Cattle ranching and deforestation in Colombia, the impact of conflict and uneven development

• In Event: 50662 - Section on Peace, War, and Social Conflict Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 4: Structure and Practice of Conflict

Abstract

In this paper I discuss how the peace agreement signed by the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC) and the Colombian Government in 2016 resulted in deforestation in areas once controlled by FARC. In my study I analyze how this deforestation is driven by the expansion of cattle ranching in those areas left by FARC and how this relationship is complicated by poverty and institutional presence. I found that areas once controlled by FARC are more likely to be deforested by the expansion of cattle ranching. Similarly, poorer areas and areas that fall within the limits of the Amazon region are more likely to be deforested.

Author

• Alvaro Torres, University of Tennessee-Knoxville