Emerging evidence that armed conflict and coca cultivation influence deforestation patterns

Negret, Pablo José; Sonter, Laura J.; Watson, James; Possingham, Hugh P.; Jones, Kendall R.; Suarez, César Freddy; Ochoa-Quintero, José Manuel; Maron, Martine

doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2019.07.021

Cited by 86 publications

(108 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…2000), and deforestation is related to mining and illegal crop cultivation (Cagan 2014; Negret et al. 2019). Redressing the effectiveness of PAs in these regions should be a priority, especially for the Pacific, where PA coverage of forest ecosystems remains relatively low (Fig.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We obtained data on spatial variables associated with deforestation and park location in Colombia (Forero‐Medina & Joppa 2010; Negret et al. 2019) including initial forest cover; biotic regions; departments; population density; intensity of armed conflict; distance to major rivers, mines, oil wells, coca plantations, paved road, and unpaved road; and elevation. We used slope as a surrogate for land‐use potential because, for example, high agricultural potential is associated with low slope (Pressey et al.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Protected areas in the Orinoco and Pacific region were ineffective at reducing deforestation, which continued to occur at rates of 0.05% and 0.27% a year within PAs, respectively. The Pacific region is a biodiversity hotspot (Myers et al 2000), and deforestation is related to mining and illegal crop cultivation (Cagan 2014;Negret et al 2019). Redressing the effectiveness of PAs in these regions should be a priority, especially for the Pacific, where PA coverage of forest ecosystems remains relatively low (Fig.…”

Section: Conservation Biologymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Effects of spatial autocorrelation and sampling design on estimates of protected area effectiveness

Negret

Marco

Sonter

et al. 2020

Conservation Biology

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Estimating the effectiveness of protected areas (PAs) in reducing deforestation is useful to support decisions on whether to invest in better management of areas already protected or to create new ones. Statistical matching is commonly used to assess this effectiveness, but spatial autocorrelation and regional differences in protection effectiveness are frequently overlooked. Using Colombia as a case study, we employed statistical matching to account for confounding factors in park location and accounted for for spatial autocorrelation to determine statistical significance. We compared the performance of different matching procedures-ways of generating matching pairs at different scales-in estimating PA effectiveness. Differences in matching procedures affected covariate similarity between matched pairs (balance) and estimates of PA effectiveness in reducing deforestation. Independent matching yielded the greatest balance. On average 95% of variables in each region were balanced with independent matching, whereas 33% of variables were balanced when using the method that performed worst. The best estimates suggested that average deforestation inside protected areas in Colombia was 40% lower than in matched sites. Protection significantly reduced deforestation, but PA effectiveness differed among regions. Protected areas in Caribe were the most effective, whereas those in Orinoco and Pacific were least effective. Our results demonstrate that accounting for spatial autocorrelation and using independent matching for each subset of data is needed to infer the effectiveness of protection in reducing deforestation. Not accounting for spatial autocorrelation can distort the assessment of protection effectiveness, increasing type I and II errors and inflating effect size. Our method allowed improved estimates of protection effectiveness across scales and under different conditions and can be applied to other regions to effectively assess PA performance.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Conservation Biologymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Effects of spatial autocorrelation and sampling design on estimates of protected area effectiveness

Negret

Marco

Sonter

et al. 2020

Conservation Biology

Self Cite

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“…For example, McSweeney et al 29 discussed how in Central America, a drug trafficking corridor, forests are often cleared to open roads and airstrips for drug transportation, to facilitate cultivation -often in conservation and indigenous areas through land grabbing and falsifying land titles-, and to expand other narco-capitalized businesses. Studies have found that illicit crops is a direct driver of deforestation [30][31][32] , and that policies of forced eradication can result in exacerbating the phenomenon 33,34 . In this sense, the conservation and proper governance of territories affected by narcotics cultivation is strongly linked to the efficiency of drug policies, which intensely focus on the supply-side reduction 29,35 .…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Deforestation in Colombian protected areas increased during post-conflict periods

