THE FOREST–HYDROLOGY–POVERTY NEXUS IN CENTRAL AMERICA: AN HEURISTIC ANALYSIS |
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Authors: | Andrew Nelson Kenneth M Chomitz |
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Institution: | (1) Centre for Computational Geography, School of Geography, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK;(2) Global Environment Monitoring Unit, JRC (Joint Research Centre of the European Commission), Ispra (VA), Italy;(3) Development Research Group, World Bank, 1818 H Street NW, Washington, DC 20433, USA |
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Abstract: | A ‘forest–hydrology–poverty nexus’ hypothesis asserts that deforestation in poor upland areas simultaneously threatens biodiversity
and increases the incidence of flooding, sedimentation and other damaging hydrological processes. This paper uses rough heuristics
to assess the applicability of this hypothesis to two montane forested countries in Central America: Guatemala and Honduras.
We do so by using simple rules of thumb to identify watersheds at greater risk of hydrologically significant land use change,
using information about land cover, slope, and watershed size. The location of these watersheds is compared to spatial maps
of poverty and forests. We find plausible evidence for a forest–biodiversity–poverty connection in Guatemala, and to a lesser
extent in Honduras. |
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Keywords: | forests Guatemala Honduras hydrology poverty spatial analysis watersheds |
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