Effects of Protected Areas on Forest Cover Change and Local Communities

Juan Jose Miranda, Leonardo Corral, Allen Blackman, Gregory Asner and Eirivelthon Lima

RFF Working Paper Series from Resources for the Future

Abstract: Protected areas are a cornerstone of forest conservation in developing countries. Yet we know little about their effects on forest cover change or the socioeconomic status of local communities, and even less about the relationship between these effects. This paper assesses whether “win-win” scenarios are possible—that is, whether protected areas can both stem forest cover change and alleviate poverty. We examine protected areas in the Peruvian Amazon using high-resolution satellite images and household-level survey data for the early 2000s. To control for protected areas’ nonrandom siting, we rely on quasi-experimental (matching) methods. We find that the average protected area reduces forest cover change. We do not find a robust negative effect on local communities. Protected areas that allow sustainable extractive activities are more effective in reducing forest cover change but less effective in delivering win-win outcomes.

Keywords: conservation; deforestation; protected areas; poverty; land use; land conservation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q23 Q24 Q56 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014-06-11
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-agr, nep-dev and nep-env
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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