Agricultural expansion and the ecological marginalization of forest-dependent people

Agricultural expansion into subtropical and tropical forests causes major environmental damage, but its wider social impacts often remain hidden. Forest-dependent smallholders are particularly strongly impacted, as they crucially rely on forest resources, are typically poor, and often lack instituti...

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Main Authors: Levers, Christian, Romero-Muñoz, Alfredo, Baumann, Matthias, De Marzo, Teresa, Fernandez, Pedro David, Gasparri, Nestor Ignacio, Gavier Pizarro, Gregorio Ignacio, de Waroux, Yann le Polain, Piquer Rodríguez, María, Semper Pascual, Asunción, Kuemmerle, Tobias
Format: info:ar-repo/semantics/artículo
Language:Inglés
Published: National Academy of Sciences 2021
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/10683
https://www.pnas.org/content/118/44/e2100436118
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2100436118
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author Levers, Christian
Romero-Muñoz, Alfredo
Baumann, Matthias
De Marzo, Teresa
Fernandez, Pedro David
Gasparri, Nestor Ignacio
Gavier Pizarro, Gregorio Ignacio
de Waroux, Yann le Polain
Piquer Rodríguez, María
Semper Pascual, Asunción
Kuemmerle, Tobias
author_browse Baumann, Matthias
De Marzo, Teresa
Fernandez, Pedro David
Gasparri, Nestor Ignacio
Gavier Pizarro, Gregorio Ignacio
Kuemmerle, Tobias
Levers, Christian
Piquer Rodríguez, María
Romero-Muñoz, Alfredo
Semper Pascual, Asunción
de Waroux, Yann le Polain
author_facet Levers, Christian
Romero-Muñoz, Alfredo
Baumann, Matthias
De Marzo, Teresa
Fernandez, Pedro David
Gasparri, Nestor Ignacio
Gavier Pizarro, Gregorio Ignacio
de Waroux, Yann le Polain
Piquer Rodríguez, María
Semper Pascual, Asunción
Kuemmerle, Tobias
author_sort Levers, Christian
collection INTA Digital
description Agricultural expansion into subtropical and tropical forests causes major environmental damage, but its wider social impacts often remain hidden. Forest-dependent smallholders are particularly strongly impacted, as they crucially rely on forest resources, are typically poor, and often lack institutional support. Our goal was to assess forest-smallholder dynamics in relation to expanding commodity agriculture. Using high-resolution satellite images across the entire South American Gran Chaco, a global deforestation hotspot, we digitize individual forest-smallholder homesteads (n = 23,954) and track their dynamics between 1985 and 2015. Using a Bayesian model, we estimate 28,125 homesteads in 1985 and show that forest smallholders occupy much larger forest areas (>45% of all Chaco forests) than commonly appreciated and increasingly come into conflict with expanding commodity agriculture (18% of homesteads disappeared; n = 5,053). Importantly, we demonstrate an increasing ecological marginalization of forest smallholders, including a substantial forest resource base loss in all Chaco countries and an increasing confinement to drier regions (Argentina and Bolivia) and less accessible regions (Bolivia). Our transferable and scalable methodology puts forest smallholders on the map and can help to uncover the land-use conflicts at play in many deforestation frontiers across the globe. Such knowledge is essential to inform policies aimed at sustainable land use and supply chains.
