Table 2 - uploaded by David L Lopez-Carr
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This paper employs cross-tabular analysis, and multivariate and logistic regression to explore demographic, political-economic,
socioeconomic, and ecological patterns of farm households and land use outcomes in an emergent agricultural frontier: the
Sierra de Lacandón National Park (SLNP)-a core conservation zone of the Maya Biosphere Reserve (MBR)...
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This study estimates the technical efficiency of a sample of 411 maizicoles farms in the main production areas in Benin. The study proposed an evaluation of the technical performance of these farms and identified factors of inefficiency by using the model of the production stochastic frontier Cobb-Douglas to assess the levels of efficiencies of sys...
Citations
... A number of pobladores collected xate year round to meet household subsistence needs. On their two hectares of land, they gave priority to cultivating corn for their own subsistence, but production was not always enough to cover their subsistence needs, particularly those of large families (see Carr, 2008). Also, the pobladores had more available labour time, as limited agricultural land demanded less labour input, and they did not participate in the collective work of the cooperative. ...
... Hence NTFPs may serve as a 'natural insurance' for people living on the forest fringes (Pattanayak & Sills, 2001). Land, however, is a limited resource for all households, as are labour resources (see also, Carr, 2008), whereas cash is in constant demand. There are few other opportunities to earn cash income. ...
... The report emphasised that UMI maintains strong social cohesion, which contributes significantly to strengthening community management and the residents' social welfare (Gomez & Mendez, 2007). The governance regime of the forests of UMI is similar to that of many farmers in the MBR (Carr, 2008): They must follow rules of the Forestry law and of CONAP. However, there seems to be a large difference between the level of institutional support provided to the farmers' households as referred to by Carr (2008), and the level of such support provided to farmers' households in La Quetzal. ...
Migrant populations have been blamed for over-harvesting natural resources threatening the long-term viability of the natural resource base. It has been argued that they over-harvest because they lack skills and experience. Chamaedorea sp., is one of the few non-timber forest products with which a significant number of agricultural households in rural Petén supplement their income. This paper presents a case study of the harvest of three xate species and of the economic importance of xate among the returnees (migrants returning to their home country from exile) in the cooperative Unión Maya Itzá in the Maya Biosphere Reserve, Guatemala. This case study shows that xate represented an important economic asset in the community. The institutional and human resources in La Quetzal have been important for realizing the economic value of xate for the community; however, these resources have also contributed to realizing a sustainable management of the xate resource in the community.
... Es en esta banda de elevaciones en donde también se encuentra el mayor número de especies de muchas familias tales como Asclepiadaceae (Stevens & Montiel 2004), Bromeliaceae y Orchidaceae (Dix & Dix 2006a, 2006b La región centroamericana se ha caracterizado por un crecimiento poblacional acelerado, urbanización no planificada y explotación de recursos naturales (Rojas-Sandoval et al. 2023). La deforestación en Guatemala no solo en bosques tropicales sino en bosques de montaña ha sido a causa de la expansión en la frontera agrícola, leña, madera y desarrollo de infraestructura (Carr 2008, Popea 2015. ...
In Central America biological invasions have been minimally studied but deserve recognition for their impact on both the ecosystems and economy of many countries. We collected information regarding the non-native plants present in Guatemala via analysis of previous publications, examination of herbarium specimens, visits to nurseries, and interviews with personnel of the Municipality of Guatemala. We collected information on the taxonomy, use, origin, and growth habits of the introduced plants. Of the 614 non-native plant species present, 43% were naturalized, 39% cultivated, and the remaining species were casual Seventeen invasive species exist in the country. The majority of non-native plants (84%) are utilized for ornamental purposes and the most common growth habit is herbaceous. The majority of the plants introduced to Guatemala originate from Europe, Temperate Asia, Africa and South America. The most common naturalized plant families are Poaceae, Fabaceae, Crassulaceae and Asteraceae. The most common cultivated plant families are Arecaceae, Apocynaceae, Asparagaceae, Zingiberaceae and Asteraceae. More human and financial resources should be dedicated to the study of non-native plants due to their unknown potential ecological and economic impacts of the introduced plants. Environmental education should play an important role in increasing the knowledge and detection of non-native plants, especially invasive species.
... Creating a legally protected area on paper is one thing, but implementing conservation law is another. Since their creation, Laguna del Tigre and Sierra del Lacandón National Parks have experienced some of Latin America's highest rates of deforestation (Carr, 2008;Hodgdon et al., 2015). The forests bordering the rudimentary road in the MUZ running north to south in the middle of the MBR has also been burned and converted to pasture at an increasing rate since the mid 2000s (Radachowsky et al., 2012). ...
