Estimating deforested areas and deforestation rates have become key steps for quantifying environmental services of tropical rain forests, particularly as linked to programs such as Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD). In Southeastern Peru, reliable estimates of land-cover change (LCC) are important for monitoring changes in the landscape due to agricultural expansion, pasture creation and other socio-economic influences triggered by the Inter-Oceanic Highway (IOH). Our study reports a land-use/land-cover change (LULCC) analysis during a 15-year period from 1996 to 2011 in the Province of Tahuamanu, Madre de Dios. We draw on multiple years of observations of LULCC to relate changes in land cover to the use of natural resources (pasture, timber, crops and forest products) and tenure types based on their distances from OPEN ACCESS Land 2013, 2 132 the highway and the Tahuamanu River. We are able to distinguish titled areas for agriculture close to the IOH from other land tenure types such as timber concessions. The findings show that LULCC varies among different types of land tenure and by distance from the highway. Agricultural areas close to transportation infrastructure within 1 km to 5 km buffers have gradually increased in non-forest areas, whereas timber concession areas away from 1 km buffer of secondary roads have maintained forest cover. Riverine settlements show a similar distance effect in forest clearance along rivers as along roads.
Studies of the effects of droughts and fires on the livelihoods of resource-dependent rural smallholders have been reported for the Brazilian Amazon, but less so for other Amazonian countries. To bridge this gap in the literature, our research analyzes how climate-related variability affects different livelihood activities involving management of natural resources in Madre de Dios in Peru, located in the southwestern Amazon. Madre de Dios fell within the epicenters of both the 2005 and 2010 Amazon droughts. We examine one key question: What are the effects of extreme climatic events on different livelihood activities in communities located across Madre de Dios? We apply the key concepts of livelihood vulnerability to guide our conceptual framework. This concept organized our field inquiry, which consisted of survey questionnaires applied to rural producers and workshops with diverse stakeholders. Results show that climatic variability has affected many local livelihood activities and thereby increased the vulnerability of rural communities in Madre de Dios. The greatest impacts were felt in agriculture due to increased temperatures and fires followed by high winds and heavy rains. Our findings bear implications for science communication for policy. Climate politics will advance action on climate change if the tactic is to focus on how climate change means extreme climatic events that will cause damage to people, property, and livelihoods.
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