Abstract
The impact of land tenure security on tropical deforestation and land management, more generally, is an issue that has received a great deal of discussion, and which possesses significant policy implications. If land tenure encourages planning over the long term, then the awarding of titles and the enforcement of private property rights may provide a decentralized approach to controlling rapid loss of forest. The economic theory on the role of tenure security on the management of assets such as land is well articulated, and in the case of tropical forest predicts a reduction in forest exploitation and destruction. Despite the conceptual appeal of the theoretical argument, little empirical work has been accomplished addressing specifically the role of secure land tenure on rates of forest clearance in tropical frontiers. The present chapter seeks to rectify this situation by combining data from a detailed survey of households with a time series of classified satellite images. In the summer of 1996, the authors conducted a survey along the Transamazon Highway in the state of Pará, Brazil, compiling information from 347 lots belonging to small-holders. In addition to the survey, they compiled a six year time-series of classified Landsat TM images for an 11-year period between 1986 and 1997 (1986, 1987, 1988, 1991, 1992, 1997). These images cover the survey area and provide a dynamic account of the land cover changes for a sub-sample of the lots queried in the original survey. The chapter gives an account of the survey sample, and results of a statistical analysis addressing the impact of title on the commercial exploitation of hardwoods and on rates of deforestation. Given knowledge of the year of titling and a series of images bracketing 11 -years, the research considers, on a lot-by-lot basis, rates of deforestation before and after the awarding of title. The paper is concludes with a discussion of the implications of findings for policy.
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Walker, R., Wood, C.H., Skole, D., Chomentowski, W. (2002). The Impact of Land Titling on Tropical Forest Resources. In: Walsh, S.J., Crews-Meyer, K.A. (eds) Linking People, Place, and Policy. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-0985-1_7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-0985-1_7
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