Final published version
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Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Fire risk perpetuates poverty and fire use among Amazonian smallholders
AU - Cammelli, F.
AU - Garrett, R.D.
AU - Barlow, J.
AU - Parry, L.
PY - 2020/7/1
Y1 - 2020/7/1
N2 - Forest fires exacerbate carbon emissions, threaten biodiversity and cause welfare losses to local populations. Most fires accidentally ignite from mismanaged swidden and pasture fires. We provide evidence that fire risk in the Brazilian Amazon, the world's largest remaining tropical forest, perpetuates low yield and environmentally degrading agricultural activities. Using a combination of household interviews and remotely sensed data on fire occurrence in Eastern Amazon municipalities of Paragominas and Santarém, we show that smallholders in consolidated farm-forest frontier regions are locked into a vicious cycle that inhibits their adoption of fire-free practices. Households that invest in more capital-intensive fire-free agricultural technologies experience greater revenue losses from escaped fires than non-fire users. Changes in revenues are as sensitive to these fire impacts as they are to changes in physical capital investments. To overcome this fire-poverty trap, a “big push” of coordinated local incentives is needed. Policies mitigating fire risk may achieve a triple-win that reduces greenhouse gas emissions, forest degradation, and fosters inclusive economic development. © 2020 The Authors
AB - Forest fires exacerbate carbon emissions, threaten biodiversity and cause welfare losses to local populations. Most fires accidentally ignite from mismanaged swidden and pasture fires. We provide evidence that fire risk in the Brazilian Amazon, the world's largest remaining tropical forest, perpetuates low yield and environmentally degrading agricultural activities. Using a combination of household interviews and remotely sensed data on fire occurrence in Eastern Amazon municipalities of Paragominas and Santarém, we show that smallholders in consolidated farm-forest frontier regions are locked into a vicious cycle that inhibits their adoption of fire-free practices. Households that invest in more capital-intensive fire-free agricultural technologies experience greater revenue losses from escaped fires than non-fire users. Changes in revenues are as sensitive to these fire impacts as they are to changes in physical capital investments. To overcome this fire-poverty trap, a “big push” of coordinated local incentives is needed. Policies mitigating fire risk may achieve a triple-win that reduces greenhouse gas emissions, forest degradation, and fosters inclusive economic development. © 2020 The Authors
KW - Brazilian Amazon
KW - climate change mitigation
KW - fires
KW - land use policy
KW - sustainable development
KW - tropical forests
KW - agricultural land
KW - biodiversity
KW - capital provision
KW - carbon emission
KW - disaster management
KW - fire history
KW - greenhouse gas
KW - investment incentive
KW - pasture
KW - smallholder
KW - tropical forest
KW - Amazonas [Brazil]
KW - Brazil
KW - Para [Brazil]
KW - Paragominas
U2 - 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2020.102096
DO - 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2020.102096
M3 - Journal article
VL - 63
JO - Global Environmental Change
JF - Global Environmental Change
SN - 0959-3780
M1 - 102096
ER -