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Deforestation:

Deforestation:. Why it happens and what to do about it John Hudson, DFID UNFCC Workshop on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation in Developing Countries Rome, 30 August to 1 September 2006. The presentation…. Deforestation is not new It is complicated – many causes and interrelationships

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Deforestation:

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  1. Deforestation: Why it happens and what to do about it John Hudson, DFID UNFCC Workshop on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation in Developing Countries Rome, 30 August to 1 September 2006

  2. The presentation… • Deforestation is not new • It is complicated – many causes and interrelationships • Some specific examples • What to do?

  3. It’s not new • Changes in nature and extent of forests are not new • Forests have ebbed and flowed during recorded and geological history • It is the speed of change in some countries that is new • As natural forests decline, managed forests, plantations and trees on farms replace them (see next slide)

  4. Changes in quality and quantity of forests over time

  5. Many causes… • Direct causes – e.g. shifting agriculture, commercial agriculture, plantations, infrastructure • Underlying causes – e.g. poverty; population pressure; market and policy distortions; insecure/unclear tenure, failures of governance • Predisposing factors – biophysical characteristics, social upheavals

  6. Some crude generalisations • More people, less forest, but… • Higher per capita income, greater deforestation, but… • Higher farm prices (trade liberalisation, subsidies, devaluations) increase deforestation • Higher off-farm employment and higher wages decrease deforestation

  7. More generalisations… • Greater access (more roads) increases deforestation • Mixed evidence about logging – but excess processing capacity drives over-harvesting • Deforestation is greater in open access regimes – property rights matter

  8. Some specific examples: Indonesia • 24% of forest cover (28 m ha) lost 1990-2005 • Direct causes: logging (much illegal); conversion to oil palm, timber and coffee (planned & spontaneous); small scale agriculture; fire associated with land conversion • Underlying causes: population pressure and transmigration policy; contested land tenure; corruption; demand for timber and excess processing capacity; failures of capital markets (no due diligence); competition for power following decentralisation.

  9. Some specific examples: Brazil • 26,000 km2 of Brazilian Amazon lost last year • Direct causes: conversion to agriculture (pasture, soya); colonisation and subsistence agriculture; • Underlying causes: demand for commodities (beef, soya); unclear and contested property rights; spontaneous colonisation and planned settlements

  10. Some specific examples: Africa • Accounts for about half of global deforestation • Small-scale agriculture accounts for about 60% • Dry forests being converted at a rate 50% higher than rainforests • Logging is an important factor in parts of West and Central Africa • Demand for wood rarely drives deforestation on other than a local scale

  11. What to do? • Multi-sectoral approach • Clearer, more secure property rights • Better governance and regulation • Payments for environmental services

  12. Multi-sectoral approach • External factors drive deforestation – narrow forest sector solutions won’t work • Need a multi-sectoral approach – lots of policies and actions that deal with the complexity • But these haven’t worked well in the past • Sectoral entities don’t cooperate • Economic policy makers rarely think about forests • Politically unattractive – many small steps

  13. Property rights • Unclear and contested property rights are a major underlying cause of deforestation in most places • Reforms challenge established power relations, are politically sensitive and usually slow to fix • But there have been enormous changes in some parts of the world in the last 15 years or so

  14. Better governance and regulation • Forests often associated with deep seated systems of political patronage, corruption, inconsistent legal frameworks, weak law enforcement and poverty • Must be resolved by wider governance reforms as well as specific actions related to forests • Such actions more likely to succeed if reinforced by markets that discriminate in favour of products from legal and well managed sources

  15. Payments for environmental services • Experience in market / compensation based approaches is growing – but still very limited in countries where deforestation is greatest • Lack of property rights and high transaction costs pose problems • Carbon is biggest potential market • But how would payments to countries affect the behaviour of individual farmers and companies?

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