SOCIOECONOMIC ROOT CAUSES OF BIODIVERSITY LOSS
SOCIOECONOMIC ROOT CAUSESOF BIODIVERSITY LOSS:AN ANALYTICAL APPROACH PAPERFOR CASE STUDIESby Pamela Stedman-Edwards*For theMacroeconomics for Sustainable Development Program OfficeWorld Wide Fund for NatureDecember 1997For further information contact:WWF-MPO1250 24th Street, NWWashington, DC 20036Phone: (202) 778-9752* I would like to thank Kirk Talbott and Juliette Moussa as well as the WWF-MPO team for theirinvaluable help in writing this paper.i
I.II.III.Introduction 1Proximate Causes of Biodiversity LossRationale 3Root Causes 52Methodology 7Methodological Issues: Interdisciplinarity, Scale, and LinkagesGeneral Frameworks 14Global-Change Analysis 14Political Ecology 15Chains of Explanation 16Understanding Local Responses 17Constructing a Conceptual Model 18Key Steps 18Assumptions 19Data Issues 22Quantitative Approaches 24Data on Biodiversity 25Qualitative Approaches 28Example of a Conceptual Model 29Step 1: Literature Review 29Step 2: Development of a Conceptual Model 30Step 3: Data Collection 31Step 4: Revision of the Conceptual Model 31A Suggested Framework 33Framework of Root CausesA.B.35Demographic Change 35Reasons for Population Growth 36The Population Debate 36Resource Use and Population 38Government and Population PressuresPopulation-Environment Models 40Cases 42Inequality and Poverty 45Poverty and Marginality 45Location of the Poor 45Poverty-Degradation Linkages 46Short-Term Views 47Displacement and Resource DivisionEcological Marginalization 50Wealth and Inequality 54ii39488
C.Public Policies, Markets, and Politics: National Issues 57Policy Failures 57Agricultural and Colonization Policies 59Market Failures and Valuation 61Valuing Biodiversity 62Short-Term Views 64Politics: Underlying Causes of Policy and Market FailuresAllocation of Resources and Costs 65Short-term Views 68Breakdown of Traditional Institutions 6964D.Macroeconomic Policies and Structures: Linking National and InternationalGovernment Policies 73Macroeconomic Structures 74Linking Local Resource Use and International Structures 76Trade and Exchange Rates 76Uniformity 79Concentration 79Volatility 80Markets and Biodiversity 80Weighing the Impacts 81E.Social Change and Development Biases 84Culture and Biodiversity 84Development and Culture 85Traditional Cultures 87Development and Biodiversity Loss 88Efforts to Reconcile Development and Biodiversity ConservationFailings of the Development Model 91Concluding Notes93Definitions of Key TermsBibliography 9694iii7290
BoxesBox 1Box 2Box 3Box 4Box 5Box 6Box 7Box 8Box 9Box 10Data Collection on Changing Resource Use 26Population Expansion in the Petén 38Poverty and Land Degradation in Bolivia 47Smallholder Settlement and Short-Term Approaches 53Forest Rights in Indonesia's Outer Islands 63Incorporating Natural Resource Values: Cases from Thailand 67Exchange Rates and Land Use in Cameroon 75Export Driven Production in Southern Honduras 78Indigenous Populations in the Ecuadorian Amazon 87Degradation of Common Property Resources in Rajasthan, India 89DiagramsDiagram 1aDiagram 1bDiagram 2Diagram 3Diagram 4aDiagram 4bDiagram 5Diagram 6Diagram 7Diagram 8Diagram 9Diagram 10Causal Scales 10Causal Scales 11Conceptual Framework Explaining Amazon Deforestation 21Land-Use and Biodiversity 27Initial Conceptual Model for Calakmul, Mexico Case 30Revised Conceptual Model for Calakmul, Mexico Case 32A Root Causes Framework 34Population and the Frontier Cycle 43Where the Poor Live 49Impoverishment and Degradation Spirals 51The Poverty and Environment Connection 52Public Policies, Markets, and Politics: An Example 70TablesTable 1Table 2Table 3Table 4Table 5Table 6Table 7Examples of Scale 9Data Collection 23Demographic Change 44Inequality and Poverty 56Public Policies, Markets, and Politics 71Macroeconomic Policies and Structures 83Social Change and Development Biases 92iv
I.INTRODUCTIONThis paper is intended as an analytical approach for a series of case studies that willexplore the socioeconomic root causes of biodiversity loss. These case studies will be carried outin many different locations, with a variety of environmental and socioeconomic conditions. Ineach location, biodiversity is threatened by human activity. Socioeconomic factors–includingsocial, economic, political, and cultural factors–are at the root of these activities that aredestroying habitats and species. The case studies will expand our understanding of these rootcauses of biodiversity loss as a crucial first step in developing effective strategies for biodiversityconservation.The synthesis and review of literature provided by this paper will serve as the theoreticaland methodological underpinning for these case studies. The connections between social andeconomic structures and biodiversity loss are not well understood. Interdisciplinarymethodologies for the study of environmental problems, integrating knowledge and methods froma variety of social and biological sciences, are in the early stages of development. This papershould provide a useful reference tool and analytic guidelines for the teams carrying out the casestudies. What is offered here is a first attempt to bring together knowledge from a variety of fieldsrelated to the causes of biodiversity loss. Given the diverse circumstances and the wide range ofnatural and socioeconomic environments in which biodiversity loss is occurring, each case studywill necessarily adopt an approach and draw conclusions appropriate to each particular case. Thematerial presented here should provide a common, though broad, framework for analyzing rootcauses. This framework is intended to ensure coherency