Student: Natalie Gonzalez
Graduation date: May 2018
Type: Area of Interest (minor)
Date approved:
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Summary
A wide range of factors contribute to forest trends in Latin America. The use of political ecology in studying forest trends connects ecological processes to the multitude of factors that influence the trends. Political ecology can be used to identify and understand these factors as well as their effect on the forests of Latin America. For the purpose of my research, political ecology is the study of the relationships between political, economic, and social factors and trends in deforestation and forest growth. In addition, political ecology enables a greater contextual understanding by mobilizing higher arching theories in order to explain the complicated forest trends. Studying forests through the lens of political ecology is necessary because studying forest trends alone would ignore the intricate relationships between external forces and ecological processes. The political ecology of forests in Latin America relates to my second major, Sociology and Anthropology, by utilizing ethnographic techniques to observe the geographical and anthropological characteristics of small communities which “are further analyzed in a comparative fashion, stressing how… ecologies are impinged upon by political and economic upheaval” (Robbins 2011, 84).
Forest trends are affected by a variety of factors and differing interests of a host of stakeholders. In conjunction with local interests that contribute to the forest trends in Latin America, the involvement of international economic and political factors in a country’s politics can be examined alongside and connected to forest trends in Latin America (Sila 1994). For example, in Latin America deforestation trends can be traced back to economic factors such as world market beef prices (Painter 1995), as well as in other global agricultural markets. Globalization and colonialism are a crucial aspect of the political ecology approach to forest trends because they suggest that the ecological patterns in Latin America are directly related to the actions and interests of external entities. Globalization in Latin America, in reference to the agricultural sector, can be observed when a nation like the United States begins to externalize their food production sector and as a result farmers shift to producing for other countries sometimes resulting in economic upheaval which in turn is reflected in shifting trends of forest growth. The effects of globalization, specifically in the agricultural sector, can vary from deforestation (in order for other countries to utilize the lumber) to the conversion of the land to agricultural purposes, to an increase of urban migration which “ leads to a shift in the mode of food production and the abandonment of marginal agricultural and grazing land, which can favor ecosystem recovery both as spontaneous processes and by facilitating the implementation of protected areas or conservation policies” (Grau and Aide 2011, 3).
Forest trends of growth and deforestation can also be connected to the impact of global and local actors on shifts in a country’s governance of their forests “Today, changes in forest governance are for the most part related to non-hierarchical governing involving stakeholders and actors from different levels in formal and informal processes of cooperation and interactions from local to global level” (Lemos and Agrawal 2006, 10). Countries have moved from centralized control of forests to more local forms of governance which “were impelled partly by international donor organizations who sought better forest governance from recipient countries. In addition to external pressures, decentralization was also spurred by domestic demands for a greater recognition of local communities’ needs for forest products and their role in managing local forests for multiple purposes” (Cronkleton et al. 2008, 236). This pattern could be described by the forest transition model which has recently been extended to “exogenous factors that today’s globalizing world has made increasingly relevant. Further, the transition period between net deforestation and net reforestation needs to be better understood, particularly in developing countries that may be going through a forest transition.” (Timms and McCracken 2015, 1).
I intend to look at the political ecology of forests specifically in Latin America so as to narrow the study to a specific place in the world that consistently reflects the influence of socio-economic and political factors on forest trends. Multiple situated contexts afford a greater view of the trends in forestry as it relates to the political ecology of the location. The connection between external factors and forest trends can be observed in places such as Puerto Rico, El Salvador, and Bolivia. The influence of multiple political, social, and economic factors on forest trends is especially visible in the management of forests in Bolivia. In response to local pressure, Bolivia decentralized the management of their forests, though “The allocation of public forest has moved slowly because of an overly bureaucratic process, particularly related to land titling and unresolved problems with overlapping indigenous, public and private land claims.” (Ribot, Jesse C, Arun Agrawal, and Anne M. Larson 2006, 1874). Though local groups desire decentralization of forest management and local autonomy, “The central government’s priority appears to be large-scale concessionaires, who perceive local governments as unfavorable to their interests.” Conflicting interests and economic conditions allow us to examine the differentiating effects of local autonomy and the interests of international donors on Bolivia’s forests.
Forest trends in Puerto Rico are also reflective of larger political and economic processes. Outsourcing of agriculture to Puerto Rico is greatly influenced by Puerto Rico’s state as a U.S. territory as well as an unstable economy. Outsourcing was followed by an increase in urban migration and an abandonment of agriculture in favor of manufacturing, then a prevalence of reforestation in abandoned lands (Birdsey et al. 1987). In El Salvador differing socio-economic and political factors has resulted in similar forest trends such as the abandonment of pastures followed by forest regrowth. The impact of globalization, specifically new flows of labor, capital, and commodities, has affected local processes like the rural economy, agrarian reform, structural adjustment policies, as well as civil war in El Salvador (Hecht 2006). I am interested in these situated contexts because of the presentation of the pattern of reforestation (in a time with prevalent global deforestation) in conjunction with a country’s economic insecurity (Rudel and Zichal 2000). These places, while presenting similar trends in deforestation and reforestation, each are influenced by different factors that could individually explain their specific trends. I will compare and contrast these differences in order to find patterns that suggest larger implications.
