Abstract

Abstract:

Since the 1980s the forest cover of Guatemala’s second largest national park, the Sierra de Lacandón, has been dramatically reduced. Between 1993 and 1998 agricultural expansion and population growth were less pronounced among the agro-forestry cooperatives in the Ruta a Bethel region (southern portion of the park) relative to the squatter communities along the Ruta a Naranjo (northern region of the park). A large body of literature has debated the causes of deforestation in the tropics and the affect of land tenure on tropical forest conservation. The data in this study suggest that, at the regional level, secure land titling among agroforestry cooperative communities can contribute to improved forest conservation, by slowing in-migration and by reducing agricultural extensification.

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