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Strict versus mixed-use protected areas: Guatemala's Maya Biosphere Reserve

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  • Blackman, Allen

Abstract

Although protected areas, or “parks”, are among the leading policy tools used to stem tropical deforestation, rigorous evaluations of their effectiveness—that is, evaluations that control for their tendency to be sited in remote areas with relatively little deforestation—have only recently begun to appear. Important open questions concern the link between the stringency of protection and park effectiveness. How do mixed-use parks that allow sustainable extractive activities perform relative to strictly protected parks? And what types of mixed-use management perform best? In addressing these questions, it is particularly important to control for nonrandom siting, since different management regimes tend to be sited in areas with different preexisting characteristics. To date, most rigorous studies of this issue have focused on scores of parks in one or multiple countries, a strategy that in principle could be undermined by unobserved park heterogeneity. This paper uses high-resolution 2001–2006 land cover data derived from satellite images along with statistical techniques that control for nonrandom siting to examine the relative effectiveness of strict and various mixed-use protection strategies in a single large park: the two-million-hectare Maya Biosphere Reserve in Guatemala. Our results comport with the emerging consensus that on the whole, mixed-use protection in this park has been more effective in stemming deforestation than strict protection because of the performance of forest concessions within the multiple-use zone. However, we also find that mixed-use protection has had smaller, more heterogeneous effects than indicated by simple methods that do not control for nonrandom siting.

Suggested Citation

  • Blackman, Allen, 2015. "Strict versus mixed-use protected areas: Guatemala's Maya Biosphere Reserve," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 14-24.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:112:y:2015:i:c:p:14-24
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2015.01.009
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    1. Bocci, Corinne F., 2023. "Assessing the private and social benefits of forest concessions in the Maya Biosphere Reserve," 2023 Annual Meeting, July 23-25, Washington D.C. 335973, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    2. Bénédicte Niel & Yann Laurans & Renaud Lapeyre & Pascale Combes Motel & Jean-Louis Combes, 2019. "Why do anti-deforestation policies succeed or fail? Review of the Theory of Change emerging from the existing literature," CERDI Working papers halshs-02090658, HAL.
    3. Sims, Katharine R.E. & Alix-Garcia, Jennifer M., 2017. "Parks versus PES: Evaluating direct and incentive-based land conservation in Mexico," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 8-28.
    4. Devine, Jennifer A. & Currit, Nathan & Reygadas, Yunuen & Liller, Louise I. & Allen, Gabrielle, 2020. "Drug trafficking, cattle ranching and Land use and Land cover change in Guatemala’s Maya Biosphere Reserve," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    5. Miranda, Juan José & Corral, Leonardo & Blackman, Allen & Asner, Gregory & Lima, Eirivelthon, 2016. "Effects of Protected Areas on Forest Cover Change and Local Communities: Evidence from the Peruvian Amazon," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 288-307.
    6. Butler, Megan & Current, Dean, 2021. "Relationship between community capitals and governance: The perspective of local actors in the Maya Biosphere Reserve," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 21(C).
    7. Devine, Jennifer A. & Wrathall, David & Aguilar-González, Bernardo & Benessaiah, Karina & Tellman, Beth & Ghaffari, Zahra & Ponstingel, Daria, 2021. "Narco-degradation: Cocaine trafficking’s environmental impacts in Central America’s protected areas," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    8. Butler, Megan, 2021. "Analyzing community forest enterprises in the Maya Biosphere Reserve using a modified capitals framework," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    9. Gnych, Sophia & Lawry, Steven & McLain, Rebecca & Monterroso, Iliana & Adhikary, Anukram, 2020. "Is community tenure facilitating investment in the commons for inclusive and sustainable development?," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    10. Miranda, Juan Jose & Corral, Leonardo & Blackman, Allen & Asner, Gregory & Lima, Eirivelthon, 2014. "Effects of Protected Areas on Forest Cover Change and Local Communities," RFF Working Paper Series dp-14-14, Resources for the Future.
    11. Julika Herzberg, 2019. "Protection and Profit: Empirical Evidence of Governmental and Market-based Forest Policies," MAGKS Papers on Economics 201901, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics, Department of Economics (Volkswirtschaftliche Abteilung).
    12. Bocci, Corinne & Fortmann, Lea, 2023. "Community and industrial forest concessions: Are they effective at reducing forest loss and does FSC certification play a role?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    13. María Fernanda López Sandoval & Andrés Gerique & Perdita Pohle, 2017. "What Is Behind Land Claims? Downsizing of a Conservation Area in Southeastern Ecuador," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(9), pages 1-15, August.
    14. Li, Yi & Song, Zhenjiang, 2022. "Have protected areas in China achieved the ecological and economic “win-win” goals? Evidence from the Giant Panda Reserves of the Min Mont Range," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    15. Bocci, Corinne & Fortmann, Lea & Sohngen, Brent & Milian, Bayron, 2018. "The impact of community forest concessions on income: an analysis of communities in the Maya Biosphere Reserve," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 10-21.
    16. Bocci, Corinne & Sohngen, Brent & Finnegan, Bridget & Milian, Bayron, 2022. "An analysis of migrant characteristics in forest-dwelling communities in northern Guatemala," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    17. Auliz-Ortiz, Daniel Martín & Arroyo-Rodríguez, Víctor & Mendoza, Eduardo & Martínez-Ramos, Miguel, 2023. "Are there trade-offs between conservation and development caused by Mexican protected areas?," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    18. Bocci, Corinne & Mishra, Khushbu, 2021. "Forest power: The impact of community forest management on female empowerment," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 187(C).
    19. Bonilla-Mejía, Leonardo & Higuera-Mendieta, Iván, 2019. "Protected Areas under Weak Institutions: Evidence from Colombia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 585-596.
    20. Miranda, Juan José & Corral, Leonardo & Blackman, Allen & Asner, Gregory & Lima, Eirivelthon, 2016. "Effects of Protected Areas on Forest Cover Change and Local Communities: Evidence from the Peruvian Amazon," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 288-307.
    21. Bocci, Corinne & Sohngen, Brent & Lupi, Frank & Milian, Bayron, 2020. "Timber or carbon? Evaluating forest conservation strategies through a discrete choice experiment," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 171(C).

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