- Mitchell Aide, Jess K. Zimmerman. 1995. “Forest Recovery in Abandoned Tropical Pastures in Puerto Rico.” Forest Ecology and Mangement 77 (1-3): 77–86. doi:10.1016/0378-1127(95)03576-V Birdsey, Richard A., and Peter L. ; Weaver. 1987. Forest Area Trends in Puerto Rico. http://www.treesearch.fs.fed.us/pubs/1748.
- Bryant, Raymond L. 1997. The Political Ecology of Forestry in Burma: 1824 – 1994. University of Hawaii Press.
- Cronkleton, P., P. L. Taylor, D. Barry, S. Stone-Jovicich, and M. Schmink. 2008. Environmental Governance and the Emergence of Forest-Based Social Movements. CIFOR. https://cgspace.cgiar.org/handle/10568/19754.
- Grau, H. Ricardo, and Aide Mitchell. 2008. “Globalization and Land-Use Transitions in Latin America.” Ecology and Society 13 (2): 16.
- Hecht, Susanna B., Susan Kandel, Ileana Gomes, Nelson Cuellar, and Herman Rosa. 2006. “Globalization, Forest Resurgence, and Environmental Politics in El Salvador.” World Development, Part Special Issue (pp. 324–404). Corruption and Development: Analysis and Measurement, 34 (2): 308–23. doi:10.1016/j.worlddev.2005.09.005.
- Hecht, Susanne B. 2012. “The Natures of Progress: Land Use Dynamics and Forest Trends in Latin America and the Caribbean.” Inter-American Development Bank. http://publications.iadb.org/handle/11319/5405.
- Hobbs, Richard J. 2012. Old Fields: Dynamics and Restoration of Abandoned Farmland. Island Press.
- Le Billon, Philippe. 2000. “The Political Ecology of Transition in Cambodia 1989–1999: War, Peace and Forest Exploitation.” Development and Change 31 (4): 785–805. doi:10.1111/1467-7660.00177.
- Lemos, Maria C., and Arun Agrawal. 2008. “Environmental Governance.” SSRN Scholarly Paper ID 1081963. Rochester, NY: Social Science Research Network. http://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=1081963.
- Ribot, Jesse C., Arun Agrawal, and Anne M. Larson. 2006. “Recentralizing While Decentralizing: How National Governments Reappropriate Forest Resources.” World Development, Rescaling Governance and the Impacts of Political and Environmental Decentralization, 34 (11): 1864–86. doi:10.1016/j.worlddev.2005.11.020.
- Robbins, Paul. 2011. Political Ecology: A Critical Introduction. John Wiley & Sons.
- Rudel, Thomas K., Marla Perez-Lugo, and Heather Zichal. 2000. “When Fields Revert to Forest: Development and Spontaneous Reforestation in Post-War Puerto Rico.” The Professional Geographer 52 (3): 386–97. doi:10.1111/0033-0124.00233.
- Silva, Eduardo. 1994. “Thinking Politically about Sustainable Development in the Tropical Forests of Latin America.” Development and Change 25 (4): 697–721. doi:10.1111/j.1467-7660.1994.tb00533.x.
Questions
- Descriptive; What is the biogeography and ecology of the forests in Latin America? What are the changes of land use in Latin America? What changes in afforestation have occurred in Latin America across time? What similarities in land-use and forests trends can be seen across Latin America? How are forests interacted with in Latin American Politics?
- Explanatory; Why does the biogeography and ecology in Latin America present in this way? What theories in the political ecology field help explain the relative role of national governing powers versus global powers in Latin American forests? What is the relationship between former colonial powers and the current condition in Latin America?
- Evaluative; Who benefits from the trends of deforestation and reforestation? Do local citizens benefit or are they hurt by these trends? Is there an increase of economic well being of the local people during a certain phase of the forest trend? Do species return as the forests regrow?
- Instrumental; What is the trend of reforestation reflective of in terms of the well-being of the country? Given the Political Ecology aspect of this study, are there opportunities for local autonomy in forest control? Has local autonomy in forest management been attempted? How can reforestation restore damaged habitats?
Arts and humanities courses
- HIST 261 (Global Environmental History, 4 credits). Pre-approved A&H course; no justification required.
- Hist 142 (Modern Latin American History, 4 credits) Considering that my area of focus will be in Latin America, it will be useful to know the history.