Deforestation in the Southern Yucatán: Recent Trends, Their Causes, and Policy Implications

This book explores recent trends in deforestation in the Southern Yucatán (SY) of Mexico. Our main empirical finding is that in recent years the expansion of pasture for cattle has driven net forest loss, i.e. deforestation, in the area we studied in the SY. The story that emerges from modeling results and other evidence is one in which behavior is driven by the interplay of incentives, underlying constraints, a lack of alternative opportunities, government inducements, and household preferences ? including risk aversion. Cattle ranching reduces risk and vulnerability. Cattle are more robust to climatic extremes and serve as a savings mechanism for people without easy access to banks. Cattle ranching, which uses relatively more land and less labor than crop cultivation, also fits well with the resource constraints of small household farmers in the SY who hold land in relative abundance. Finally, for many years cattle ranching has received substantial government support in the form of credits and subsidies. The last part of the book explores policy implications of the behavioral findings with an emphasis on options for mitigating climate change.