1. LECTURE 7: FORESTS LOSS AND CHANGING LAND COVER Shakeel Hayat 31 st Oct 2011

2. Lecture Outlines 1. Defining the terms 2. Proximate causes of tropical deforestation 3. Underlying causes of tropical deforestation 4. Other Factors of tropical deforestation

3. Forest and Deforestation You might think that the area covered in trees is forest. Isn’t?? What are the universally agreed definitions of “forest”, “deforestation”, “Forest degradation” forest management”, “reforestation”, “afforestation”??? Forest: Forest is a minimum area of land of 0.05–1.0 hectare with tree crown cover (or equivalent stocking level) of more than 10–30 per cent with trees with the potential to reach a minimum height of 2–5 metres. Deforestation : Deforestation is the direct human-induced conversion of forested land to non-forested land.

4. Forest management Forest management is a system of practices for stewardship and use of forest land aimed at fulfilling relevant ecological (including biological diversity), economic and social functions of the forest in a sustainable manner. Reforestation Reforestation is the direct human-induced conversion of non-forested land to forested land through planting and seeding. Forest management and Reforestation

5. Afforestation and Forest Degradation Afforestation: Afforestation is the direct human-induced conversion of land that has not been forested for a period of at least 50 years to forested land through planting, seeding and/or the human-induced promotion of natural seed sources. Forest Degradation: Forest degradation can be defined as a reduction in tree density and/or increased disturbance to the forest that results in the loss of forest products and forest-derived ecological services.

6. Proximate Causes of Deforestation Deforestation results from complex socio-economic processes, and in many situations it is impossible to isolate a single cause Proximate causes are human activities (land uses) that directly affect the environment and thus constitute proximate sources of change Agricultural expansion (AGRO) 1. Shifting cultivation (Traditional and Colonist) 2. Permanent cultivation Subsistence (food, smallholder) agriculture Commercial agriculture (large-scale, smallholder) Agricultural (Integrated Rural) Development Projects 3. Cattle ranching Smallholder cattle ranching (pasture creation) Large-scale cattle ranching (pasture creation)

7. 4. Colonization, transmigration, resettlement Spontaneous transmigration Local transmigration (resettlement) Military transmigration (penal settlements) Estate settlement (agricultural, nucleus) Industrial forestry plantation settlement Wood Extraction (WOOD) 1. Commercial wood extraction (clear-cutting, selective harvesting) State-run logging (selective, clear-cutting) Private company logging (selective, clear-cutting) "Growth coalition"-led logging Illegal (illicit, undeclared) logging

8. 2. Fuelwood extraction Domestic uses (rural, urban) Industrial uses (rural, urban) 3.Polewood extraction Domestic uses (rural, urban) Industrial uses (rural, urban) 4.Charcoal production Domestic uses (rural, urban) Industrial uses (rural, urban) Infrastructure extension (INFRA) 1.Transport infrastructure Roads (public, military, logging, mining, etc.) Railroads Rivers & tributaries

9. 2.Market infrastructure Public infrastructure (food markets, storage, etc.) Private infrastructure (sawmills, food markets, etc.) 3.Public services Water & sanitation facilities, electrical grids, etc. 4.Settlement expansion (Semi-)urban settlements Rural settlements Military defense villages 5.Private entreprise (infrastructure) Hydropower development Oil exploration Mining (gold, coal, tin etc.)

10. Underlying Causes of Deforestation These can be seen as a complex of social, political, economic, technological, and cultural variables that constitute initial conditions in the human-environmental relations that are structural (or systemic) in nature. Economic factors (economic growth, change or development, commercialisation) 1. Market growth & commercialisation Rapid market growth (especially of the export-oriented sector), rise of cash economy, increasing commercialisation, incorporation into (world) economy Increased market accessibility (esp. of semi-urban and urban markets) Growth of sectoral industries (wood-related, agriculture-related, mineral-related, others) Lucrative foreign exchange earnings Growth of demand for consumer goods and services procured with cash due to a rise in well-being (unspecified, wood-related, agriculture-related, housing & transport)

11. 2.Specific economic structures Large individual (mostly) speculative gains Poverty & related factors (lack of income opportunities, joblessness, resource poverty, low living standard, etc.) Economic downturn, crisis conditions Indebtedness, heavy foreign debt 3.Urbanization & industrialization Urbanization: growth of urban markets Industrialization: rapid built-up of new basic, heavy and forest- based or related industries 4.Special economic parameters Comparative advantages due to cheap, abundant production factors in resource extraction and use Special, mainly artificially low kept production conditions Price (value) increases (of fuel, land, cash crops) Price decreases (of cash crops)

12. Policy and institutional factors (change of political economy institutions) 1.Formal policies On taxation, charges, tariffs, prices On credits, subsidies, licenses, concessions, (logging) bans On economic development (agriculture, infrastructure) On finance, legislation, investment, trade and On population (migration), On land 2.Informal policies Corruption, lawlessness and Growth or development coalitions at work Poor performance, mismanagement, Clientelism, vested (private) interests Redefinition of (forestry) policy goals 3. Property rights regimes Insecure ownership, land tenure insecurity Land race, race for property rights Titling, legalization, consolidation (of individual titles) Malfunct customary rights, Low empowerment, deprivation, marginality Open access conditions

13. Technological factors (technological change or progress) 1.Agro-technological change Land-use intensification Land-use extensification Agricultural involution 2.Technological applications in the wood sector Damage & wastage due to poor logging performance Wastage in wood processing, poor industry performance Lack of cheap, technological alternatives to woodfuel; poor domestic & industrial furnace performance 3.Other production factors in agriculture Low level of technological inputs (unspecified) Land-related factors (landlessness, land scarcity) Labour –related factors (limited labour availability) Capital-related factors (no credits, limited irrigation)

14. Cultural (or socio-political) Factors 1.Public attitudes, values, beliefs Public unconcern or lack of (public, political) support for forest protection and sustainable use: low morale or education, frontier mentality, and dominance of other public attitudes (modernization, development, nation-building, etc.) Unconcern about the welfare of others and future generations, or disregard of the “ sacredness of nature“ Beliefs about how environmental conditions affect those things which individual values 2.Individual and household behaviour Unconcern by individuals about the environment as reflected in increasing levels of demands, aspirations, materials and energy consumption, commonly associated with commercialisation and increased income Situation-specific behaviour of actors: rent-seeking, non-profit orientation, tradition/imitation/continuation of inherited modes of resource use

15. Demographic factors (human population dynamics) Population pressure Population growth Natural increment (fertility, mortality) In-migration Population density (uneven) spatial population distribution Life cycle features

16. Other Factors of Deforestation Land characteristics (biophysical environment) 1. Soil-related Good/bad soil quality 2.Slope & topography related Flat areas Gently sloping areas Low-lying areas 3. Water-related Location next to water resources 4.Vegetation-related Forest size & fragmentation Vegetation density (high, of marketable woods)