Do forest-management plans and FSC certification reduce deforestation in the Congo basin?

Isabelle Tritsch (), Gwenolé Le Velly, Benoit Mertens (), Patrick Meyfroidt, Christophe Sannier, Jean-Sylvestre Makak and Kenneth Houngbedji
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Isabelle Tritsch: UMR 228 Espace-Dev, Espace pour le développement - IRD - Institut de Recherche pour le Développement - UPVD - Université de Perpignan Via Domitia - AU - Avignon Université - UR - Université de La Réunion - UM - Université de Montpellier - UG - Université de Guyane - UA - Université des Antilles
Benoit Mertens: UMR 228 Espace-Dev, Espace pour le développement - IRD - Institut de Recherche pour le Développement - UPVD - Université de Perpignan Via Domitia - AU - Avignon Université - UR - Université de La Réunion - UM - Université de Montpellier - UG - Université de Guyane - UA - Université des Antilles
Patrick Meyfroidt: ELI - Earth and Life Institute [Louvain-La-Neuve] - UCL - Université Catholique de Louvain = Catholic University of Louvain
Christophe Sannier: SIRS - Systèmes d'Information à Référence Spatiale - Systèmes d'Information à Référence Spatiale
Jean-Sylvestre Makak: Geospatial Company

CEE-M Working Papers from CEE-M, Universtiy of Montpellier, CNRS, INRA, Montpellier SupAgro

Abstract: To allow for the production of timber while preserving conservation values, forestry regulations in the Congo Basin have made Forest Management Plans (FMPs) mandatory in logging concessions. This paper uses original highresolution maps of forest-cover changes and official records on the activities of logging concessions to analyze the impact of FMPs on deforestation in this region. We apply quasi-experimental and difference-in-difference approaches to evaluate the change in deforestation in concessions that implemented an FMP. We find that between 2000 and 2010, deforestation was 74% lower in concessions with an FMP compared to others. Building on a theory of change, further analyses revealed that this decrease in deforestation takes at least five years to occur, and is highest around communities located in and nearby logging concessions and in areas close to previous deforestation. These findings suggest that FMPs reduce deforestation by allowing concessions to rotate cycles of timber extraction, thereby avoiding the overexploitation of areas that were previously logged, and by the better regulation of access to concessions by closing former logging roads to limit illegal activities such as slash and burn agriculture, hunting and the illegal harvest of timber or fuelwood.

Keywords: forest management plan; FSC certification; deforestation; quasi-experimental matching; causal mechanisms; Congo Basin (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-agr, nep-bec, nep-dev and nep-env
Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://shs.hal.science/halshs-02103836v1
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Working Paper: Do forest-management plans and FSC certification reduce deforestation in the Congo basin? (2019)
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