Catherine M. Tucker

Accessibility as a determinant of landscape transformation in western Honduras: linking pattern and process

This study evaluates the relationship between landscape accessibility and land cover change in Western Honduras, and demonstrates how these relationships are influenced by social and economic processes of land use change in the region. The study area presents a complex mosaic of land cover change processes that involve approximately equal amounts of reforestation and deforestation. Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) satellite imagery of 1987, 1991 and 1996 was used to create three single date classifications and a land cover change image depicting the sequence of changes in land cover between 1987–1991–1996. An accessibility analysis examined land cover change and landscape fragmentation relative to elevation and distance from roads. Between 1987 and 1991, results follow ‘expected’ trends, with more accessible areas experiencing greater deforestation and fragmentation. Between 1991 and 1996 this trend reverses. Increased deforestation is found in areas distant from roads, and at higher elevations; a result of government policies promoting expansion of mountain coffee production for export. A ban on logging, and abandonment of marginally productive agricultural fields due to agricultural intensification in other parts of the landscape, has led to increased regrowth in accessible regions of the landscape. Roads and elevation also present different obstacles in terms of their accessibility, with the smallest patches of cyclical clearing and regrowth, relating mostly to the agricultural fallow cycle, found at the highest elevations but located close to roads. This research highlights the need to locate analyses of land cover change within the context of local socio-economic policies and land use processes.

The Influence of Accessibility, Local Institutions, and Socioeconomic Factors on Forest Cover Change in the Mountains of Western Honduras

Abstract Tropical deforestation poses a threat to ecological sustainability and socioeconomic development in many parts of the world. Information on forest transformations is especially pertinent in sensitive ecological zones such as mountainous regions, where forest cover protects steep slopes and thin soils from erosion. Such areas are frequently unsuitable for agriculture, but inhabitants may have few alternatives to meet subsistence needs. Understanding the relationship between human behavior and forest change poses a major challenge for development projects, policy makers, and environmental organizations that aim to improve forest management. Knowledge of the areal extent of forest cover and the processes of change represents an integral step, but in many areas of the globe, these processes are still relatively unknown. This study addresses forest cover change in a community in the mountains of western Honduras. Between 1987 and 1996, 9.77 km2 of land was reforested and only 7.48 km2 was deforested, as determined by satellite image analysis. This reforestation is related to the current institutional, biophysical, and socioeconomic contexts. Forests remain primarily on steeper slopes, at higher elevations, and at a distance from settlements and roads. A county ban on logging has allowed regrowth of previously logged areas. Agricultural intensification appears related to abandonment of some marginal lands. Processes of privatization have been occurring; private forests reveal higher reforestation and lower deforestation rates than communal forests. Privatization, however, has favored the wealthy. Thus, the majority has had to depend on shrinking communal forests.

Private Versus Common Property Forests: Forest Conditions and Tenure in a Honduran Community

Establishing secure tenure is widely recognized as a fundamental component of sustainable forest management. Policy-makers generally prefer privatization to achieve these ends, although common property institutions may also be appropriate. But if common property tenure is insecure and fails to control exploitation, theory predicts that private tenure should lead to better forest conditions. In this case study of a western Honduras community, forest mensuration data were collected from four private forests and two relatively open access common property forests. Statistical analyses failed to find consistent, significant differences in vegetation structure or soils related to tenure. Notable contrasts between forests reflected historical conditions and owner preferences. Neither form of tenure appeared to emphasize concerns for sustainable management, and ongoing processes of change constrained the possibility for limiting common property forest exploitation. The study adds to others which show that the outcomes of private or common property tenure relate substantially to the socioeconomic, political, and ecological context.

Fragmentation of a Landscape: incorporating landscape metrics into satellite analyses of land-cover change

The relationship between trajectories of forest-cover change and the biophysical and social characteristics of the landscape in the mountains of Western Honduras is addressed. Metrics of land-cover change were used to infer patterns of land-use change, using Landsat TM imagery from 1987, 1991 and 1996. With 15-20% of the land cover changing across each two-date period, the study landscape was very dynamic. Areas of reforestation were significantly larger than areas of deforestation, across all dates. Patch size was a good indicator of economic activity. Stable patches of forest and agriculture were fewer and larger, compared to forest regrowth and clearing. Small patches of swidden agriculture were found close to roads, at lower elevations and on more gradual slopes between 1987 and 1991. Between 1991 and 1996, expansion of export coffee production resulted in forest clearings on steeper slopes and at higher elevations. Results highlight the importance of landscape metrics in monitoring land-cover change over time.

Modeling Spatially and Temporally Complex Land-Cover Change: The Case of Western Honduras*

Abstract This article presents an econometric analysis of land-cover change in western Honduras. Ground-truthed satellite image analysis indicates that between 1987 and 1996 net reforestation occurred in the 1,015-km2 study region. While some reforestation can be attributed to a 1987 ban on logging, the area of reforestation greatly exceeds that of previously clear-cut areas. Further, new area was also deforested between 1987 and 1996. Thus, the observed land-cover changes represent a complex mosaic of changing land-use patterns across time and space. The analysis contributes to the literature on land-cover change modeling in that: (1) it compares two econometric approaches to capture complex and often bidirectional changes in land cover from 1987 to 1996 as a function of agricultural suitability and transportation costs, and (2) it addresses techniques to identify and correct for spatial autocorrelation in a categorical regression framework.

