The High Cost of Protecting Tropical Forests: Billions Needed Annually.

At least $130bn a year is needed to protect the most at-risk areas of tropical forest by the end of the decade, alongside reductions in beef and dairy consumption and government bans on deforestation, a thinktank has warned. Currently, finance to protect forests averages between $2bn and $3bn a year. The report estimates that eliminating the economic incentive to destroy forests for cattle ranching, agriculture and other uses would cost at least $130bn a year. The money could come from carbon markets, wealthy governments and philanthropists, but there must also be urgent actions such as a ban on clearing forests, developing businesses that rely on standing forests and reducing demand for commodities linked to deforestation.