IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecolec/v116y2015icp1-11.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The development-driven forest transition and its utility for REDD+

Author

Listed:
  • Sloan, Sean

Abstract

Forest recovery is occurring in Panama and several other tropical countries following decades of deforestation. Theory on such ‘forest transitions’ describes urbanization and agricultural modernization as underling factors. Tropical country governments may seek to harness these factors to promote a tropical forest transition within the REDD+ scheme. Yet tropical forest transitions remain poorly described due to limited data and inappropriate modeling. To determine the nature of a tropical forest transition I derive canonical correlations of (a) socio-agrarian transformation observed via respondent-level census records and (b) forest-cover change observed via satellite imagery, for 82% of Panamanian counties over 1980–1990–2000–2008. The Panamanian forest transition centered on multi-decadal in situ shifts in employment from agriculture to off-farm activity, particularly by women. Agricultural modernization and decline were coincident but of lesser importance. Urbanization entailed increasingly connected small urban centers in otherwise rural landscapes. Net forest gains per decade were ~1.5–2% of the area of influence of the socio-agrarian transformations, which concentrate in economically and agriculturally favored regions. Governments may conceivably nurture forest transitions already underway via economic policies, but they cannot coordinate them. Even so, inefficiencies may be prohibitively high, and challenges significant. A history of failure of similar ‘social engineering’ endeavors urges caution in this respect.