Clerici

Armenteras

Kareiva

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

162

100

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protected areas (pAs) are a foundational and essential strategy for reducing biodiversity loss. However, many pAs around the world exist on paper only; thus, while logging and habitat conversion may be banned in these areas, illegal activities often continue to cause alarming habitat destruction. in such cases, the presence of armed conflict may ultimately prevent incursions to a greater extent than the absence of conflict. Although there are several reports of habitat destruction following cessation of conflict, there has never been a systematic and quantitative "before-and-after-conflict" analysis of a large sample of pAs and surrounding areas. Here we report the results of such a study in colombia, using an open-access global forest change dataset. By analysing 39 PAs over three years before and after colombia's peace agreement with the Revolutionary Armed forces of colombia (fARc), we found a dramatic and highly significant increase in the deforestation rate for the majority of these areas and their buffer zones. We discuss the reasons behind such findings from the Colombian case, and debate some general conservation lessons applicable to other countries undergoing post-conflict transitions. The growing warfare ecology literature reports both negative and positive effects of conflict for biodiversity and the natural environment 1-3. This also applies to deforestation, which can be either increased or decreased depending on the specific complex socio-ecological dynamics linked to the conflict itself 3-5. Increased deforestation during conflict is reported for several regions of the world 6 , including Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Liberia 7 or Myanmar and Cambodia 8. In some cases, conflict reduces the institutional capacity to enforce laws and effectively manage the use or protection of natural resources, e.g. as reported for Kenya 9 , DRC 10 , Nepal 11 , and Colombia 5. In other cases, the displacement of people escaping or forced to leave conflict areas, the basic mechanism for the 'refuge effect' 12 , can prove beneficial for habitat and biodiversity protection, e.g. by limiting the pressure of resource extraction 13-15. The demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea is a good example of such a refuge 16. Conflict can largely disrupt economic activities 1 , such as timber logging in Nicaragua 17 , or farming, as in Sierra Leone 18. In the Chechen wars and in the nearby Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, agricultural land was abandoned in warzones, along with reported low re-cultivation rates after the cessation of the conflict 19,20. In other cases post-conflict development results in higher threats to forested ecosystems than conflict

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“…Por más de sesenta años, la guerra ha dejado un sinfín de desgastes ecológicos en cada una de las áreas donde el conflicto armado hizo presencia. Fácilmente se pueden trazar diferentes conflictos sociales, políticos y ambientales, desde la deforestación masiva, el asesinato de líderes sociales, la minería ilegal y la ausencia estatal (Negret et al, 2019).…”

Section: Desafíos Socioambientalesunclassified

La construcción de paz a través de la consolidación del conocimiento biológico y territorial

Romero¹,

Ospina²

2020

Campos

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Las sociedades se caracterizan por la construcción de conocimiento colectivo, su manutención y control territorial. La sociedad colombiana está acompañada de una gran biodiversidad, representada en más de 80 tipos de ecosistemas, con cerca del 10 % de la diversidad biológica mundial. Paralelamente, esta también es el modelo económico extractivista y los conflictos socioambientales de nivel local y nacional. Por más de 50 años se desencadenó una guerra armada, que ocasionó pérdidas humanas, culturales y ambientales. Finalmente, el gobierno de Juan Manuel Santos (2010-2018) y las Farc firmaron un acuerdo de paz que toca tangencialmente problemas socioambientales. En este contexto, es necesario promover la sostenibilidad de una ciudadanía que se relacione pacíficamente con el territorio, sus recursos y medios de producción. El presente artículo aborta tres ejes de cuestionamiento: i) ¿cuáles son los lineamientos educativos en los programas de ciencias biológicas?, ii) ¿qué profesiones integran el debate ambiental en Colombia?, y iii) ¿las temáticas tratadas en aula tienen pertinencia con la realidad actual y contribuyen críticamente con el posconflicto? Para resolverlas, se adelantó una búsqueda de los programas reportados en el Sistema Nacional de Instituciones de Educación Superior (snies), de la que se encontraron 250 programas. Extensivamente, cada uno de estos cuenta con amplia formación a nivel disciplinar, pero carece de disciplinas que fomenten la construcción colectiva, interdisciplinar y crítica. En este sentido, el Estado colombiano se encuentra en una etapa diferencial de su historia y los programas académicos no se han transformado para converger en esas nuevas realidades. Debe orientarse la promoción de profesionales que promuevan la paz como una política transversal que se integre a la enseñanza de las ciencias biológicas en la realidad sociopolítica del país y también debe incluirse en la oferta de nuevos programas de posgrado.

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Emerging evidence that armed conflict and coca cultivation influence deforestation patterns

Cited by 86 publications

References 42 publications

Effects of spatial autocorrelation and sampling design on estimates of protected area effectiveness

Effects of spatial autocorrelation and sampling design on estimates of protected area effectiveness

Deforestation in Colombian protected areas increased during post-conflict periods

La construcción de paz a través de la consolidación del conocimiento biológico y territorial

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