The influence of mineral exports on the variability of tropical deforestation

Abstract

Previous studies of deforestation have focused on agriculture, population and migration, timber exploitation, macroeconomic policies and geographic factors to explain the variability of deforestation rates among countries. This study tests the hypothesis that countries with a high proportion of petroleum or non-petroleum mineral exports in total exports experience a relatively low deforestation rate because of macroeconomic ‘Dutch disease’ effects. Bivariate and multivariate analyses provide preliminary support for the hypothesis, although they give little insight on how precisely mineral exports might exert their influence on forest cover. One reason for the limited utility of these methodologies is that they do not adequately explain the various effects of mineral windfalls that go beyond the Dutch disease's ‘core model’. Future research must attempt to understand these effects, which include: levels of funding for agriculture, roads, and directed settlement; agricultural protectionism; levels of rural poverty, urbanization, and consumer demand; the site-level effects of mineral extraction; and the variability of state autonomy.

Les arbres poussent-ils sur l'argent ?: Implications de la recherche sur la déforestation pour les politiques de promotion de REDD

“…Les différentes causes de la déforestation (directes, structurelles, intra et extra sectorielles) interagissent de façons complexes et variables. Par exemple, Sunderlin et Wunder (2000) montrent comment les booms pétroliers peuvent affecter la déforestation de façons opposées en fonction des différents cadres de marché et de politique. Si la richesse du pétrole peut mener à la protection de la forêt en raison de la baisse de la compétitivité agricole, cette même richesse peut avoir l'effet inverse lorsqu'elle est essentiellement utilisée pour la construction de routes, l'expansion des frontières et l'octroi de subventions au transport.…”

Considering Background Condition Effects in Tailoring Tropical Forest Management Systems for Sustainability

“…These have strongly influenced the vertical and horizontal distribution of mineral resources, the global macroeconomic conditions needed for their profitable extraction, the type of extraction systems required and the breadth and duration of landscape impacts. There is some evidence to suggest that varying mineral exportation and deforestation rates are linked Wunder 2000, Wunder andSunderlin 2004), but more work is needed to identify whether trends such as those described for mineral production would hold up across a wider range of PC-PH comparisons.…”

When the Dutch disease met the French connection: oil, macroeconomics and forests in Gabon

“…This is why the bulk of tropical mineral-exporting countries have more forest left, and lose these forests at a slower rate, than countries that are not endowed with minerals. The latter have to develop their agriculture much more and dedicate larger land areas for cultivation purposes (Mainardi 1998;Sunderlin and Wunder 2000;Wunder 2003).…”