Suggested Citation

  • Sloan, Sean, 2015. "The development-driven forest transition and its utility for REDD+," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 1-11.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:116:y:2015:i:c:p:1-11
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2015.04.010
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921800915001688
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2015.04.010?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Karsenty, Alain & Ongolo, Symphorien, 2012. "Can “fragile states” decide to reduce their deforestation? The inappropriate use of the theory of incentives with respect to the REDD mechanism," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(C), pages 38-45.
    2. Sudhanshu Handa & Benjamin Davis, 2006. "The Experience of Conditional Cash Transfers in Latin America and the Caribbean," Working Papers 06-07, Agricultural and Development Economics Division of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO - ESA).
    3. Catherine Potvin & Petra Tschakert & Frédéric Lebel & Kate Kirby & Hector Barrios & Judith Bocariza & Jaime Caisamo & Leonel Caisamo & Charianito Cansari & Juan Casamá & Maribel Casamá & Laura Chamorr, 2007. "A participatory approach to the establishment of a baseline scenario for a reforestation Clean Development Mechanism project," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 12(8), pages 1341-1362, October.
    4. Coomes, Oliver T. & Grimard, Franque & Potvin, Catherin & Sima, Philip, 2008. "The fate of the tropical forest: Carbon or cattle?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(2), pages 207-212, April.
    5. repec:bla:devpol:v:24:y:2006:i:5:p:513-536 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Amy Lynne Damon, 2010. "Agricultural Land Use and Asset Accumulation in Migrant Households: the Case of El Salvador," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(1), pages 162-189.
    7. World Bank, 2008. "World Development Report 2007 Development and the Next Generation," Working Papers id:1755, eSocialSciences.
    8. John Maluccio, 2010. "The Impact of Conditional Cash Transfers on Consumption and Investment in Nicaragua," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(1), pages 14-38.
    9. Jessica Erin Todd & Paul Winters & Tom Hertz, 2010. "Conditional Cash Transfers and Agricultural Production: Lessons from the Oportunidades Experience in Mexico," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(1), pages 39-67.
    10. Humphries, Sally, 1998. "Milk Cows, Migrants, and Land Markets: Unraveling the Complexities of Forest-to-Pasture Conversion in Northern Honduras," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 47(1), pages 95-124, October.
    11. Tschakert, Petra & Coomes, Oliver T. & Potvin, Catherine, 2007. "Indigenous livelihoods, slash-and-burn agriculture, and carbon stocks in Eastern Panama," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(4), pages 807-820, February.
    12. Arild Angelsen & Thomas K. Rudel, 2013. "Designing and Implementing Effective REDD + Policies: A Forest Transition Approach," Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 7(1), pages 91-113, January.
    13. Stephan Klasen & Francesca Lamanna, 2009. "The Impact of Gender Inequality in Education and Employment on Economic Growth: New Evidence for a Panel of Countries," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(3), pages 91-132.
    14. ,, 2000. "Problems And Solutions," Econometric Theory, Cambridge University Press, vol. 16(2), pages 287-299, April.
    15. Karen Ehrhardt‐Martinez & Edward M. Crenshaw & J. Craig Jenkins, 2002. "Deforestation and the Environmental Kuznets Curve: A Cross‐National Investigation of Intervening Mechanisms," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 83(1), pages 226-243, March.
    16. Culas, Richard J., 2012. "REDD and forest transition: Tunneling through the environmental Kuznets curve," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 44-51.
    17. Cacho, Oscar J. & Marshall, Graham R. & Milne, Mary, 2005. "Transaction and abatement costs of carbon-sink projects in developing countries," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 10(5), pages 597-614, October.
    18. Andrew D. Foster & Mark R. Rosenzweig, 2003. "Economic Growth and the Rise of Forests," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 118(2), pages 601-637.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ashraf, Jawaid & Pandey, Rajiv & de Jong, Wil, 2017. "Assessment of bio-physical, social and economic drivers for forest transition in Asia-Pacific region," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 35-44.
    2. Veli Yilanci & Recep Ulucak & Yaoqi Zhang & Valeria Andreoni, 2023. "The role of affluence, urbanization, and human capital for sustainable forest management in China: Robust findings from a new method of Fourier cointegration," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(2), pages 812-824, April.
    3. Walker, Kendra L., 2021. "Effect of land tenure on forest cover and the paradox of private titling in Panama," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    4. Li, Lingchao & Chhatre, Ashwini & Liu, Jinlong, 2019. "Multiple drivers and pathways to China's forest transition," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 1-1.
    5. Riggs, Rebecca Anne & Langston, James Douglas & Sayer, Jeffrey, 2018. "Incorporating governance into forest transition frameworks to understand and influence Cambodia's forest landscapes," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 19-27.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Caravaggio, Nicola, 2020. "A global empirical re-assessment of the Environmental Kuznets curve for deforestation," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    2. Yi, Fujin & Sun, Dingqiang, 2014. "Grain Subsidy, Liquidity Constraints and Food security—Impact of the Grain Subsidy Program on the Grain-Sown Areas in China," 2014 Annual Meeting, July 27-29, 2014, Minneapolis, Minnesota 169779, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    3. Karamba, Wendy R. & Quiñones, Esteban J. & Winters, Paul, 2011. "Migration and food consumption patterns in Ghana," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 41-53, February.
    4. Wolfersberger, Julien & Delacote, Philippe & Garcia, Serge, 2015. "An empirical analysis of forest transition and land-use change in developing countries," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 241-251.
    5. Yi, Fujin & Sun, Dingqiang & Zhou, Yingheng, 2015. "Grain subsidy, liquidity constraints and food security—Impact of the grain subsidy program on the grain-sown areas in China," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 114-124.
    6. Liu, Jinlong & Liang, Ming & Li, Lingchao & Long, Hexing & De Jong, Wil, 2017. "Comparative study of the forest transition pathways of nine Asia-Pacific countries," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 25-34.
    7. Malerba, Daniele, 2020. "Poverty alleviation and local environmental degradation: An empirical analysis in Colombia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    8. Ajanaku, B.A. & Collins, A.R., 2021. "Economic growth and deforestation in African countries: Is the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis applicable?," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    9. Lara Cockx & Nathalie Francken, 2016. "Evolution and impact of EU aid for food and nutrition security: a review," Working Papers of LICOS - Centre for Institutions and Economic Performance 572519, KU Leuven, Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB), LICOS - Centre for Institutions and Economic Performance.
    10. Solomon Asfaw & Silvio Daidone & Benjamin Davis & Josh Dewbre & Alessandro Romeo & Paul Winters & Katia Covarrubias & Habiba Djebbari, 2012. "Analytical Framework for Evaluating the Productive Impact of Cash Transfer Programmes on Household Behaviour – Methodological Guidelines for the From Protection to Production Project," Working Papers 101, International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth.
    11. Li, Lingchao & Liu, Jinlong & Long, Hexing & de Jong, Wil & Youn, Yeo-Chang, 2017. "Economic globalization, trade and forest transition-the case of nine Asian countries," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 7-13.
    12. Silvio Daidone & Benjamin Davis & Sudhanshu Handa & Paul Winters, 2019. "The Household and Individual-Level Productive Impacts of Cash Transfer Programs in Sub-Saharan Africa," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 101(5), pages 1401-1431.
    13. Mills Busa, Julianne H., 2013. "Dynamite in the EKC tunnel? Inconsistencies in resource stock analysis under the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 116-126.
    14. Jesus Crespo Cuaresma & Olha Danylo & Steffen Fritz & Ian McCallum & Michael Obersteiner & Linda See, 2016. "Economic Development and Forest Cover: Evidence from Satellite Data," Department of Economics Working Papers wuwp215, Vienna University of Economics and Business, Department of Economics.
    15. Combes, Jean-Louis & Delacote, Philippe & Combes Motel, Pascale & Yogo, Thierry Urbain, 2018. "Public spending, credit and natural capital: Does access to capital foster deforestation?," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 306-316.
    16. Esther Reith & Elizabeth Gosling & Thomas Knoke & Carola Paul, 2020. "How Much Agroforestry Is Needed to Achieve Multifunctional Landscapes at the Forest Frontier?—Coupling Expert Opinion with Robust Goal Programming," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(15), pages 1-27, July.
    17. Caravaggio, Nicola, 2022. "Economic growth and forest transition in Latin America," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    18. Pelletier, Johanne & Kirby, Kathryn R. & Potvin, Catherine, 2012. "Significance of carbon stock uncertainties on emission reductions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 3-11.
    19. Caravaggio, Nicola, 2020. "Economic growth and the forest development path: A theoretical re-assessment of the environmental Kuznets curve for deforestation," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    20. Ashraf, Jawaid & Pandey, Rajiv & de Jong, Wil, 2017. "Assessment of bio-physical, social and economic drivers for forest transition in Asia-Pacific region," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 35-44.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:116:y:2015:i:c:p:1-11. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/ecolecon .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.