Conservation effectiveness of seven biosphere reserves in the Western Amazon

Over the past three decades, a complex network of area-based conservation strategies and Indigenous territories has expanded across the Amazon, driven by global efforts to curb biodiversity loss and regional initiatives to uphold Indigenous Peoples’ rights. Yet, deforestation continues to threaten the region’s ecological integrity and the sociocultural resilience of its diverse mosaic of Indigenous, rural, and traditional communities. Biosphere reserves—spanning protected areas, Indigenous territories, and rural–urban settlements—epitomize the governance challenges and environmental pressures facing the broader Amazon Basin. Evaluating their conservation effectiveness is critical for advancing the goals of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. In this study, we apply advanced matching methods to assess deforestation avoidance in seven biosphere reserves across the western Amazon: Podocarpus-El Cóndor, Yasuní, and Sumaco in Ecuador; Manu and BIOAY in Peru; and Beni and Pilón Lajas in Bolivia. Our findings show that most biosphere reserves in the region are effective in reducing deforestation, although forest loss is still increasing across all sites. Notably, transition areas and buffer zones generally avoided more deforestation than core areas, despite their relatively less stringent protection status. These results contribute to the growing evidence of the vital role biosphere reserves can play in mitigating deforestation. Their hybrid governance models, institutional arrangements, and territorial strategies may provide meaningful pathways for aligning local aspirations with global biodiversity targets.