A Nested Land Uses–Landscapes–Livelihoods Approach to Assess the Real Costs of Land-Use Transitions: Insights from Southeast Asia

Guillaume Lestrelin, Jean-Christophe Castella, Qiaohong Li, Thoumthone Vongvisouk, Nguyen Dinh Tien and Ole Mertz
Additional contact information
Guillaume Lestrelin: CIRAD, UMR TETIS, F-34398 Montpellier, France
Jean-Christophe Castella: IRD, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement and CIRAD, UR AIDA, Avenue Agropolis, F-34398 Montpellier, France
Qiaohong Li: Department of Economic Plants and Biotechnology, Yunnan Key Laboratory forWild Plant Resources, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650201, China
Thoumthone Vongvisouk: Faculty of Forest Science, The National University of Laos, Vientiane 0100, Lao People’s Democratic Republic
Nguyen Dinh Tien: Faculty of Development Economics, University of Economics and Business, Vietnam National University, 144 Xuan Thuy Road, Hanoi 100000, Vietnam
Ole Mertz: Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, University of Copenhagen, 1165 Copenhagen, Denmark

Land, 2019, vol. 8, issue 1, 1-20

Abstract: Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+) is viewed as an effective way to mitigate climate change by compensating stewards of forested areas for minimizing forestland conversion and protecting forest services. Opportunity costs assess the cost of foregone opportunity when preserving the forest instead of investing in an alternative activity or resource use. This paper questions the calculation method of opportunity costs using averaged economic benefits and co-benefits of different land-use transitions. We propose a nested approach to land-use transitions at the interface between landscapes and livelihoods and assessing a wide range of potential socio-ecological costs and benefits. Combining household surveys and focus groups with participatory mapping, we applied the approach in villages of Laos, Vietnam and China positioned along a broad transition trajectory from subsistence shifting cultivation to intensive commercial agriculture. By looking beyond the economics of land use, we highlight important linkages between land-use changes and livelihood differentiation, vulnerability and inequalities. Our results show the importance of addressing the impacts of land-use transitions on a wide range of potential ecological and socioeconomic costs and benefits at multiple levels.

Keywords: opportunity costs; multi-level assessment; agrarian transition; REDD+; Southeast Asia (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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