Conflicts over Extractivist Policy and the Forest Frontier in Central America

Abstract

Central America is characterized by an asymmetric forest transition in which net deforestation is a product of both forest loss and patches of forest resurgence. Forest loss is also associated with rights violations. We explore the extent to which extractive industry and infrastructure investments create pressure on forest resources, community rights and livelihoods. Drivers of this investment are identified, in particular: constitutional, legislative and regulatory reforms; energy policies; new financial flows; and ideas of development emphasizing the centrality of infrastructure in combining geographical integration and economic growth. We discuss forms of contentious action that have emerged in response to these pressures, asking how far and in what ways this contention has elicited changes in the policies that govern investment and extractive industry, and how far such changes might reduce pressure on Central America's remaining forest cover. The paper develops a conceptual framework for analysing relationships among contention, policy change and the resilience of policy changes. Keywords: contentious action, extractivism, policy change, political settlements, forest rights. 104 | ERLACS No. 106 (2018): July-December Resumen: Conflictos sobre política extractivista y la frontera forestal de América Central América Central se caracteriza por una transición forestal asimétrica en la que la deforestación es producto tanto de la pérdida de bosques como de parches de resurgimiento forestal. La pérdida de bosques también está asociada con violaciones de derechos. Exploramos hasta qué punto las inversiones en industrias e infraestructuras extractivas crean presión sobre los recursos forestales, los derechos de la comunidad y los medios de vida. Se identifican los impulsores de esta inversión, en particular: reformas constitucionales, legislativas y reglamentarias; políticas energéticas; nuevos flujos financieros; e ideas de desarrollo que enfatizan la centralidad de la infraestructura en combinación con la integración geográfica y el crecimiento económico. Discutimos formas de acción contenciosa que han surgido en respuesta a estas presiones, cuestionándonos cuántos y cómo ha provocado este conflicto cambios en las políticas que gobiernan la inversión y la industria extractiva, y hasta qué punto dichos cambios podrían reducir la presión sobre el bosque restante de América Central. El documento desarrolla un marco conceptual para analizar las relaciones entre la contención, el cambio de política y la resistencia de los cambios de política. Palabras clave: acción contenciosa; extractivismo; cambio político; acuerdos políticos, derechos forestales.

Tracer hydrology of the data‐scarce and heterogeneous Central American Isthmus

“…Since Central America shares a common geomorphologic past (Coates & Obando, 1996), represented by the NW–SE mountain range that divides the region into the Caribbean and Pacific slopes with similar precipitation regimes (Alfaro, 2002) and soil characteristics, groundwater recharge and surface runoff processes may be analysed using regionalized isotope approaches to elucidate dominant hydrological processes to augment effective water resources management. However, it is important to highlight that abrupt land use changes across the region such as deforestation (Bebbington, Sauls, Rosa, Fash, & Bebbington, 2018; Tellman, 2019; Tobar‐López, Bonin, Andrade, Pulido, & Ibrahim, 2019) should also be counted as a recent main driver of groundwater recharge and surface runoff changes in the region.…”

Commons Movements: Old and New Trends in Rural and Urban Contexts

“…More notably, movements have contributed to networking between CBNRM communities and other actors (87,148,(156)(157)(158)(159)(160)(161) and to the emergence of international alliances (149,151,162). Locally, scholars have often observed scientists, lawyers, researchers, environmental activists, and broader epistemic communities acting as allies in those processes, promoting mobilization and organization from local to international levels (85,151,163), and translating communities' claims into the language of policy (149,164). In Bolivia, for example, the irrigators' movement that emerged in Cochabamba against water rights privatization created both second-order organizations (e.g., the Cochabamba Irrigators' Federation) and cross-class, cross-ethnic, and urban-rural translocal alliances with other peasant and indigenous organizations, leftist political parties, and national and international NGOs.…”

“…This can have the effect of undermining the economic independence of the communities (144,210). Movements may also expose communities to government co-optation (83,147) and either create or exacerbate community inequalities (101,211,212) or trigger internal conflicts about strategies to secure rights and local development (164,213,214).…”