As Harvard's Aaron Ellison notes to the New York Times, this approach will only do so much to tackle deforestation. There are already methods (such as studying large forests as a series of smaller ones) that can pick up on some of the subtler losses of forest cover. However, this might just help identify the most damaging instances of deforestation, offering some guidance on which areas need the most help. It's not the same as replanting forests or reducing the rate of deforestation, but it could get the ball rolling on efforts in areas that might otherwise be overlooked.