmental laws, such as the Native Vegetation Protection Law in Brazil.”
Krainovic and his colleagues decided to look at reforested land in three subtropical areas: land under active reforestation, land under natural regeneration, and abandoned eucalyptus plantations. They surveyed, measured and identified trees, and calculated the species richness and abundance in each area.
Using published studies and patent records, the team then assessed the potential uses for these native plants in industry and agriculture.
“From the total of 283 native species, we found that 59% have significant market potential — primarily in the medicinal, cosmetic and food sectors,” Krainovic says. He adds that these native plants could create income generation while supporting forest restoration and biodiversity goals.
Even so, he notes, there are still some hurdles to overcome.
“Ultimately, bolstering native plants for economic use depends on developing the entire restoration supply chain, ensuring the availability of viable seeds and seedlings in the market,” he says.
The benefits and risks of reforestation
There are real financial barriers to tackling long-lasting and large-scale restoration projects. For landowners, not being able to harvest trees or growing yearly crops on restoration land means no money is coming in from those plots unless supported by an outside program. There has been governmental, NGO and private funding for reforestation projects, but some forest restoration funding only covers short-term support, potentially leaving farmers struggling a few years down the road. Other funding sources are targeted at large-scale landowners, leaving out small farmers.
“It’s hard to get money for people to reforest,” says Jefferson Hall, a scientist at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and director of the Agua Salud Project, who wasn’t involved in the study. Hall adds it can be especially challenging for small landholders.
Hall witnessed these financial challenges firsthand while working in Panama. There, landowners turned to teak, a profitable hardwood, as the tree of choice in reforestation projects. However, planting these trees takes a big investment and the right conditions.
“Unfortunately, in Panama, there have been a whole series of small landholders who thought they could just get on the teak bandwagon,” Hall says. “[They] planted teak on horrible soils,” and the potential profits evaporated. He notes that he personally knew someone whose parents lost 100 hectares (250 acres), because they put the land up as collateral for a return on the teak trees.
Hall says some of these reforestation projects favor wealthy companies or big landowners. “The economies of scale work for a timber company, but it doesn’t work for a smallholder, necessarily.” He adds that financial institutions need to do a better job of protecting smaller-scale landowners from financial risk.
Hall says their efforts in the Agua Salud Project in Panama try to move the risk from the landowners to the government-funded science teams. There, the Panama Canal Authority provides landowners with a flat fee for forest protection and carbon sequestration efforts. “By giving a flat payment, we call that equitable and socially just,” he says. The flat payments shift the risk of planting trees from the landowners to the scientists and government officials.
Beyond funding and markets, Krainovic says there also needs to be more education and guidance for landowners about forest restoration options.
“In Brazil, the silviculture of exotic species, such as eucalyptus, is highly mature; a landowner knows exactly how to manage it for charcoal, pulp or timber across various altitudes and soil types,” he says. “In contrast, when dealing with native species in a biodiverse restoration context, the technical uncertainties remain high, which significantly increases risk and decreases economic attractiveness.”
Krainovic says their findings can be used as a tool for governmental decision-making around both reforestation efforts and strengthening green supply chains. “This shift ensures that the Atlantic Forest — and other tropical forests — is not only restored but also remains standing because it has become a central pillar of a new, remunerated, and sustainable bioeconomy,” he says.
Banner image: An Araucaria angustifolia, a critically endangered conifer, in Itatiaia National Park in the Atlantic Forest. Image by Pietro via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0).
Restoration turns pastures into wildlife haven in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest
Citation:
Krainovic, P. M., Romanelli, J. P., De Resende, A. F., Simões, L. H. P., Boeni, A. F., Souza, L. R., … Brancalion, P. H. S. (2026). Bioeconomic opportunities in restored tropical forests. Ambio, 55, 344-359. doi:10.1007/s13280-025-02234-5
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