Restoration costs
Restoration implementation costs were obtained from Molin et al. (2018), which indicated that restoration plantations established on croplands and pasturelands in the region cost US$2,500.ha-1 and US$3,750.ha-1, respectively (more expensive in pasturelands due to fencing costs); these estimates include all costs associated with tree planting and maintenance for up to three years (Molin et al., 2018). Unassisted natural regeneration in croplands had no implementation cost and in pasturelands it was US$1,250.ha-1 due to fencing costs (Molin et al., 2018). Annual land opportunity cost was estimated based on land rental prices for sugarcane and cattle ranching in the Piracicaba region (where the Corumbataí watershed is located), based on official survey of the Institute of Agriculture Economics of São Paulo (SãoPaulo, 2017), and was estimated as US$106.66.ha-1.year-1 for cattle ranching and US$389.23.ha-1.year-1for sugarcane (Molin et al., 2018). We calculated the accumulated land opportunity cost by multiplying these aforementioned annual costs by the age of the restored forests. Total restoration cost was calculated by summing implementation and accumulated land opportunity costs (e.g., total cost for 10-year old restoration plantation on cropland = US$2,500.ha-1 + US$389.23.ha-1.year-1 x 10 years = US$6392.3). No discount rate was applied because we aimed to compare tree planting and natural regeneration on the present value.