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Unintended impacts from forest certification: Evidence from indigenous Aka households in Congo

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  • Doremus, Jacqueline

Abstract

Does Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification of “responsible” commercial forestry change nutrition, health and wealth for indigenous peoples, like the Aka of the Congo Basin? Using hand-collected data from the boundary of a certified and an uncertified forest in the Republic of Congo five years after certification, I compare nutrition, health, and wealth using questions that are locally salient and survey timing designed to reach semi-nomadic hunter-gatherers. Though I only observe outcomes after certification, using a spatial regression discontinuity design I find suggestive evidence that activities to satisfy forest certification may cause increased food insecurity and illness frequency for Aka households. I find no evidence of increased material wealth; instead, the poorest 15th percentile is poorer for Aka households. Non-Aka households are unaffected. Activities to satisfy FSC include a road connection, likely requested by non-Aka households, which in combination with hunting restrictions may decrease food security for Aka hunter-gatherers.

Suggested Citation

  • Doremus, Jacqueline, 2019. "Unintended impacts from forest certification: Evidence from indigenous Aka households in Congo," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 166(C), pages 1-1.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:166:y:2019:i:c:5
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2019.106378
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    1. Degnet, Mohammed B. & van der Werf, Edwin & Ingram, Verina & Wesseler, Justus, 2022. "Community perceptions: A comparative analysis of community participation in forest management: FSC-certified and non-certified plantations in Mozambique," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).
    2. Kenneth Houngbedji & Benoit Mertens, 2022. "Plans d'aménagement forestier et conditions de vie des populations des forêts d'Afrique centrale," Post-Print hal-03954488, HAL.
    3. Zapata, Oscar, 2024. "Renewable energy and well-being in remote Indigenous communities of Canada: A panel analysis," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 222(C).
    4. Cole, Matthew T. & Doremus, Jacqueline M. & Hamilton, Stephen F., 2021. "Import restrictions by eco-certification: Quantity effects on tropical timber production," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    5. Xia Li & Timothy Simcoe, 2021. "Competing or complementary labels? Estimating spillovers in Chinese green building certification," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(13), pages 2451-2476, December.
    6. Halalisan, Florin & Romero, Claudia & Popa, Bogdan & Arana Landin, German & Talpa, Nicolae & ABRUDAN, Ioan Vasile, 2023. "Global assessment of FSC forest management certification auditing through analysis of accreditation reports," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    7. Danielle D. Legault & Logan Cochrane, 2021. "Forests to the Foreigners: Large-Scale Land Acquisitions in Gabon," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-22, April.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Forestry; Eco-label; Sustainability; Indigenous peoples; Forest Stewardship Council;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q56 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environment and Development; Environment and Trade; Sustainability; Environmental Accounts and Accounting; Environmental Equity; Population Growth
    • O13 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Agriculture; Natural Resources; Environment; Other Primary Products
    • O18 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Urban, Rural, Regional, and Transportation Analysis; Housing; Infrastructure

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