Conversion of natural ecosystems is the second largest source of human-induced climate change, accounting for 17–20% of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions (Gullison et al. 2007; Metz et al. 2007), and is the single most important driver of species extinctions (Baillie et al. 2004). Yet, despite major global scientific (Baillie et al. 2004; MEA 2005; Gullison et al. 2007; Metz et al. 2007) and political (United Nations 1992, 1993) backing for the importance of forests and other ecosystems for global climate regulation and biodiversity conservation, deforestation rates remain unabated (FAO 2006). Conversion is now concentrated in the most carbon-rich and biodiverse biome on Earth, the tropical forests (FAO 2006). Recent research suggests that the role these forests play in global climate regulation might be greater than previously thought (Stephens et al. 2007; Bonan 2008; Lewis et al. 2009) and that some of its richest biodiversity hotspots are still poorly explored (Carnaval et al. 2009).

New studies have also highlighted that climate change, deforestation, carbon storage in biomass and biodiversity are closely interlinked. For instance, in addition to contributing directly to global warming, deforestation also makes forests more susceptible to the effects of climate change (Malhi et al. 2009; Phillips et al. 2009). Climate change will be a major driver of future species extinctions (Thomas et al. 2004) and one of its possible feedbacks is a further depletion of forest carbon stocks (Malhi et al. 2009). Biodiversity, on the other hand, might alleviate some of these effects by making ecosystems more resilient (Reusch et al. 2005; Tilman et al. 2006) and, possibly, more productive (Flombaum & Sala 2008).