Deforestation in the Tropics: Causes, Policies, and Institutions

Climate change is a contemporary issue. In the context of rapidly changing climate patterns, deforestation in the tropics is a major issue of global concern because of the value tropical forests have in limiting the greenhouse effect and in conserving biodiversity. Deforestation has also many ecological and socio-economic effects at local and global levels. Many economic models attempt at explaining the causes of deforestation. Against such a background, this book provides two perspectives: (1) an informed account of the causes of deforestation at different levels of economy and reviews and discussions on certain non-forest sector policies, global environmental markets and biodiversity conservation; (2) this book analyses using four categories on the direct, intermediate and underlying and/or policy-oriented causes for deforestation using data from regions from Latin America, Africa and Asia. Overall, this book provides aspects of policies and institutions for sustainable management of forest resources and for achieving environmental stability. The contents in this book will be useful also for analysing deforestation in temperate regions. This book is suitable for economists, environmental scientists and development specialists, and for those who are involved in academia, research, consultation, policy making, environmental management and development administration.