Benefits and costs of deforestation by smallholders: Implications for forest conservation and climate policy

Title
Benefits and costs of deforestation by smallholders: Implications for forest conservation and climate policy
Publication Date
2014
Author(s)
Cacho, Oscar J
( author )
OrcID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1542-4442
Email: ocacho@une.edu.au
UNE Id une-id:ocacho
Milne, Sarah
Gonzalez, Ricardo
Tacconi, Luca
Type of document
Journal Article
Language
en
Entity Type
Publication
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Place of publication
Netherlands
DOI
10.1016/j.ecolecon.2014.09.012
UNE publication id
une:16993
Abstract
Deforestation is a leading cause of biodiversity loss and an important source of global carbon emissions. This means that there are important synergies between climate policy and conservation policy. The highest rates of deforestation occur in tropical countries, where much of the land at the forest frontier is managed informally by smallholders and where governance systems tend to be weak. These features must be considered when designing policies to reduce emissions from deforestation such as REDD +. Deforestation is often accompanied by fires that release large amounts of carbon dioxide. These emissions are especially high in the case of peatlands which contain thick layers of carbon-rich matter. In this paper we derive marginal abatement cost (MAC) curves using data from a farmer survey in Sumatra, where rates of peatland deforestation are high. Comparing these results with farmers' stated willingness to accept payment not to clear forest to establish oil palm suggests that REDD + policies may be more expensive than MAC estimates suggest The extent to which this is true depends on the types of soils being deforested.
Link
Citation
Ecological Economics, v.107, p. 321-332
ISSN
1873-6106
0921-8009
Start page
321
End page
332

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