Regional Deforestation Trends within Local Realities: Land-Cover Change in Southeastern Peru 1996–2011

Abstract

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.

Ideal type theories and concrete cases in land science: A multi-step appraisal of the evolutionary theory of land rights in Madre de Dios, Peru

“…The base pasture model was strong and significant (p<0.001), and regional integration in terms of years since highway paving exerts a strong, positive effect on pasture area. Satellite imagery of Madre de Dios show substantial pasture areas in Tahuamanu Province where the IOH was paved by the time of our fieldwork (Chavez, et al 2013). This finding could also reflect the influence of Brazilians just across the border from Tahuamanu Province (Perz, et al 2014a).…”

“…Consequently, Madre de Dios has seen major changes in land occupation and resource use in recent years (Chavez, et al 2013). The 1980s colonization program under Garcia led to roadside land settlements and incipient pasture formation due to credit incentives for cattle.…”

El Futuro de Madre de Dios

“…Históricamente, la mayoría de los inmigrantes se han establecido en la ciudad de Puerto Maldonado, particularmente entre 2002 y 2007 (INEI 2011) para dedicarse a la minería aluvial en pequeña escala, la agricultura o la ganadería. Actualmente, el crecimiento económico nacional, la inmigración y el aumento de los precios internacionales del oro son factores importantes de deforestación y degradación de los ecosistemas (Southworth et al 2011, Swenson et al 2011, Chávez Michaelsen et al 2013. El sector agrícola peruano está cambiando lentamente (Banco Mundial 2017), mostrando una disminución en su contribución a la economía del país y en la proporción de trabajadores agrícolas en el total de empleos desde la década de 1990, lo que caracteriza a una economía "urbanizada".…”

The Future of Madre de Dios

“…Historically, most immigrants have settled in the town of Puerto Maldonado, particularly between (INEI 2011 to engage in small-scale alluvial mining, agriculture, or cattle production. Currently, national economic growth, immigration, and the rise of international gold prices are important drivers of deforestation and ecosystem degradation (Southworth et al 2011, Swenson et al 2011, Chávez Michaelsen et al 2013). Peru's agricultural sector is changing slowly (World Bank 2017), with a decline in its contribution to the country's economy and in the share of agricultural workers Box 1.…”