Policies affecting deforestation for cattle in Central America.

The most important change in land use in Central America in the last 40 years has been the widespread conversion of forest to pasture. The literature presents a number of explanations for this expansion. Depending on which factors are believed to be important, the prognosis and policy recommendation...

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Main Author: Kaimowitz, D.
Format: Book Chapter
Language:Inglés
Published: 1997
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/17677
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author Kaimowitz, D.
author_browse Kaimowitz, D.
author_facet Kaimowitz, D.
author_sort Kaimowitz, D.
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description The most important change in land use in Central America in the last 40 years has been the widespread conversion of forest to pasture. The literature presents a number of explanations for this expansion. Depending on which factors are believed to be important, the prognosis and policy recommendations to address the issues will differ. This study uses the Central American experience to put forth some hypotheses about the factors influencing forest conversion to pasture, and about how effective policies have been or are likely to be in addressing the problems arising from conversion. Conclusions drawn from the study indicate that market prices for beef and dairy products, technological change and policies which constrain timber prices have only moderate or little influence on the rate of clearance. However, it was found that road construction, land tenure and land use policies are likely to have a significant impact on the amount of forest that is cut to make way for pasture. It is also recommended that livestock credit also be restricted in agricultural frontier regions with high rainfall.
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spelling CGSpace176772025-01-24T14:20:42Z Policies affecting deforestation for cattle in Central America. Kaimowitz, D. deforestation land use tenure systems road construction policies The most important change in land use in Central America in the last 40 years has been the widespread conversion of forest to pasture. The literature presents a number of explanations for this expansion. Depending on which factors are believed to be important, the prognosis and policy recommendations to address the issues will differ. This study uses the Central American experience to put forth some hypotheses about the factors influencing forest conversion to pasture, and about how effective policies have been or are likely to be in addressing the problems arising from conversion. Conclusions drawn from the study indicate that market prices for beef and dairy products, technological change and policies which constrain timber prices have only moderate or little influence on the rate of clearance. However, it was found that road construction, land tenure and land use policies are likely to have a significant impact on the amount of forest that is cut to make way for pasture. It is also recommended that livestock credit also be restricted in agricultural frontier regions with high rainfall. 1997 2012-06-04T09:02:20Z 2012-06-04T09:02:20Z Book Chapter https://hdl.handle.net/10568/17677 en Kaimowitz, D. 1997. Policies affecting deforestation for cattle in Central America. In: De Groot, J.P. and Ruben, R. (eds). Sustainable agriculture in Central America. :51-66. New York, USA, Palgrave Macmillan.
spellingShingle deforestation
land use
tenure systems
road construction
policies
Kaimowitz, D.
Policies affecting deforestation for cattle in Central America.
title Policies affecting deforestation for cattle in Central America.
title_full Policies affecting deforestation for cattle in Central America.
title_fullStr Policies affecting deforestation for cattle in Central America.
title_full_unstemmed Policies affecting deforestation for cattle in Central America.
title_short Policies affecting deforestation for cattle in Central America.
title_sort policies affecting deforestation for cattle in central america
topic deforestation
land use
tenure systems
road construction
policies
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/17677
work_keys_str_mv AT kaimowitzd policiesaffectingdeforestationforcattleincentralamerica