IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jlands/v6y2016i1p1-d86059.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Unexpected Interactions between Agricultural and Forest Sectors through International Trade: Wood Pallets and Agricultural Exports in Costa Rica

Author

Listed:
  • Isaline Jadin

    (Georges Lemaître Earth and Climate Research Centre, Earth and Life Institute, Université Catholique de Louvain, Place Louis Pasteur 3, bte L4.03.08, 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
    Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique - FNRS, 1000 Brussels, Belgium)

  • Patrick Meyfroidt

    (Georges Lemaître Earth and Climate Research Centre, Earth and Life Institute, Université Catholique de Louvain, Place Louis Pasteur 3, bte L4.03.08, 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
    Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique - FNRS, 1000 Brussels, Belgium)

  • Juan Carlos Zamora Pereira

    (Climate Change and Watershed Program, Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center (CATIE), Turrialba, Cartago 30501, Costa Rica)

  • Eric F. Lambin

    (Georges Lemaître Earth and Climate Research Centre, Earth and Life Institute, Université Catholique de Louvain, Place Louis Pasteur 3, bte L4.03.08, 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
    School of Earth Sciences and Woods Institute for the Environment, Stanford University, 473 Via Ortega, Stanford, CA 94305, USA)

Abstract

International market forces have played an increasingly important role in shaping land use dynamics through complex supply chains. In Costa Rica, the shift from a net loss to a net gain in forest cover was facilitated by forest plantations and the replacement of extensive cropland and pastures by export-oriented, high-yielding crops. However, agricultural intensification generated several feedbacks affecting forests. We analyzed the interactions between Costa Rica’s agricultural and forestry sectors associated with the use of wood pallets for commodity exports over 1985–2013. Wood pallets for growing agricultural exports created a demand for domestic tree plantations. The annual land demand for tree plantations to produce these wood pallets increased by 669%, reaching 17,606 ha in 2013 and representing 28% of the increase in demand for cropland for agricultural exports over 1994–2013. Wood supplied from plantations failed to fully substitute for wood from natural forests, only allowing for a relative substitution and preventing a major sparing of these forests. The dominant use of wood from plantations for production of low-value pallets de-incentivized investments in sustainable plantations. We showed that, beyond the typical interactions between agriculture and forestry through direct competition for land, international trade generated unexpected feedback where agricultural activities and supply chains affected forestry by triggering new demand and profound changes in forestry management. Land systems behave as complex systems, calling for integrated approaches to study the outcomes of forest conservation, reforestation programs, and development of land-based businesses.

