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Jean-Philippe Leblond

Bio: Jean-Philippe Leblond is an academic researcher. The author has contributed to research in topics: Deforestation & Reforestation. The author has an hindex of 1, co-authored 1 publications receiving 58 citations.

Papers
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Dissertation
04 Aug 2011
TL;DR: In this article, a robust forest transition theory must be contextually-bounded and recognize that forest transitions can be encouraged, blocked or countered by the same frequently invoked macro-social variables: economic growth, agricultural intensification, and democratisation.
Abstract: Recent popular ideas and theories portray economic development as both a cause and a solution to environmental degradation. Concerning forest cover, many authors view forest transitions (the passage from deforestation to reforestation) as resulting from near-universal causal dynamics linked to economic development. The thesis evaluates the validity of these controversial ideas and their relevance to the Thai case. Based on an analysis of secondary literature and official data as well as extensive fieldwork in Phetchabun region, the thesis makes the following points. Contrary to the dominant view, forest cover did expand significantly between ~1995 and 2005. Forest regrowth is linked to the near-interruption of agricultural expansion, the establishment of forest plantations, and, most importantly, agricultural abandonment. The latter derives first and foremost from the declining and currently uncertain profitability of agriculture in non-irrigated zones. These agricultural problems are linked to declining soil fertility and the incapacity of some farmers to counter the impact of rapid economic changes occurring within and outside Thailand. Conservation efforts contributed to forest expansion only in some contexts (ex.: military-backed projects, divided communities, land already abandoned). Agricultural intensification and the growth of non-agricultural sectors made land confiscation and agricultural abandonment less distressing and allowed these land transformations to occur without leading to major social troubles. Since 2005, part of the forest regrowth has been lost to the rubber boom. This illustrates both the potentially non-permanent nature of the forest transition and the limited power of forest conservation in the face of major politico-economic interests.A robust forest transition theory must be contextually-bounded and recognize that forest transitions can be encouraged, blocked or countered by the same frequently invoked macro-social variables: economic growth, agricultural intensification, and democratisation. It must also take into account neglected causal factors, such as geopolitical threats, the resilience of agrarian systems, the perception of land scarcity and the degree of attachment to the land and an agrarian life. Typically, social distress, violence and, in some cases, negative environmental impacts have accompanied forest transitions. Human rights, social justice and sustainable development principles require that a more nuanced view of forest transitions be adopted.

58 citations


Cited by
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Worries about the growth in the human population go back to Malthus and beyond, but a book first published 40 years ago is having a new resonance.

537 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Theories of development: Contentions, Arguments, Alternatives, 2nd edition Richard Peet & Elaine Hartwick London & New York, The Guildford Press, 2009 as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Theories of Development: Contentions, Arguments, Alternatives, 2nd edition Richard Peet & Elaine Hartwick London & New York, The Guildford Press, 2009. 324 pp. (incl. bibliographical references and...

233 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors used remote sensing to analyze land use and cover changes and deforestation trajectories in the coffee-growing area in Dak Lak and Dak Nong provinces over 2000-2010.
Abstract: Production of commodities for global markets is an increasingly important factor of tropical deforestation, taking over smallholders subsistence farming. Measures to reduce deforestation and convert shifting cultivation systems towards permanent crops have recently been strengthened in several countries. But these changes have variable environmental and social impacts, including on ethnic minorities. In Vietnam, although a forest transition – i.e. shift from shrinking to expanding forest cover – occurred at the national scale, deforestation fronts and agricultural colonization for commodity crops – a.o. coffee – still dominated the Central Highlands plateaus. Previous studies suggested that the dominant land use changes in that region were on the one hand the acquisition and conversion of agricultural lands to perennial crops for external markets by capital-endowed Kinh households – the majority ethnic group in Vietnam – and on the other hand the corresponding displacement of poor households of ethnic minorities relying on shifting cultivation towards the forest margins. This study tested this hypothesis by using remote sensing to analyze land use and cover changes and deforestation trajectories in the coffee-growing area in Dak Lak and Dak Nong provinces over 2000–2010. Land use changes were linked with socioeconomic dynamics using secondary statistics and spatial modelling. Net deforestation reached −0.31% y−1 of the total area between 2000 and 2010. Deforestation was indeed mainly directly caused by shifting cultivation for annual crops, but this was partly driven indirectly by expansion of coffee and other perennial crops over agricultural lands. Displacement of shifting cultivation into the forest margins, pushed by market crops expansion, was the spatial manifestation of the marginalization of local ethnic minorities and poor migrants, pushed by capital-endowed migrants. This marginalization is a long-standing process rooted in the colonization and development strategy for the highlands followed since colonial times. Over the late 2000s, rapid deforestation was strongly reducing the benefits of national-scale forest recovery, and might shift the country back to net losses of natural forest. Implications for policies that may affect deforestation are discussed.

110 citations