Migration and environment in the context of globalization

Abstract

Human migration and population growth, in concert with globalization trends, greatly affect the environment and conservation efforts. In the Americas, the movement of people, capital, goods, and services has caused different types of ecosystem change, including deforestation. Urbanization, a dominant trend in the Americas, is a two‐edged sword for conservation, moving human populations away from rural and protected areas, but also increasing per capita demand for energy, goods, and services. Migration to the forest frontier and the abandonment of marginal rural land present opposite but equally difficult ecological challenges. Projected climate change will also complicate both conservation and migration flows, particularly in developing countries with limited economic and technical capacity. However, better integration of ecological, demographic, and sociological data and theory can lead to the development of predictive models, which will help us to understand and project human migration patterns and their dynamic relationship with ecological change. This interdisciplinary work could lead to the successful development of long‐range conservation policy and interventions. La migración humana y el crecimiento de la población, aunado a las tendencias de la globalización, afectan substancialmente al medioambiente y los esfuerzos de conservación. En el continente americano, el movimiento de personas, capital, bienes y servicios ha causado diferentes tipos de cambios en los ecosistemas, incluyendo deforestación. La urbanización, tendencia dominante en el continente americano, es un arma de dos filos para la conservación, ya que, por un lado, desplaza a las poblaciones humanas fuera de las áreas rurales y protegidas, pero por otro lado, incrementa la demanda de energía, bienes y servicios. La migración hacia zonas boscosas y el abandono de tierras rurales marginadas exponen retos ecológicos opuestos, pero igualmente difíciles. Además, el cambio climático previsto complicará los flujos migratorios y la conservación de los ecosistemas, particularmente en los países en desarrollo cuya capacidad económica y tecnológica es limitada. Sin embargo, una mejor integración de los datos y de las teorías ecológicas, demográficas y sociales, encaminarán a desarrollar modelos predictivos que ayudarán a entender y proyectar los patrones de migración humana y su relación dinámica con el cambio ecológico. Este trabajo interdisciplinario puede encaminarnos hacia el desarrollo de políticas e intervenciones de conservación exitosas.

Climate change and human activities: a case study in Xinjiang, China

“…We also detected that increasing populations are correlated with elevated temperature, which is consistent with the study of continental United States (Kalnay and Cai 2003), where urban areas can act as heat islands and exacerbate global warming (Oke 1997). In addition, growing populations exert an increasing demand for food and land cover conversion, which leads to expansion of cultivated and urban areas at the expense of forests and grasslands (Meyerson et al 2007). Livestock grazing has expanded from lowlands to even more vulnerable mountain areas.…”

Ecological variability and rule-making processes for forest management institutions: a social-ecological case study in the Jalisco coast, Mexico

“…This situation can be clearly observed when local institutions are of insufficient strength to deal with external pressures. Demographic factors, such as migration as a result of lack of local opportunities, break the ties between migrants and their communities and reduce collective action (Meyerson et al 2007;Schroeder and Castillo 2012). This degradation of the social capital has consequences for every forest type.…”

New Wenzhou: Migration, metropolitan spatial development and modernity in a third-tier Chinese model city

“…Social, economic, and political issues of major significance raised by the huge migration in cities have been gaining importance since mid-1970s. Migration-related issues such as rates of internal labor mobility and urban economic growth, high levels of unemployment, huge growth 5 of urban slums and shantytowns, limited access to health care, and impact on self-identity have captured the greatest attention worldwide and have become important topics of study across disciplines such as geography, sociology, urban planning, anthropology, and economics (Bhattachary, 1993;C.Beauchemin & P.Bocquier, 2004;Meyerson, Merino, & Durand, 2007; R. Skeldon, 1990). China is no doubt a valuable exemplar for study of internal migration in transitional economies.…”