across diverse case studies and facilitategeneral conclusions.The paper is organized as follows: This section explores the need for new approaches tounderstanding the causes of biodiversity loss. Section II provides methodological suggestions andguidelines for the case studies and reviews the challenges in this type of research. Thedevelopment of conceptual models is proposed as the most useful way to describe the linksbetween biodiversity loss and socioeconomic factors. Section III presents a framework forunderstanding the root causes of biodiversity loss, and provides a review of key theories aboutprobable root causes. These are illustrated with examples from the existing literature. Definitionsof key terms are provided in an appendix, and an extensive bibliography is included.Current literature on socioeconomic causes of environmental degradation is reviewed inorder to draw some general hypotheses about the likely causes of biodiversity loss, and to exploreand evaluate the range of methodologies available for analyzing these issues. The literature onsocioeconomic causes of biodiversity loss is limited. However, a wide literature on the roles ofhuman migration, population growth, economic policies and structures, poverty, cultural andsocial structures, and development patterns in determining resource exploitation provides a basisfor examining the question of biodiversity loss. Examples drawn from existing case studies in thisliterature are used to illustrate the type and complexity of linkages leading to environmental1
change. The literature review is not exhaustive; only the key arguments are discussed here.References are provided for further information1.Proximate Causes of Biodiversity LossThe IUCN has defined biological diversity as:The variability among living organisms from all sources including, inter alia, terrestrial,marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are part;this includes diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems2.Loss of biological diversity is occurring across all of these ecosystems and across all formsof biodiversity. The proximate causes have been thoroughly examined in conservation literature3.They are, in brief: habitat alteration and loss;over-harvesting;species and disease introduction; andpollution and climate change.Of these, habitat alteration is the primary cause of biodiversity loss world-wide. Habitatalteration, essentially modifications of land cover and of aquatic habitats for human use, includesnot only outright destruction or transformation but also reduction and fragmentation of habitatsthat in turn reduce the complexity of ecosystems.Some organisms, such as the smallpox virus, have been driven to extinction "in the wild"because they have been perceived as a threat to human welfare. Some, such as the Moa,have been driven to extinction because of their desirable consumption properties. Formost, however, extinction has been the incidental and usually unanticipated consequenceof [human] activity that has destroyed their habitat–as is currently the case with thethousands of species being driven to extinction annually due to the destruction of tropicalrainforests and coral reefs.4Habitat loss in terrestrial ecosystems is driven primarily by conversion for agriculture andsettlements. Logging and development of tree plantations also contribute significantly to loss andfragmentation of terrestrial habitats. Hunting and extraction have significant impacts on1Most citations are summary articles or reviews of particular issues. They have been selected becausethey will provide useful further reading and lists of references for the teams carrying out the case studies,not because they are the most current sources for the ideas discussed.2IUCN 1994, 163For good reviews of the proximate causes, see McNeeley et al. 1990; Barbier et al. 1994; Perrings et al1995; and ESD 1995.4Perrings et al. 1995, 132
biodiversity even when habitats remain intact5. Habitat loss in aquatic ecosystems is drivenprimarily by pollution. Commercial overharvesting and introduction of exotic species also havemajor impacts on aquatic ecosystems6.RationaleTo understand why such extensive alteration and destruction of habitats is occurring, it isessential to understand what lies behind these proximate causes. Only by exploring andunderstanding the root causes–the socioeconomic factors that drive people to degrade the naturalenvironment–will we be able change this behavior and halt the loss of biodiversity.Many current hypotheses about the root causes of biodiversity loss are contradictory. Forexample: poverty causes biodiversity loss, or exploitation of the environment by the wealthycauses biodiversity loss;economic development causes biodiversity loss, or underdevelopment causesbiodiversity loss;rural over-population causes biodiversity loss, or shrinking rural populations causebiodiversity loss;traditional slash-and-burn agriculture causes biodiversity loss, or modern commercialagricultural production causes biodiversity loss, and so on.That each of these assertions can be proven in specific cases, suggests strongly that thereare some underlying root causes that offer a more satisfactory explanation of biodiversity loss.Most analyses of the economic, social, political, and cultural causes of biodiversity losshave focused on the local level. The complexity and importance of local drivers of biodiversityloss have been revealed and explored in detail by this work. This focus on the community andmicro-regional level has led to an emphasis on conservation solutions at the same level, some ofwhich have proven effective. Other work has