Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Prevent Deforestation and You Get Reforestation

Sometimes it is the studies with obvious sounding results that are the most helpful. A recent study of protected forest areas in Costa Rica examined levels of regrowth in those areas. Previously studies had really only assessed whether protecting areas prevented degradation. Happily, the study reveals that not only do you prevent deforestation and degradation by setting up protection areas, you also get some reforestation and improved forest health. Interestingly, the results did not vary by level or method of protection. Just setting aside the land made reforestation more likely. (Unless you are at a university or employer with access, you may have to pay for the article, which will appear in the next edition of Conservation Letters.) Abstract Below --

Global efforts to protect forest biodiversity and ecosystem services rely heavily on protected areas.   Although these areas primarily aim to prevent losses from deforestation and degradation, they can also contribute to restoration. Previous evaluations of protected area impacts focus on avoided deforestation and fires. In contrast, we focus on the additional regrowth induced by Costa Rica's renowned system of parks and reserves. We use a quasi-experimental empirical design to control for confounding baseline characteristics that affect both regrowth and the assignment of protection. Between 1960 and 1997, an estimated 13.5% of previously unforested lands inside protected areas reforested because they were afforded protection. The level of additional regrowth does not vary by the strictness of protection. As in previous studies of protected area impacts on avoided deforestation, estimators that do not account for non-random assignment of protection can overstate protected areas’ impacts on regrowth by nearly double.

 

- Jessie Owley

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/land_use/2012/12/prevent-deforestation-and-you-get-reforestation.html

Agriculture, Environmental Law, Environmentalism | Permalink

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