Biosphere reserves help curb deforestation in the Western Amazon and, taken together, have prevented the loss of more than 7,400 square kilometers (2,900 square miles) of forest over the last two decades compared with similar scenarios without this protection status. This is demonstrated by a study conducted by the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (ICTA-UAB), Spain, which presents the first systematic assessment of the effectiveness of Amazonian biosphere reserves in Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru in deterring deforestation. ...read more read less