David Kaimowitz

Forest law enforcement and rural livelihoods

International concern about illegal forestry activities has grown markedly. Asian, African, and European governments have held high-level regional conferences on Forest Law Enforcement and Governance (FLEG). Indonesia has signed path-breaking Memoranda of Understanding on illegal logging with the United Kingdom, China, and Norway. The Convention on Biological Diversity, the United Nations Forum on Forests, the International Tropical Timber Organisation, and the G8 have all issued forceful statements, and incorporated the issue in their work plans. The European Commission has committed itself to formulating a European FLEG Action Plan. Japan and Indonesia have initiated an Asian Forest Partnership, with a major focus on illegal logging. Global Witness, the Environmental Investigation Agency, Transparency International, Greenpeace, Global Forest Watch, and Friends of the Earth have raised public awareness about the problem.

The Effects of Structural Adjustment on Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Lowland Bolivia

Bolivias structural adjustment policies, initiated in 1985, increased poverty among certain groups, but this did not lead to widespread migration to the agricultural frontier. Nor did adjustment greatly affect the average area planted in annual crops by small lowland farmers. Structural adjustment contributed to large-scale forest clearing for soybean production for export and, to a lesser extent, forest degradation by lumber companies. The economic benefits generated by soybean and timber expansion may have outweighed the environmental costs, but alternative policies might have reduced those costs and improved the distribution of the benefits.

Modeling Deforestation at Distinct Geographic Scales and Time Periods in Santa Cruz, Bolivia

This article analyzes geo-referenced data to elucidate the relations between deforestation and access to roads andmarkets, attributes of the physical environment, land tenure, andzoningpolicies in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. It presents separate models for Santa Cruz as a whole and for seven different zones within Santa Cruz, as well as for two different time periods (pre-1989 and 1989 to 1994). The relation between deforestation and the explanatory variables varies depending on geographic scale and the zone and time period analyzed. At the department scale, locations closer to roads and the city and places that have more fertile soils and wetter climates have a greater probability of being deforested. The same applies to colonization areas. Protected areas andforest concessionsare less likely to be deforested. Nevertheless, in manyspecific zones, these variables had no significant impact or actually had the opposite impact than in the entire department.Most of these relationswere weaker between 1989and 1994 than in the previous period.

Introduction: the role of agricultural technologies in tropical deforestation

This introductory chapter sets the scene for the discussion in the edited volume on how new agricultural affects tropical forests. It critically reviews four hypotheses that have been central in the claim that better technologies help protect forests: the Borlaug, the subsistence, the economic development and the land degradation-deforestation hypotheses. Each of them appears to be valid only under certain restrictive conditions. The chapter then gives the aims and scope of the book, the key conclusions, as well as a summary of each of the chapters. A key objective of the book is to identify which technologies under which conditions lead to a win-win situation or trade-off between forest conservation and increasing farm productivity.

Forests and water : a policy perspective

Asian policymakers need to know how changes in land uses and practices related to forests affect flooding, dry season stream flow, and water quality. Based on their beliefs about these relations, policymakers often ban logging or introduce expensive projects. Many key stakeholders believe that logging and deforestation increase flooding and the damage floods cause, but there is only evidence for this in relation to smaller and less severe floods. It is also widely believed that logging and clearing forest reduce dry season stream flow, but whether that actually occurs depends on rainfall patterns, soils, topography, geology, and the type of vegetation. Forests generally improve water quality, although not always. More research is needed on the magnitude of the water quality effects, particularly as regards drinking water.

Agricultural Technology and Forests: a Recapitulation

The opportunity for farmers or companies to capture a forest rent by converting forest to pasture or cropland largely drives deforestation. A number of factors help create such opportunities beside agricultural technologies. These include high output prices, road construction and maintenance in forested areas and cheap and abundant labour and capital, among others. To understand the link between agricultural technology and tropical deforestation, one must view it within this larger context. The contributors to this book have sought to keep a clear focus on the link between technology and deforestation, without losing sight of the context in which that link occurs. This chapter summarizes their main findings and draws general lessons. Section 1 presents six representative situations with regard to the technology–deforestation link in different agricultural systems or contexts and recapitulates the key points from each chapter. Section 2 looks at the main conditioning factors that determine how technological change affects forests at a more general level.

Contras and comandantes: armed movements and forest conservation in Nicaragua's Bosawas biosphere reserve

Summary In the 1980s, Nicaraguas Sandinista government faced armed mestizo and indigenous insurgencies in much of the nations central and eastern regions. After the Sandinistas lost the 1990 elections, the in-coming government signed peace agreements with the insurgents and facilitated their return to civilian life. With the war over, the Nicaraguan army greatly reduced its troop strength, leaving tens of thousands of people unemployed. Within a few years, however, many former insurgents and soldiers took up arms again for multiple and complex reasons. This paper examines how three groups that rearmed influenced forest conservation in the buffer zone of Nicaraguas Bosawas Biosphere Reserve between 1991 and 1999. The three groups were the mestizo Northern Front 3-80 (FN 3-80) and the Andrés Castro United Forces (FUAC), made up of former ‘Nicaraguan Resistance’ and Sandinista soldiers respectively, and the Miskito YATAMA movement. The presence of these armed groups impeded the government from taking coercive action to remove farmers from the reserves nucleus. It also limited the advance of cattle ranching. At times, the groups favored logging, at times they did not. The armed conflicts have tended to keep out prudent foreign investors and encourage the presence of smaller companies willing to take greater risks.

Forest cover and agricultural technology

A widespread belief among development and forest researchers and practitioners holds that technological progress in tropical agriculture is good for forest conservation. Higher yield enables farmers to produce the same amount of food on less agricultural land. The alternative view suggests that productivity improvements make it more profitable for farmers and companies to convert forests to agriculture. New agricultural technologies should therefore stimulate deforestation. This article synthesizes research done by the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) on this issue. It points to several critical factors which can make new technologies speed up or slow down the rate of deforestation: the market characteristics, the farmers’ objectives and constraints, the technologies’ labor and capital intensities, and the agricultural systems and areas in which the technology is applied. Several empirical studies a reused to illustrate the importance of these factors. While new technologies in frontier agriculture often stimulate forest clearing, conditions and technologies for “win-win”outcomes also exist or can be created by appropriate policies.