focused on particular sectors and, likewise, hasfound solutions to some specific environmental problems. The continuing loss of biodiversity,however, points to the need to take a broader look at the factors driving environmental change.This paper seeks to connect well-known micro-level and sectoral drivers to the broaderrange of socioeconomic factors that shape the decisions made at the local level. A complexoverlay of political, economic, and social causal factors at local, regional, national, andinternational scales is driving biodiversity loss. Even in isolated areas, where much biodiversityloss is occurring, a number of causal factors beyond the local level are likely to be at work. Thislarger context in which environmental decisions are made is too often ignored. To find moreeffective conservation solutions, we must step back and look at the broad range of influences onlocal resource use.56Redford 1992ESD 19943
Expanding the unit of analysis from the local to the global level reveals the extensive scaleon which biodiversity loss is occurring. Virtually everywhere, development today entailsbiodiversity loss. Successful and unsuccessful attempts to promote development are contributingto destruction and degradation of habitats, overharvesting, and loss of biodiversity around theglobe. The need for parks, as islands where the environment must be left alone, is a clearindication of the strength of the general trend toward altering natural environments. All otherareas are threatened by environmental change.These case studies must be open to grappling with the variety and complexity of factorsdriving biodiversity loss and the equally complex solutions that will be required. Their primaryobjective is to address these fundamental questions about the pervasive trend towardenvironmental change: What are the underlying socioeconomic forces and circumstances drivingbiodiversity loss?How are these root causes interlinked?What are possible responses to these forces and circumstances that could reducethe pressure on biodiversity?This paper focuses on ways to address the first two questions. Only when these two arewell answered for a particular site, can work on appropriate responses to the problem ofbiodiversity loss begin. Development of viable solutions will require the participation of a widerange of policymakers and stakeholders, which is beyond the immediate scope of these casestudies. However, the case studies can offer useful recommendations and directions for thoughtbased on a deep understanding of the root causes of biodiversity loss.The importance of biodiversity conservation has been clearly established; there is no needto further justify a study of biodiversity issues here. Certain assumptions about biodiversity aremade in this approach paper. They should also be adopted by the case studies, to ensure thatefforts are concentrated on understanding root causes of biodiversity loss. These fundamentalassumptions are:1.2.3.4.Biodiversity should be conserved.Biodiversity is best conserved in its natural habitat.Protected areas are an important component of biodiversity conservation.The area currently protected (both de facto and de jure) is insufficient to protectbiodiversity.5. Biodiversity conservation must be an integral part of natural resource use outside ofprotected areas.6. Current conditions–economic, political, social, cultural–generally do not favorbiodiversity conservation.Root Causes4
The root causes of biodiversity loss have been repeatedly enumerated, despite the shortageof substantial analysis of the impact of particular causes or of the linkages among causes. All listsof causes suggest the same group of socioeconomic factors.7 The categories used in this paper arebroadly inclusive of most of the proposed causes. These categories also reflect common divisionsand distinctions in the literature. Within each category a variety of theories, arguments, andstudies offer diverse explanations for environmental degradation, such as biodiversity loss. Fivecategories are used here: Demographic ChangeInequality and PovertyPublic Policies, Markets, and PoliticsMacroeconomic Policies and StructuresSocial Change and Development BiasesThis division into five separate causes is necessarily artificial–all of these factors areclosely interlinked and the relationships among them are complex. Moreover, they tend toreinforce each other. While one cause or another may predominate in a particular set ofcircumstances, many factors are often pushing in the same direction. Biodiversity loss is, for themost part, over-determined. In other words, in a particular location, all of these causes may be atwork, contributing to biodiversity loss separately or in conjunction with one another.These five root causes can be brought together under the common umbrella of thedevelopment model. Development as currently understood is defined by high levels ofconsumption and access to consumer goods, which require increasing resource consumption andtransformation. The economic, political, social, and cultural structures that shape our worldpromote resource consumption and transformation and recognize little value in biodiversity. Thecontribution of resource exploitation–logging, mining, agricultural expansion–to development iswidely accepted. The potential contribution of natural habitats and biodiversity is rarelyrecognized. Sustainability8 has not been part of development plans; the environment has beentreated as a virtually limitless source of resources and services. Socioeconomic forces andcircumstances often create incentives for activities that put pressure on biodiversity and