Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-q99xh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T07:25:38.716Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Poverty, forest dependence and forest degradation links: evidence from Zagros, Iran

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 January 2014

Arezoo Soltani ,
Arild Angelsen  and
Tron Eid
Arezoo Soltani
Affiliation:
Department of Ecology and Natural Resource Management, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, P.O. Box 5003, NO-1432 Ås, Norway. Fax: +47 64965801. E-mail: [email protected]
Arild Angelsen
Affiliation:
School of Economics and Business, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Norway. E-mail: [email protected]
Tron Eid
Affiliation:
Department of Ecology and Natural Resource Management, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Norway. E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The article analyzes the links between poverty, forest use and dependence, and forest degradation by combining household and forest resource data from two sites in the Zagros Mountains, Iran: Ghamishale and Tange Tamoradi. At both sites, traditional forms of forest management are practised; in Ghamishale management is mainly family based, whereas in Tange Tamoradi it is village based. The poverty–forest dependence link is strongly influenced by population density, carrying capacity and institutions for forest management. In addition, the study revealed the tradeoff between equity and sustainable resource use as outputs of different institutional arrangements. We do not find any evidence that poor households or households with high forest dependence contribute more to forest degradation than others. The results therefore raise concerns about the potential consequences of policies globally that address forest degradation only through poverty alleviation and forest-dependence reduction.

