Effects of Protected Areas on Forest Cover Change and Local Communities: Evidence from the Peruvian Amazon

Protected areas are a cornerstone of forest conservation in developing countries. Yet we know little about their effects on forest cover change or the socioeconomic status of local communities, and even less about the relationship between these effects. This paper assesses whether 'win-win' scenarios are possible-that is, whether protected areas can both stem forest cover change and alleviate poverty. We examine protected areas in the Peruvian Amazon using high-resolution satellite images and household-level survey data for the early 2000s. To control for protected areas nonrandom siting, we rely on quasi-experimental (matching) methods. We find that the average protected area reduces forest cover change. We do not find a robust effect on local communities. Protected areas that allow sustainable extractive activities are more effective in reducing forest cover change but less effective in delivering win-win outcomes

Land Values in Frontier Settlements of the Brazilian Amazon

Summary Even in the absence of formal land markets, estimated values on agricultural frontiers of the Brazilian Amazon reflect the value-adding characteristics of the land. Understanding these characteristics provides important insights to the incentives (or dis-incentives) to protect tropical forests and reduce deforestation. A hedonic model is used to identify characteristics determining smallholder land values on the Amazon frontier. Years on the lot, area under agricultural production, and house values were found to add value; while distance from the nearest city and area under forest decreased values. Characteristics that do not appear to significantly affect land value include pasture area and the claim to hold definitive title. By not adding significantly to land values, pasture may be used to establish property rights rather than to increase land value through positive rents. Our results also confirm the underutilization of the forest resource by smallholders.Brazil Amazon smallholder land value hedonic model

Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Latin America and the Caribbean: Current Situation, Future Trends and One Policy Experiment

This study employs the IFPRI IMPACT model to examine the effects of a hypothetical ban on the clearing of native vegetation for agriculture in tropical areas within LAC on GHG emissions, food production, food prices, and child malnutrition at several spatial scales. Results suggest that a complete ban on land clearing for agriculture would significantly reduce GHG emissions associated with the clearing of forests and other forms of natural vegetation vis-à-vis what would have occurred in the absence of the ban. The ban would also reduce agricultural production within tropical areas in LAC, however, the economic losses are not distributed uniformly across the three sub-regions within tropical LAC- the northern South American rim around the Amazon suffers approximately 45% of all losses in gross value of agricultural output attributable to the ban. The report also finds that at global level, the overall effects on commodity prices of the simulated ban on area expansion on LAC are not large and (hence) the effects on childhood malnutrition are small

Industrial development on logging frontiers in the Brazilian Amazon

In this paper, we review the concept of forest sector industrialisation and technology adoption with the goal of identifying reasons that have shaped the technological development, or lack thereof, in the Brazilian forest sector. The image of the timber industry in the Amazon has been one of excessive harvest, deforestation, and arguable misuse of a renewable resource. In this paper, we use the results of a survey of 499 mills in the Amazon, as well as secondary data, to discuss the drivers of unsustainable frontier development. Our research suggests that unsustainable logging, or the 'boom-and-bust' scenario, is not an inevitable outcome for the industry. New and intermediate frontiers are sufficiently different from old frontiers, in key issues, to show that the industry can respond rationally to policy interventions.Amazon; forest policy; industrial organisation; sustainable development; sustainability; unsustainable logging; Brazil; technological development; timber industry.

Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Latin America and the Caribbean: Current Situation, Future Trends and One Policy Experiment

This study employs the IFPRI IMPACT model to examine the effects of a hypothetical ban on the clearing of native vegetation for agriculture in tropical areas within LAC on GHG emissions, food production, food prices, and child malnutrition at several spatial scales. Results suggest that a complete ban on land clearing for agriculture would significantly reduce GHG emissions associated with the clearing of forests and other forms of natural vegetation vis-à-vis what would have occurred in the absence of the ban. The ban would also reduce agricultural production within tropical areas in LAC, however, the economic losses are not distributed uniformly across the three sub-regions within tropical LAC- the northern South American rim around the Amazon suffers approximately 45% of all losses in gross value of agricultural output attributable to the ban. The report also finds that at global level, the overall effects on commodity prices of the simulated ban on area expansion on LAC are not large and (hence) the effects on childhood malnutrition are small.Agricultural policy, Climate Change, Forests & forestry, Natural Resources Management, Climate Change, Forestry, Agriculture

Managing Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Latin America: Assessing the National, Regional, and Global Effects of Halting Deforestation in the Tropics

The following handout is a summary of the IDB Discussion Paper "Agriculture Greenhouse Emissions in Latin America and the Caribbean: Food Security and Deforestation".Agriculture & Food Security, Climate Change, Forests & Forestry, Climate Change, Forestry, Agriculture

Large-scale impoverishment of Amazonian forests by logging and fire

Amzonian deforestation rates are used to determine human effects on the global carbon cycle 1-3 and to measure Brazil’s progress in curbing forest impoverishment 1,4,5. But this widely used measure of tropical land use tells only part of the story. Here we present field surveys of wood mills and forest burning across Brazilian Amazonia which show that logging crews severely damage 10,000 to 15,000km2yr-1 offorest that are not included in deforestation mapping programmes. Moreover, we find that surface fires bum additionallarge areas of standing forest, the destruction of which is normally not documented. Forest impoverishment due to such fires mar increase dramatically when severe droughts provoke forest leaf-shedding and greater flammability; our regional water-balance model indicates that an estimated 270,000 km2 of forest became vulnerable to fire in the 1998 dry season. Overall, we find that present estimates of annual deforestation for Brazilian Amazonia capture less than half of the forest area that is impoverished each year, and even less during years of severe drOUght. Both logging and fire increase forest vulnerability to future burning",7 and release forest carbon stocks to the atmosphere, potentially doubling net carbon emissions Ifrom regional land-use during severe El Niflo episodes. If this forest impoverishment is to be controIled, then logging activities I need to be restricted or replaced with low-impact timber harvest techniques, and more effective strategies to prevent accidental forest fires need to be implemented.Pages: 505-50