Banks-Leite et al. (2021) claim that our suggestion of preserving ≥ 40% forest cover lacks evidence and can be problematic. We find these claims unfounded, and discuss why conservation planning urgently requires valuable, well-supported and feasible general guidelines like the 40% criterion. Using region-specific thresholds worldwide is unfeasible and potentially harmful.
Keywords: Extinction threshold; general principles; habitat amount; habitat restoration; landscape structure; planetary emergency.
© 2021 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.