Drug trafficking organizations are driving deforestation in Guatemala’s Maya Biosphere Reserve. Drug traffickers deforest the protected area in order to illegally ranch cattle, which serves as a mechanism of money laundering, drug smuggling, and territory control. Journalists and ethnographers have analyzed “narco-cattle ranching” activities in the reserve and resulting “narco-deforestation,” yet land use change scientists have yet to quantify the contribution of illegal cattle ranching to forest loss. This article uses remote sensing and GIS analysis to distinguish the relative contribution of cattle ranching, farming, and land speculation to reserve deforestation and other forms of land use and land cover change. We also use ethnographic methods to provide evidentiary links between illegal cattle ranching and drug trafficking activities that suggest a large part, but not all, of illegal cattle ranching is narco-capitalized. Our research finds that illegal cattle ranching is responsible for the majority of reserve deforestation, ranging from 59 to 86% of photographs on deforested lands in three sampled areas. We also found illegal cattle ranching activities are the highest in the reserve’s western national parks, which should be strictly protected from land use change. Contrary to popular debate, these findings suggest drug traffickers in the context of the US-led War on Drugs are to blame for forest loss, not subsistence farmers illegally living in the reserve.
... [25] and [28], argue that low household labour availability makes households tend to adopt agricultural practices suitable to the low labour supply and when the availability of labour is high, more intensive land-use strategies or off-farm employment are pursued. In addition, [26] and [29] argue that household size and composition may promote the expansion of crop land, due to more hands to work the land and more labour available for clearing land or for intensifying production. Thus, ...
... Similarly, findings from a study carried out by [15] reveal that household size determines the sustainability of natural resources in an ecosystem. This is due to the fact that large households tend to over-exploit their resources in order to meet their demands and while so doing, undermine their sources of livelihood [29]. ...
... These links are particularly dynamic in frontier regions. For example, Carr (2008) and Ludewigs et al. (2009) demonstrate rapid population and agricultural change in newly settled forested regions, while Perz (2004) illustrates variation in forest cover outcomes according to farming strategies. The magnitude and direction of the relations is scale and context specific, however. ...
This project examines the relationship between migration, population, and economic processes, and forest cover change in Mexico from 2001 to 2010. Using multiple regression analyses with remotely-sensed, significant (p < 0.10) change in woody vegetation from 2001 to 2010 as our dependent variable, we explore how environmental, migration, demographic, and economic indicators at the national and sub-national biome scales are associated with forest cover change. Results highlight the importance of international migration in forest cover change, demonstrating that international (and internal) migration processes should also be included in LU/CC research and deforestation policy.
... While taking into account these nuances, the contrast between the western national parks and the eastern multiple-use zone remains stark. From 2000 to 2010 deforestation rates in the western national parks of Laguna del Tigre and Sierra del Lacand on were some of the highest in all of Latin America (Carr 2008). and highlights changes from forest land cover to agricultural or ranching land use. ...
In Central America, drug traffickers are deforesting the region's remaining forests and protected areas through a process known as narco‐ganadería , narco‐cattle ranching. Drawing on the case study of Laguna del Tigre National Park, this article argues that narco‐cattle ranching is a key driver of deforestation in Guatemala's Maya Biosphere Reserve. Using ethnographic and remote‐sensing methods, we describe narco‐cattle ranching's money‐laundering practices, its territorial dynamics, and its environmental impacts. We draw on theorisations of “political forests” to explain how drug trafficking organisations transform land use in the reserve, and along the way, remake its ecology, territories and subjects. Our work illustrates that drug policy is inextricably linked to conservation policy in the Americas. More specifically, we argue that community‐based resource management improves forest and protected area residents’ abilities to resist drug‐trafficking related land use change by strengthening local governance and land tenure regimes.
... Because the study included two public policies, we coded it as two cases. Likewise, there may be multiple studies concerning the same policy, such as Carr (2008) and Suter (2012), both of which measured forest cover in Sierra del Lancandón National Park in Guatemala. Finally, some studies included data from similar policies implemented in multiple countries and thus each country was coded as a separate case: for example, Hayes (2007) studied common-property forests in both Honduras and Nicaragua. ...
... Bigger family size has contributed to boost volume of practices in study areas to impact for better participation in alternative land use practices. This is well supported by David (1998) who stated that, demand side means more mouths to feed may promote expansion of cropland, while supply side means more hands to work land and more labour available for clearing land or for intensification of crop management practices. ...
