Untangling the proximate causes and underlying drivers of deforestation and forest degradation in Myanmar.
TLDR
A system-dynamics approach and causal-network analysis was used to determine the proximate causes and underlying drivers of forest loss and degradation in Myanmar from 1995 to 2016 and to articulate the linkages among them.Abstract:
Political transitions often trigger substantial environmental changes. In particular, deforestation can result from the complex interplay among the components of a system-actors, institutions, and existing policies-adapting to new opportunities. A dynamic conceptual map of system components is particularly useful for systems in which multiple actors, each with different worldviews and motivations, may be simultaneously trying to alter different facets of the system, unaware of the impacts on other components. In Myanmar, a global biodiversity hotspot with the largest forest area in mainland Southeast Asia, ongoing political and economic reforms are likely to change the dynamics of deforestation drivers. A fundamental conceptual map of these dynamics is therefore a prerequisite for interventions to reduce deforestation. We used a system-dynamics approach and causal-network analysis to determine the proximate causes and underlying drivers of forest loss and degradation in Myanmar from 1995 to 2016 and to articulate the linkages among them. Proximate causes included infrastructure development, timber extraction, and agricultural expansion. These were stimulated primarily by formal agricultural, logging, mining, and hydropower concessions and economic investment and social issues relating to civil war and land tenure. Reform of land laws, the link between natural resource extraction and civil war, and the allocation of agricultural concessions will influence the extent of future forest loss and degradation in Myanmar. The causal-network analysis identified priority areas for policy interventions, for example, creating a public registry of land-concession holders to deter corruption in concession allocation. We recommend application of this analytical approach to other countries, particularly those undergoing political transition, to inform policy interventions to reduce forest loss and degradation.read more
Citations
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Anthropogenic modification of forests means only 40% of remaining forests have high ecosystem integrity
Hedley S. Grantham,Adam Duncan,Tom D. Evans,Kendall R. Jones,Hawthorne L. Beyer,Richard Schuster,Joe Walston,Justina C. Ray,Jan Robinson,M. Callow,Tom Clements,H. M. Costa,A. DeGemmis,Paul R. Elsen,Jamison Ervin,P. Franco,Elizabeth Dow Goldman,Scott J. Goetz,Andrew J. Hansen,E. Hofsvang,Patrick Jantz,Stacy D. Jupiter,A. Kang,Penny F. Langhammer,William F. Laurance,Susan Lieberman,Matthew Linkie,Yadvinder Malhi,Sean L. Maxwell,M. Mendez,Russell A. Mittermeier,Nicholas J. Murray,Hugh P. Possingham,Hugh P. Possingham,J. Radachowsky,Sassan Saatchi,C. Samper,J. Silverman,Aurélie Shapiro,Bernardo B. N. Strassburg,T. Stevens,Emma J. Stokes,Richard N. Taylor,T. Tear,Robert Tizard,Oscar Venter,Piero Visconti,Stephanie Wang,James E. M. Watson,James E. M. Watson +49 more
TL;DR: A globally consistent, continuous index of forest condition as determined by the degree of anthropogenic modification is generated by integrating data on observed and inferred human pressures and an index of lost connectivity.
Journal ArticleDOI
Combined Landsat and L-Band SAR Data Improves Land Cover Classification and Change Detection in Dynamic Tropical Landscapes
TL;DR: Analysis of combined Landsat and L-band SAR data provides an improved understanding of the associated drivers of agricultural plantation expansion and the dynamics of land use/cover change in tropical forest landscapes.
Posted Content
Where Are Ecology and Biodiversity in Social–Ecological Systems Research? A Review of Research Methods and Applied Recommendations
Adena R. Rissman,Sean Gillon +1 more
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors systematically reviewed SES research to examine whether and how it integrates ecological and social domains and generates decision-relevant recommendations, finding that two-thirds included an ecological variable while all but one included a social variable.
Journal ArticleDOI
Political transition and emergent forest-conservation issues in Myanmar.
Graham W. Prescott,William J. Sutherland,Daniel Aguirre,Matthew Baird,Vicky Bowman,Jake Brunner,Grant M. Connette,Martin Cosier,David Dapice,Jose Don T. De Alban,Alex N. Diment,Julia Fogerite,Jefferson Fox,Win Hlaing,Saw Htun,Jack Hurd,Katherine J. LaJeunesse Connette,Felicia Lasmana,Cheng Ling Lim,Antony J. Lynam,Aye Chan Maung,Benjamin McCarron,John F. McCarthy,William J. McShea,Frank Momberg,Myat Su Mon,Than Myint,Robert Oberndorf,Thaung Naing Oo,Jacob Phelps,Madhu Rao,Madhu Rao,Dietrich Schmidt-Vogt,Hugh Speechly,Oliver Springate-Baginski,Robert Steinmetz,Kirk Talbott,Maung Maung Than,Tint Lwin Thaung,Salai Cung Lian Thawng,Kyaw Min Thein,Shwe Thein,Robert Tizard,Tony Whitten,Guy Williams,Trevor Wilson,Kevin Woods,Alan D. Ziegler,Michal Zrust,Edward L. Webb +49 more
TL;DR: A horizon-scanning approach was used to assess the 40 emerging issues most affecting Myanmar's forests, including internal conflict, land-tenure insecurity, large-scale agricultural development, demise of state timber enterprises, shortfalls in government revenue and capacity, and opening of new deforestation frontiers with new roads, mines, and hydroelectric dams.
Journal ArticleDOI
Factors affecting forest area change in Southeast Asia during 1980-2010.
TL;DR: A U-shaped response of forest area change to social openness is found, suggesting that forest gain can be achieved in both open and closed countries, but deforestation might be accelerated in countries undergoing societal transition.
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