The impacts of tropical deforestation and forest degradation are felt at multiple levels, bringing about local ecosystem degradation, regional biome fragmentation and global contributions of 12-15% of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. In response to this, markets and payments for ecosystem services have emerged to financially value the services forests provide, most notably in the form of mechanisms to reduce deforestation and enhance forest conservation (REDD+). REDD+ has received much attention at the international level, but the pressing contemporary challenge is its engagement at the local scale. This thesis examines the potential local-level engagement of REDD+ on the Amazon frontier as an approach to altering patterns of anthropogenic encroachment on the world's greatest expanse of tropical forest. Case studies are taken from the buffer zones of protected areas along Peru's Amazonian frontier, Yanachaga-Chemillen National Park (YChNP) in central Peru and Manu National Park (MNP) in the SE of the country. A political ecology approach is taken to examine the influences and implications of existing land use governance structures, local livelihoods and preferences, and smallholder production and land economy, in the context of REDD+. Adopting mixed methods comprising semi-structured interviewing and land user surveys, data were collected between July 2008 and September 2009. I show that the two sites' histories and geographies have shaped distinct challenges for REDD+. The proximity of YChNP to Lima has fuelled agricultural expansion and higher land use incomes, yet institutions – particularly those belonging to the state – are exceedingly weak. The pace of land use change here obliges certain urgency for REDD+ interventions to provide livelihood alternatives, divert the current development path and restore the landscape. MNP’s rurality has protected it to date from expansive deforestation, yet weak institutions, poverty and increasing threats from national development processes highlight the importance of REDD+ interventions. In an analysis of land economy, an innovative conceptual framework is presented, the '3Rs' (rewarding, regulating and reshaping) to tackle local heterogeneity in REDD+ engagement. This thesis contributes knowledge to the practical and theoretical advancement of REDD+, and proposes the mechanism as an important new arena for academic investigation.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:533824 |
| Date | January 2011 |
| Creators | Scriven, Joel Nicholas Hamilton |
| Contributors | Liverman, Diana ; Malhi, Yadvinder |
| Publisher | University of Oxford |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:5b88b956-bba4-45ff-8b3c-af610262ab6d |
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