| Summary: | Evaluation of the effectiveness of protected areas is critical for forest conservation policies and priorities. We used 30 m resolution forest cover change data from 1990 to 2010 for ~4000 protected areas to evaluate their effectiveness. Our results show that protected areas in the tropics avoided 83,500 ± 21,200 km<sup>2</sup> of deforestation during the 2000s. Brazil’s protected areas have the largest amount of avoided deforestation at 50,000 km<sup>2</sup>. We also show the amount of international aid received by tropical countries compared to the effectiveness of protected areas. Thirty-four tropical countries received USD 42 billion during the 1990s and USD 62 billion during the 2000s in international aid for biodiversity conservation. The effectiveness of international aid was highest in Latin America, with 4.3 m<sup>2</sup>/USD, led by Brazil, while tropical Asian countries showed the lowest average effect of international aid, reaching only 0.17 m<sup>2</sup>/USD.
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