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institution Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA -Argentina)
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spelling INTA106832021-11-04T14:05:09Z Agricultural expansion and the ecological marginalization of forest-dependent people Levers, Christian Romero-Muñoz, Alfredo Baumann, Matthias De Marzo, Teresa Fernandez, Pedro David Gasparri, Nestor Ignacio Gavier Pizarro, Gregorio Ignacio de Waroux, Yann le Polain Piquer Rodríguez, María Semper Pascual, Asunción Kuemmerle, Tobias Deforestation Livelihoods Deforestación Argentina Medios de Vida Subtropical and Tropical dry Forests and Savannahs Commodity Frontiers Small Scale Agriculture Agricultura en Pequeña Escala Agricultural expansion into subtropical and tropical forests causes major environmental damage, but its wider social impacts often remain hidden. Forest-dependent smallholders are particularly strongly impacted, as they crucially rely on forest resources, are typically poor, and often lack institutional support. Our goal was to assess forest-smallholder dynamics in relation to expanding commodity agriculture. Using high-resolution satellite images across the entire South American Gran Chaco, a global deforestation hotspot, we digitize individual forest-smallholder homesteads (n = 23,954) and track their dynamics between 1985 and 2015. Using a Bayesian model, we estimate 28,125 homesteads in 1985 and show that forest smallholders occupy much larger forest areas (>45% of all Chaco forests) than commonly appreciated and increasingly come into conflict with expanding commodity agriculture (18% of homesteads disappeared; n = 5,053). Importantly, we demonstrate an increasing ecological marginalization of forest smallholders, including a substantial forest resource base loss in all Chaco countries and an increasing confinement to drier regions (Argentina and Bolivia) and less accessible regions (Bolivia). Our transferable and scalable methodology puts forest smallholders on the map and can help to uncover the land-use conflicts at play in many deforestation frontiers across the globe. Such knowledge is essential to inform policies aimed at sustainable land use and supply chains. Instituto de Investigación Animal del Chaco Semiárido Fil: Levers, Christian. Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. Geography Department; Alemania Fil: Levers, Christian. University of British Columbia. Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability; Canadá Fil: Levers, Christian. Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Department of Environmental Geography. Institute for Environmental Studies; Países Bajos Fil: Romero Muñoz, Alfredo. Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. Geography Department; Alemania Fil: Baumann, Matthias. Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. Geography Department; Alemania Fil: De Marzo, Teresa. Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. Geography Department; Alemania Fil: Fernandez, Pedro David. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Instituto de Investigación Animal del Chaco Semiárido; Argentina Fil: Fernandez, Pedro David. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Ecología Regional; Argentina Fil: Gasparri, Nestor Ignacio. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Ecología Regional; Argentina Fil: Gavier Pizarro, Gregorio Ignacio. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Instituto de Recursos Biológicos; Argentina Fil: de Waroux, Yann le Polain. McGill University. Institute for the Study of International Development. Department of Geography; Canadá Fil: Piquer Rodríguez, María. Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. Geography Department; Alemania Fil: Piquer Rodríguez, María. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Ecología Regional; Argentina Fil: Piquer Rodríguez, María. Freie Univeristät Berlin. Latinamerika-Institut; Alemania Fil: Semper Pascual, Asunción. Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. Geography Department; Alemania Fil: Semper Pascual, Asunción. Norwegian University of Life Sciences. Faculty of Environmental Sciences and Natural Resource Management; Noruega Fil: Kuemmerle, Tobias. Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. Geography Department; Alemania Fil: Kuemmerle, Tobias. Humboldt-University Berlin. Integrative Research Institute on Transformations in Human-Environment Systems; Alemania 2021-11-04T13:56:49Z 2021-11-04T13:56:49Z 2021-11-02 info:ar-repo/semantics/artículo info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/10683 https://www.pnas.org/content/118/44/e2100436118 0027-8424 1091-6490 (online) https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2100436118 eng info:eu-repograntAgreement/INTA/PNNAT-1128052/AR./Desarrollo de herramientas y validación de metodologías para el estudio, gestión y manejo de los sistemas productivos, contribuyendo a su resiliencia socio agroambiental. info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess application/pdf National Academy of Sciences Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) 118 (44) : e2100436118 (2021)
spellingShingle Deforestation
Livelihoods
Deforestación
Argentina
Medios de Vida
Subtropical and Tropical dry Forests and Savannahs
Commodity Frontiers
Small Scale Agriculture
Agricultura en Pequeña Escala
Levers, Christian
Romero-Muñoz, Alfredo
Baumann, Matthias
De Marzo, Teresa
Fernandez, Pedro David
Gasparri, Nestor Ignacio
Gavier Pizarro, Gregorio Ignacio
de Waroux, Yann le Polain
Piquer Rodríguez, María
Semper Pascual, Asunción
Kuemmerle, Tobias
Agricultural expansion and the ecological marginalization of forest-dependent people
title Agricultural expansion and the ecological marginalization of forest-dependent people
title_full Agricultural expansion and the ecological marginalization of forest-dependent people
title_fullStr Agricultural expansion and the ecological marginalization of forest-dependent people
title_full_unstemmed Agricultural expansion and the ecological marginalization of forest-dependent people
title_short Agricultural expansion and the ecological marginalization of forest-dependent people
title_sort agricultural expansion and the ecological marginalization of forest dependent people
topic Deforestation
Livelihoods
Deforestación
Argentina
Medios de Vida
Subtropical and Tropical dry Forests and Savannahs
Commodity Frontiers
Small Scale Agriculture
Agricultura en Pequeña Escala
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/10683
https://www.pnas.org/content/118/44/e2100436118
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2100436118
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