... Agriculture is a main cause of deforestation. Population growth causes migrations into forested areas, converting them into agricultural land (Loening and Markussen 2003;Carr 2004Carr , 2005Carr , 2008aCarr et al. 2006). According to a land use mapping in 2003, a total of 29,979.6 km 2 (27.5% of Guatemala) were used for agriculture (Ministerio de Agricultura, Ganadería y Alimentación 2006). ...
https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-57108-9_13
This compilation of recent data on the distribution, ecology, and conservation status of owls (Strigiformes) in Guatemala is based on an extensive literature review and numerous unpublished observations. Twenty species of owls have been recorded in Guatemala, of which 18 are resident. Breeding has been reported for 17 species, and it is assumed for one species. Two species are considered rare or accidental nonbreeding visitors to Guatemala during the northern winter. Guatemala’s region with the highest species richness in owls is the highlands, where 17 species have been recorded. Twelve species have been recorded in the Pacific slope lowlands and 13 species in the Atlantic slope lowlands. We analyzed the data in the presence and relative abundance of owls from 105 sites from 1989 to 2016. According to the weighted mean value of the relative abundance index across three ornithogeographic regions, the most common owls in the country are (abundance ranking in descending order): Mexican wood owl (Strix squamulata), Ridgway’s pygmy owl (Glaucidium ridgwayi), Guatemalan screech owl (Megascops guatemalae), black-and-white owl (Strix nigrolineata), American barn owl (Tyto furcata), Central American pygmy owl (Glaucidium griseiceps), Guatemalan pygmy owl (Glaucidium cobanense), great horned owl (Bubo virginianus), fulvous owl (Strix fulvescens), unspotted saw-whet owl (Aegolius ridgwayi), whiskered screech owl (Megascops trichopsis), crested owl (Lophostrix cristata), and Pacific screech owl (Megascops cooperi). Guatemala has an adequate legal framework to protect owl species (32% of the country is legally protected), but the conservation is not efficient, causing threats to owl populations. Of 18 resident owl species, 12 are forest specialists. In a vulnerability assessment applying IUCN Red List criteria on a national level, one species has been evaluated as Critically Endangered (CR), one as Endangered (EN), nine as Vulnerable (VU), five as Near Threatened (NT), two as Least Concern (LC), and two as not applicable. Habitat alterations through agriculture, mining, and oil drilling are the main threats. Of the remaining forests, 14% (5500 km²) were lost from 2000 to 2010, and the pressure on natural habitat will further increase. In addition, owls in Guatemala are threatened by direct persecution because of popular superstitions. The network of 21 Important Bird Areas (IBA) in Guatemala includes populations of all owl species. Three species have been recorded in at least 10 IBAs, 12 species in 5–9 IBAs, 4 in 2–4 IBAs, and 1 species in only one IBA. We consider the increase of the education level among the Guatemalan society the main key to protect habitats within the IBAs. A higher level of education would help to slow down population growth, increase environmental awareness, and consequently diminish pressure on natural areas.
... Previous studies from many countries show how improved productivity and policy interventions concerning land rights security have positive impacts on food security and deterring deforestation (Angelsen and Kaimowitz, 2001;Araujo et al. 2010;Branca et al. 2011;Chi et al. 2013;Epule et al. 2014;Fearnside 2001;Tachibana et al. 2001;Tomich et al. 2001). However, there are still knowledge gaps, especially in the relationships between and among the biophysical, economic development, sociocultural aspects, and effective policy responses (Carr 2008;Chomitz et al. 2007;Damnyag et al. 2013;Mattsson et al. 2012;Pasgaard 2013;Pouliot et al. 2012). Moreover, most studies of deforestation drivers have been based on macrolevel regional or national data, thus presenting difficulties in addressing the complexity of local situations (Bottazzi and Dao 2013). ...
Deforestation issues are more problematic when indigenous (adat) communities, living within a forest, have lived there for many generations. These adat communities, who employ traditional land-use, are frequently accused of encroaching on the forest. To understand existing and future trends in the spatial patterns of the expansion of traditional land-use and deforestation, we conducted a case study in the Kandilo Subwatershed using mixed methods with image interpretation, spatial modelling and sociocultural surveys to examine the interrelationships between physical conditions, community characteristics and traditional land-use expansion. We investigated community characteristics through household interviews, communication with key informants, and discussions with focus groups. By using an area production model, we were able to analyze the effect of improved farming systems, policy intervention and law enforcement on traditional land-use expansion and deforestation. Based on our examination of a 20-year period of traditional land-use activities in adat forests, the evidence indicated that the steeper the slope of the land and the farther the distance from the village, the lower the rate of deforestation. Our study found that customary law, regulating traditional land-use, played an important role in controlling deforestation and land degradation. We conclude that the integration of land allocation, improved farming practices and enforcement of customary law are effective measures to improve traditional land productivity while avoiding deforestation and land degradation.
