Historical, Demographic, and Economic Correlates of Land-Use Change in the Republic of Panama

Abstract

The Republic of Panama recently experienced a limited forest transition. After five decades of decline, the total forest cover increased by 0.36% yr-1 between 1992 and 2000; however, mature forest cover simultaneously decreased by 1.3% yr-1. This limited forest transition at the national scale comprised two distinctly different patterns of recent forest-cover change related to historical land use. Districts that were largely deforested when the first national survey of forest cover was completed in 1947 experienced a strong forest transition between 1992 and 2000. In these, the proportion of the population employed in agriculture decreased by an average of 31% and natural secondary forest succession increased the total forest cover by an average of 85% between 1992 and 2000. In contrast, no forest transition was evident for districts that were largely forested in 1947. In these, the absolute number of people employed in agriculture remained constant, old-growth forest cover decreased by 8% on average, and natural secondary forest succession increased, so that the total forest cover tended to be static between 1992 and 2000. Historical land use, an index of human poverty, and the population density of agricultural workers explained 61% of the among-district variation in forest cover in 2000, with forest concentrated in areas where populations were small and poor. Historical land use and gross income per hectare from agriculture explained 23.5% of the among-district variation in forest-cover change between 1992 and 2000. The early history of forest loss, an uneven distribution of people, and disparities in farm income contributed to the limited forest transition observed in Panama.

Teak–cattle production tradeoffs for Panama Canal Watershed small scale producers

“…Programs have covered the onetime fixed costs of land conversion from pasture to forests, i.e., establishment costs (personal communication A. Cerezo, ACP). Through the 2000s forest cover increased in Panama (Wright and Samaniego, 2008). Data from 2008 indicate that over 6000 ha of the PCW have been planted with forest plantations.…”

“…Moreover, by using this price equation we implicitly assume that teak is grown to a marketable size, and this assumption is satisfied in our numerical results. In 2000, nearly 79% of agricultural land in Panama was used for cattle grazing -mostly for beef (Wright and Samaniego, 2008).…”

“…9 Wright and Samaniego (2008) argue that cattle are less profitable than crops, but that cattle are less risky and can be held indefinitely until cash is needed.…”

From Farm to Forest: Factors Associated with Protecting and Planting Trees in a Panamanian Agricultural Landscape

“…The forest transition theory of land use suggests that although economic growth initially causes deforestation, as development and technological advances in agriculture occur, countries will urbanize, and this decrease in rural population density on marginal land should produce less deforestation (Wright and Samaniego, 2008). Therefore, forest regrowth should occur first on marginal land in wealthy nations.…”

“…When the Spanish colonists arrived in eastern Los Santos province in the 16 th century, they likely found a deforested environment that had been occupied and altered by humans for almost 3,000 years (4405 BP), but deforestation intensified in the late 19 th and early 20 th centuries, in part due to government land tenure policies and the increasing demand for beef from the canal zone (Cooke and Ranere, 1992;Heckadon-Moreno, 2009). As of 2008, Los Santos was one of the most heavily deforested and nutrient-poor provinces in Panama, one of the wealthier countries in the Central American region (Wright and Samaniego, 2008;Conalsed, 2008;World Bank, 2008). Los Santos is also the province with the third highest human development index (0.710) in Panama, with the two most developed provinces being the main urban centers on either side of the Panama Canal (Conalsed, 2008).…”