createobstacles to changes in behavior that would reduce pressures on biodiversity. Conservation effortsare struggling in many places. Socioeconomic institutions, including, inter alia, markets, laws,political bodies, and social norms, favor expansion of the consumption-driven patterns ofdevelopment. They promote unsustainable resource consumption and degradation of ecosystemsby both the developed and developing countries of the world.Section III reviews these five likely root causes in light of the persistence of thisunsustainable approach to development, resource use, and biodiversity. An effort is made to drawout some of the many linkages among them. It will be the job of the case studies, however, to7See, for example, Barbier et al. 1994; WRI, IUCN, and UNEP 1992; McNeeley, et al. 1990; AsianDevelopment Bank, 1990.8WWF defines sustainable development as "improving the quality of human life while living within thecarrying capacity of supporting ecosystems."5
explore these causes and linkages in detail. The following section on methodology, Section II,suggests ways of understanding and describing the links between a variety of socioeconomicfactors and biodiversity loss.II.METHODOLOGYThis section provides some suggestions and direction for the case study methodology. Theprimary purpose of the case studies is to reveal the root causes of biodiversity loss at a particularsite and explore the mechanisms through which they work. To adequately understand rootcauses, an interdisciplinary approach must be developed. The approach must be able to revealsocioeconomic factors working across scales from local to global, and the mechanisms linking avariety of socioeconomic factors to biodiversity loss. It must be functional within severe datalimitations for both biological and socioeconomic indicators. The guidelines offered here point tosome methodological options and constraints. The eventual goal is to design policies to halt theloss of biodiversity, based on solid knowledge of the root causes.The existing literature on the socioeconomic causes of biodiversity loss does not present aclear, empirically verified picture of root causes. This literature is generally anecdotal rather thansystematic or analytical. Case studies have been carried out without regard for comparability.The framework of five possible causes presented here is intended to impart some continuityand comparability to these case studies. Comparative analysis of the various case studiesshould contribute to our understanding of the major causes of biodiversity loss around the world,and facilitate the design and implementation of appropriate solutions.Methodologies will vary from case study to case study. In fact, case studies will provide away to explore various approaches to revealing and confirming the root causes. The commonthreads will be the multi-level character of analysis and the development of conceptualmodels. Each case study will begin at the local level, where biodiversit
iii C. Public Policies, Markets, and Politics: National Issues 57 Policy Failures 57 Agricultural and Colonization Policies 59 Market Failures and Valuation 61 Valuing Biodiversity 62 Short-Term Views 64 Politics: Underlying Causes of Policy and Market Failures 64 Allocation of Resources and Costs 65 Short-term Views 68 Breakdown of Traditional Institutions 69
Biodiversity and agriculture are strongly interrelated. Biodiversity is critical for agriculture whilst agriculture also contributes to conservation and sustainable management of biodiversity. Indeed, Integrated Farm Management both promotes and is enhanced by biodiversity. The protection, maintenance and enhancement of biodiversity is .
root causes and their complexity. In December 2015, the eighth annual High Commissioner's Dialogue on Protection Challenges focused on the theme 'Understanding and addressing root causes of displacement'.1 Those gathered acknowledged the need for the international community to prioritise prevention and to address root causes. This would .
Lines 1233 and 2070 in Fig. 1(a) are the root causes, while the treatments in Fig. 1(b) are lines 1232, 2033, 2034, 2039, and 2072. studied several hundreds of bug xes and observed that many xes themselves actually hint at possible locations of the root causes (e.g., the xed program elements are located close to the root causes).
A root cause analysis is the process of analyzing failures down to their root causes, which can include but is not limited to physical causes, human causes, and latent causes of the failure. In the GE Digital APM system, elements of a Root Cause analysis store all the information necessary for
Table 2 summarizes the root causes identified by the railway safety expert for three representative accidents. These accidents have been chosen among the 20 others because of the involvement of the human and the organisation in the main causes of the accidents. As a result of the expert review, root causes have been sorted into three main causes'
8 The impact of school academic quality on low socioeconomic status students Introduction One of the enduring goals of Australian social policy is to improve the educational outcomes of students from lower socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds.1 The relationship between individual socioeconomic disadvantage and academic outcomes is well
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Introduction Origami is the art of folding 2D materials, such as a flat sheet of paper, into 3D objects with desired shapes. Since early 1980s, origami has evolved into a fertile scientific field connecting diverse disciplines, creating an
