The Forest-Hydrology-PovertyNexus in Central America: An Heuristic Analysis

Nelson, Andrew ; Chomitz, Kenneth M.

World Bank, Washington, D.C.

关键词: AGRICULTURE;    AMAZON;    BASIN;    BASIN DISCHARGE;    BIODIVERSITY;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-3430
RP-ID  :  WPS3430

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

A "forest-hydrology-povertynexus" hypothesis asserts that deforestation in poorupland areas simultaneously threatens biodiversity andincreases the incidence of flooding, sedimentation, andother damaging hydrological processes. The authors use roughheuristics to assess the applicability of this hypothesis toCentral America. They do so by using a simple rule of thumbto identify watersheds at greater risk of hydrologicallysignificant land use change: these are watersheds wherethere is a relatively large interface between agricultureand forest, and where this interface is on a steep slope.The authors compare the location of these watersheds withspatial maps of poverty and forests (for Guatemala andHonduras) and with maps of population and forests (forCentral America at large). The analysis is performed forwatersheds defined at different scales. The authors findplausible evidence for a forest-biodiversity-povertyconnection in Guatemala, and to a lesser extent in Honduras.In the rest of Central America, there are relatively fewareas where forest meets agriculture on steep slopes-eitherthe forest or the slopes are lacking. And the ratio of theseforest/agriculture/hillside interfaces to watershed areadeclines markedly as larger-scale watersheds are considered.This directs attention to relatively small watersheds forfurther investigation of the "nexus."