Suggested Citation

  • Isaline Jadin & Patrick Meyfroidt & Juan Carlos Zamora Pereira & Eric F. Lambin, 2016. "Unexpected Interactions between Agricultural and Forest Sectors through International Trade: Wood Pallets and Agricultural Exports in Costa Rica," Land, MDPI, vol. 6(1), pages 1-21, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:6:y:2016:i:1:p:1-:d:86059
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/6/1/1/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/6/1/1/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gunnar Köhlin & Peter J. Parks, 2001. "Spatial Variability and Disincentives to Harvest: Deforestation and Fuelwood Collection in South Asia," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 77(2), pages 206-218.
    2. Angelsen, Arild, 2007. "Forest cover change in space and time : combining the von Thunen and forest transition theories," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4117, The World Bank.
    3. Unruh, Gregory C., 2000. "Understanding carbon lock-in," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 28(12), pages 817-830, October.
    4. Heilmayr, Robert, 2014. "Conservation through intensification? The effects of plantations on natural forests," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 204-210.
    5. Zeileis, Achim, 2004. "Econometric Computing with HC and HAC Covariance Matrix Estimators," Journal of Statistical Software, Foundation for Open Access Statistics, vol. 11(i10).
    6. Geels, Frank W., 2002. "Technological transitions as evolutionary reconfiguration processes: a multi-level perspective and a case-study," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 31(8-9), pages 1257-1274, December.
    7. Wurtenberger, Laura & Koellner, Thomas & Binder, Claudia R., 2006. "Virtual land use and agricultural trade: Estimating environmental and socio-economic impacts," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(4), pages 679-697, June.
    8. J. C. Burgess, 1998. "The economics of tropical forest land use options," Chapters, in: The Economics of Environment and Development, chapter 11, pages 223-253, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    9. Pirard, Romain & Dal Secco, Lise & Warman, Russell, 2016. "Do timber plantations contribute to forest conservation?," Environmental Science & Policy, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 122-130.
    10. Erb, Karl-Heinz & Krausmann, Fridolin & Lucht, Wolfgang & Haberl, Helmut, 2009. "Embodied HANPP: Mapping the spatial disconnect between global biomass production and consumption," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(2), pages 328-334, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Francesco Lamperti & Giovanni Dosi & Mauro Napoletano & Andrea Roventini & Alessandro Sapio, 2018. "And then he wasn't a she : Climate change and green transitions in an agent-based integrated assessment model," Working Papers hal-03443464, HAL.
    2. Kastner, Thomas & Kastner, Michael & Nonhebel, Sanderine, 2011. "Tracing distant environmental impacts of agricultural products from a consumer perspective," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(6), pages 1032-1040, April.
    3. Bessi, Alessandro & Guidolin, Mariangela & Manfredi, Piero, 2021. "The role of gas on future perspectives of renewable energy diffusion: Bridging technology or lock-in?," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    4. Nill, Jan & Kemp, Ren, 2009. "Evolutionary approaches for sustainable innovation policies: From niche to paradigm?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(4), pages 668-680, May.
    5. Geels, Frank W., 2012. "A socio-technical analysis of low-carbon transitions: introducing the multi-level perspective into transport studies," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 471-482.
    6. Kemp-Benedict, Eric, 2014. "Shifting to a Green Economy: Lock-in, Path Dependence, and Policy Options," MPRA Paper 60175, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Geels, Frank W. & Kemp, René, 2007. "Dynamics in socio-technical systems: Typology of change processes and contrasting case studies," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 29(4), pages 441-455.
    8. Gürsan, C. & de Gooyert, V., 2021. "The systemic impact of a transition fuel: Does natural gas help or hinder the energy transition?," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    9. João Tovar Jalles, 2020. "The impact of financial crises on the environment in developing countries," Annals of Finance, Springer, vol. 16(2), pages 281-306, June.
    10. Foxon, Timothy J. & Pearson, Peter J.G. & Arapostathis, Stathis & Carlsson-Hyslop, Anna & Thornton, Judith, 2013. "Branching points for transition pathways: assessing responses of actors to challenges on pathways to a low carbon future," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 146-158.
    11. Kuokkanen, A. & Nurmi, A. & Mikkilä, M. & Kuisma, M. & Kahiluoto, H. & Linnanen, L., 2018. "Agency in regime destabilization through the selection environment: The Finnish food system’s sustainability transition," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(8), pages 1513-1522.
    12. Miklós Antal & Ardjan Gazheli & Jeroen C.J.M. van den Bergh, 2012. "Behavioural Foundations of Sustainability Transitions. WWWforEurope Working Paper No. 3," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 46424, April.
    13. Erlinghagen, Sabine & Markard, Jochen, 2012. "Smart grids and the transformation of the electricity sector: ICT firms as potential catalysts for sectoral change," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 895-906.
    14. Maarten Wolsink, 2020. "Framing in Renewable Energy Policies: A Glossary," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-31, June.
    15. Iriarte-Goñi, Iñaki & Ayuda, María-Isabel, 2018. "Should Forest Transition Theory include effects on forest fires? The case of Spain in the second half of the twentieth century," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 789-797.
    16. Jacobsson, Staffan, 2008. "The emergence and troubled growth of a 'biopower' innovation system in Sweden," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(4), pages 1491-1508, April.
    17. Hötte, Kerstin, 2020. "How to accelerate green technology diffusion? Directed technological change in the presence of coevolving absorptive capacity," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    18. Gönenç Yücel & Catherine Miluska Chiong Meza, 2008. "Studying transition dynamics via focusing on underlying feedback interactions," Computational and Mathematical Organization Theory, Springer, vol. 14(4), pages 320-349, December.
    19. Ruggiero, Salvatore & Varho, Vilja & Rikkonen, Pasi, 2015. "Transition to distributed energy generation in Finland: Prospects and barriers," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 433-443.
    20. Li, Francis G.N. & Trutnevyte, Evelina & Strachan, Neil, 2015. "A review of socio-technical energy transition (STET) models," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 290-305.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:6:y:2016:i:1:p:1-:d:86059. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.