Community Organization, Migration, and Remittances in Oaxaca

Researchers studying migration and development have argued over the potential that migration and associated remittances have to improve the economic and social conditions in origin communities. Past research on migration from indigenous communities in Oaxaca has similarly questioned the compatibility of traditional governance systems with high migration rates. We argue, using evidence from four Zapotec communities in rural Oaxaca, that communities can use the organizational capacity of traditional governance systems to access remittances from migrants for the benefit of the community as a whole. Communities can require payment from migrants in lieu of communal labor requirements (tequio) and may directly solicit remittances from migrants for community projects. The extent to which they enforce these requests depends on the existing organizational strength in the community. These findings imply that strong forms of community organization can make the difference between migration contributing to underdevelopment and migration contributing to development. Especialistas sobre migración y desarrollo han estudiado el potencial que la migración y sus remesas asociadas brindan al mejoramiento de las condiciones sociales y políticas en las comunidades de origen. Asimismo, estudios previos sobre migración de comunidades indígenas en Oaxaca han cuestionado la compatibilidad de sistemas tradicionales de gobierno y altas tasas de migración. Sobre la base de evidencia de cuatro comunidades zapotecas en la zona rural de Oaxaca, sostenemos que las comunidades pueden utilizar la capacidad institucional de sistemas de gobierno tradicionales para acceder a remesas en favor de la comunidad en general. Las comunidades pueden exigir a los emigrantes pagos en lugar de participar en trabajos comunitarios obligatorios (tequio) y también pueden solicitar remesas a los emigrantes para proyectos comunitarios. El grado hasta el cual las comunidades exigen el cumplimiento de estos requisitos depende de la fuerza organizativa de la comunidad. Los resultados de esta investigación implican que la solidez organizacional puede definir a la migración como beneficiosa o perjudicial para el desarrollo comunitario.

Community Institutions and Forest Management in Mexico's Monarch Butterfly Reserve

Agrarian communities own the majority of land in the Monarch Butterfly Reserve. Despite publicity surrounding processes of degradation that implicate local residents, certain communities in the reserve have relatively conserved forests. This research explores the factors influencing forest conditions in the reserve with particular attention to the presence of community institutions, as well as political economic contexts, and biophysical and spatial factors. A comparative analysis of two communities found that lack of coordination between state and community institutions, and tensions among residents and external authorities, compromise reserve protection. In the absence of effective institutional arrangements, biophysical and spatial factors strongly influence processes of forest conservation or degradation. Nevertheless, some community institutions are resilient and support conservation, even though the political economic context undermines their authority. The results suggest that strengthening community institutions and increasing local participation in conservation offer potential for more effective reserve protection.

A model integrating social-cultural concepts of nature into frameworks of interaction between social and natural systems

Existing frameworks for analysing interactions between social and natural systems (e.g. Social-Ecological Systems framework, Ecosystem Services concept) do not sufficiently consider and operationalize the dynamic interactions between peoples values, attitudes and understandings of the human-nature relationship at both individual and collective levels. We highlight the relevance of individual and collective understandings of the human-nature relationship as influencing factors for environmental behaviour, which may be reflected in natural resource management conflicts, and review the diversity of existing social-cultural concepts, frameworks and associated research methods. Particular emphasis is given to the context-sensitivity of social-cultural concepts in decision-making. These aspects are translated into a conceptual model aiming not to replace but to expand and enhance existing frameworks. Integrating this model into existing frameworks provides a tool for the exploration of how social-cultural concepts of nature interact with existing contexts to influence governance of social-ecological systems.

Adaptation in a multi-stressor environment: perceptions and responses to climatic and economic risks by coffee growers in Mesoamerica

While climate change adaptation policy has tended to focus on planned adaptation interventions, in many vulnerable communities, adaptation will consist of autonomous, “unplanned” actions by individuals who are responding to multiple simultaneous sources of change. Their actions are likely not only to affect their own future vulnerability, but, through changes in livelihoods and resource use, the vulnerability of their community and resource base. In this paper, we document the autonomous changes to livelihood strategies adopted by smallholder coffee farmers in four Mesoamerican countries (Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and Costa Rica). Our aim is to gain insight into the process of autonomous adaptation by proxy: through an assessment of how farmers explain their choices in relation to distinct stressors; and an understanding of the set of choices available to farmers. We find that climatic stress is a feature in decision making, but not the dominant driver. Nevertheless, the farmers in our sample are evidently flexible, adaptive, and experimental in relation to changing circumstances. Whether their autonomous responses to diverse stressors will result in a reduction in risk over time may well depend on the extent to which policy, agricultural research, and rural investments build on the inherent logic of these strategies.

An Approach to Assess Relative Degradation in Dissimilar Forests: Toward a Comparative Assessment of Institutional Outcomes

A significant challenge in the assessment of forest management outcomes is the limited ability to compare forest conditions quantitatively across ecological zones. We propose an approach for comparing different forest types through the use of reference forests. We tested our idea by drawing a sample of 42 forests from the Midwest USA, Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Brazil, Bolivia, Uganda, and Nepal. We grouped these forests by shared characteristics and selected a reference forest to serve as a baseline for each forest type. We developed an index of disturbances using ratios of several forest measurements to assess differences between each study forest and its reference forest. None of the study forests was known to have been impacted by major natural disturbances during the past 50 years. Therefore, the disturbances in these forests appear to be largely related to human activities. The forests most similar to their reference forests have had limited human interventions. Our results indicate the potential of this approach to compare different forest conditions across biomes. We argue that development of this approach could facilitate analyses of forest management institutions, promote reliable indicators to compare management outcomes, and contribute to improved policies for conservation.