ABSTRACT This study assessed the dynamics of the land use and cover changes, deforestation trends and the current status of the Legal Forest Reserves (LFR) and Permanent Protected areas (PPA) in the Nova Bonal Sustainable Development Project (SDP) between 1997-2014. Deforestation datasets and fieldwork were used in this analysis. Our results indicate that there was no trend in the estimated deforestation rate dataset for the SDP, but there was a decreasing trend in deforestation rates within its 10-km buffer zone, most likely due to the scarcity of native forests in that area. The negative environmental area balance of PPA and LFR were observed within the 10-km buffer zone of the SDP. Finally, we conclude that the alternative land and forest uses enforced within the SDP are more effective for environmental conservation than the commonly adopted land uses, especially pastures adopted by conventional colonization located around it.