Type
Research Article
Information
Environment and Development Economics , Volume 19 , Issue 5 , October 2014 , pp. 607 - 630
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Adhikari, B., William, F., and Lovett, J.C. (2007), ‘Local benefits from community forests in the middle hills of Nepal’, Forest Policy and Economics 9(5): 464–478.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Agrawal, A. and Yadama, G.N. (1997), ‘How do local institutions mediate market and population pressures on resources? Forest Panchayats in Kumaon, India’, Development and Change 28(3): 435–466.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Agudelo, C., Rivera, B., Tapasco, J., and Estrada, R. (2003), ‘Designing policies to reduce rural poverty and environmental degradation in a hillside zone of the Colombian Andes’, World Development 31(11): 1921–1931.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Angelsen, A. and Wunder, S. (2003), ‘Exploring the forest–poverty link: key concepts, issues and research implications’, CIFOR Occasional Paper No. 40, Center for International Forestry Research, Bogor, Indonesia.Google Scholar
Babulo, B., Muys, B., Nega, F., Tollens, E., Nyssen, J., Deckers, J., and Mathijs, E. (2009), ‘The economic contribution of forest resource use to rural livelihoods in Tigray, Northern Ethiopia’, Forest Policy and Economics 11(2): 123–131.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berkes, F. (1989), Common Property Resources: Ecology and Community Based Sustainable Development, London: Belhaven Press.Google Scholar
Cavendish, W. (2002), ‘Quantitative methods for estimating the economic value of resource use to rural households’, in Campbell, B.M. and Luckert, M.K. (eds), Uncovering the Hidden Harvest: Valuation Methods for Woodland and Forest Resources, London: Earthscan, pp. 17–65.Google Scholar
Central Bank of The Islamic Republic of Iran (2011), ‘Consumer price index. Tehran, Iran: Central Bank of The Islamic Republic of Iran’, [Available at] http://www.cbi.ir/category/1624.aspx.Google Scholar
Cochran, W.G. (1977), Sampling Techniques, Ontario: John Wiley & Sons.Google Scholar
Deininger, K.W. and Minten, B. (1999), ‘Poverty, policies, and deforestation: the case of Mexico’, Economic Development and Cultural Change 47(2): 313–344.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Djamali, M., De Beaulieu, J.L., Miller, N., Andrieu-Ponel, V., Ponel, P., Lak, R., Sadeddin, N., Akhani, H., and Fazeli, H. (2009), ‘Vegetation history of the SE section of the Zagros Mountains during the last five millennia: a pollen record from the Maharlou Lake, Fars Province, Iran’, Vegetation History and Archaeobotany 18(2): 123–136.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ebrahimi, Z. (2008), ‘Measuring poverty in Iran’, M.Sc. thesis, Alzahra University, Faculty of Social Science, Tehran [in Iranian].Google Scholar
Ebrahimi Rastaghi, M., Latifi, G., and Bodaghy, E. (2003), ‘The role of Pistacia atlantica in forest management outside the Caspian region in Iran’, Iranian Journal of Forest and Poplar Research 333: 518–538 [in Iranian].Google Scholar
FAO (2000), ‘On the definitions of forest and forest change’, Forest Resources Assessment Programme (FRA), Forestry Department, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome.Google Scholar
Fattahi, M., Ansari, N., Abbasi, H.R., and Khan Mohammadi, M. (2000), ‘Management of Zagros forests (case study: Darbadam forests in province of Kermanshah, Iran); basic study’, Report No. 240, Forest Research Division, Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands, Tehran [in Iranian].Google Scholar
Fields, G.S. (2001), Distribution and Development: A New Look at the Developing World, New York, Cambridge & London: Russel Sage Foundation & MIT Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fisher, M. (2004), ‘Household welfare and forest dependence in Southern Malawi’, Environment and Development Economics 9: 135–154.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
FRWO (2005), ‘Multi-purpose forest management plan for Bakhan and Chenare watersheds, final and practical program Forest’, Range and Watershed Organization (FRWO), Sannandaj, Province of Kurdistan.Google Scholar
Gibson, C.C., Williams, J.T., and Ostrom, E. (2005), ‘Local enforcement and better forests’, World Development 33(2): 273–284.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Greene, W.H. (2012), Econometric Analysis, Boston, MA: Pearson.Google Scholar
Hair, J.F., Tatham, R.L., Anderson, R.E., and Black, W. (2010), Multivariate Data Analysis, Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall.Google Scholar
Hardin, G. (1968), ‘The tragedy of the commons’, Science 162(3859): 1243–1248.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Headquarters of Natural Resources of Yasooj (2005), ‘Integrated forest management plan of Tange Tamoradi’, Report No. 1: Basic information, Headquarters of Natural Resources of Yasooj (HNRY), Yasooj, Iran.Google Scholar
Heady, C. (2000), ‘Natural resource sustainability and poverty reduction’, Environment and Development Economics 5(3): 241–258.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hoekstra, T.W. and Shachak, M. (1999), Arid Lands Management: Toward Ecological Sustainability, Champaign: University of Illinois Press.Google Scholar
Jazirei, M. and Rastaghi, M.E. (2003), Silviculture of Zagros, Tehran: University of Tehran [in Iranian].Google Scholar
Jodha, N.S. (1986), ‘Common property resources and rural poor in dry regions of India’, Economic and Political Weekly 21(27): 1169–1181.Google Scholar
Kamanga, P., Vedeld, P., and Sjaastad, E. (2009), ‘Forest incomes and rural livelihoods in Chiradzulu District, Malawi’, Ecological Economics 68(3): 613–624.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Khan, S.R. and Khan, S.R. (2009), ‘Assessing poverty–deforestation links: evidence from Swat, Pakistan’, Ecological Economics 68(10): 2607–2618.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lerman, R.I. and Yitzhaki, S. (1985), ‘Income inequality effects by income source: a new approach and applications to the United States’, Review of Economics and Statistics 67(1): 151–156.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McKean, M. and Ostrom, E. (1995), ‘Common property regimes in the forests: just a relic from the past’, Unasylva 46: 3–15.Google Scholar
Narain, U., Cupta, S., and Van de Veld, K. (2008), ‘Poverty and resource dependence in rural India’, Ecological Economics 66(1): 161–176.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ostrom, E. (1990), Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action, New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ravallion, M. and Bidani, B. (1994), ‘How robust is a poverty profile?’, World Bank Economic Review 8(1): 75–102.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ravnborg, H.M. (2003), ‘Poverty and environmental degradation in the Nicaraguan hillsides’, World Development 31(11): 1933–1946.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sagheb-Talebi, K., Sajedi, T., and Yazdian, F. (2004), ‘Forest of Iran’, Research Institute of Forest and Rangelands, Agricultural Research and Education Organization, Ministry of Jihad-e-Agriculture, Tehran.Google Scholar
Salehi, A. (2009), ‘Livelihood dependency and management on semiarid oak forests: the case study of Southern Zagros, Iran’, Ph.D. thesis, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Forest Resources Management, Faculty of Forest Sciences, Umeå.Google Scholar
Scherr, S.J. (2000), ‘A downward spiral? Research evidence on the relationship between poverty and natural resource degradation’, Food Policy 25(4): 479–498.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shackleton, C.M., Shackleton, S.E., Buiten, E., and Bird, N. (2007), ‘The importance of dry woodlands and forests in rural livelihoods and poverty alleviation in South Africa’, Forest Policy and Economics 9(5): 558–577.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Soltani, A. and Eid, T. (2013), ‘Organization, practices and performance of community based traditional forest management – empirical evidence from Zagros, Iran’, Journal of Forests, Trees and Livelihoods 22(1): 19–37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Soltani, A., Angelsen, A., Eid, T., Naieni, M.S.N., and Shamekhi, T. (2012), ‘Poverty, sustainability, and household livelihood strategies in Zagros, Iran’, Ecological Economics 79: 60–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sunderlin, W.D., Dewi, S., and Puntodewo, A. (2007), ‘Poverty and forests: multi-country analysis of spatial association and proposed policy solutions’, Center for International Forest Research, Bogor, Indonesia.Google Scholar
Swinton, S.M., Escobar, G.N., and Reardon, T. (2003), ‘Poverty and environment in Latin America: concepts, evidence and policy implications’, World Development 31(11): 1865–1872.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
UNDP (2004), ‘Conservation of biodiversity in the central Zagros mountain forests and steppe: Global Environment Facility’, unpublished manuscript, Tehran.Google Scholar
Vedeld, P., Angelson, A., Bojo, J., Sjaastad, E., and Kobugabe Berg, G. (2006), ‘Forest environmental incomes and the rural poor’, Forest Policy and Economics 9(7): 869–879.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
WCED (1987), Our Common Future, World Commission on Environment and Development, Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Wright, H.E. Jr., McAndrews, J.H., and Zeist, W.V. (1967), ‘Modern pollen rain in Western Iran, and its relation to plant geography and quaternary vegetational history’, Journal of Ecology 55(2): 415–443.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yachkaschi, A., Adeli, K., Latifi, H., Mohammadi Samani, K., and Seifollahian, M. (2010), ‘Trends in forest ownership, forest resources tenure and institutional arrangements: are they contributing to better forest management and poverty reduction? A case study from the Islamic Republic of Iran’, unpublished manuscript, Tehran: prepared for the Food and Agriculture Organization of United Nations.Google Scholar
Zeder, M.A. and Hesse, B. (2000), ‘The initial domestication of goats (Capra hircus) in the Zagros Mountains 10,000 years ago’, Science 287(5461): 2254–2257.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zoysa, M.D. and Inoue, M. (2008), ‘Forest governance and community based forest management in Sri Lanka: past, present and future perspectives’, International Journal of Social Forestry 1(1): 27–50.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: PDF

Soltani Supplementary Material

Appendix

Download Soltani Supplementary Material(PDF)
PDF 47.4 KB