Central American countries have experienced cycles of deforestation and reforestation since the decline of Maya civilization, influenced by many factors such as population growth, agriculture, narcotic distribution and illegal practices. From 2001 to 2010, of forest were lost in the region. In 2010 Belize had 63% of remaining forest cover, Costa Rica 46%, Panama 45%, Honduras 41%, Guatemala 37%, Nicaragua 29%, and El Salvador 21%. Most of the loss occurred in the moist forest biome, with 12,201 square kilometers. Woody vegetation loss was partially set off by a plus in the coniferous forest biome with 4,730 km2, and at 2,054 km2. Mangroves and deserts contributed only 1% to the loss in forest vegetation. The bulk of the deforestation was located at the Caribbean slopes of Nicaragua with a minus of 8,574 square kilometers of forest lost in the period from 2001 to 2010. The most significant regrowth of 3,050 km2 of forest was seen in the coniferous woody vegetation of Honduras.Daniel J. Redo, H. Ricardo Grau, T. Mitchell Aide, and Matthew L. Clark. Asymmetric forest transition driven by the interaction of socioeconomic development and environmental heterogeneity in Central America in: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. June 5, 2012; 109(23): 8839–8844.
History Deforestation in Central America is one of the environmental problems that is linked to the settlement of agrarian frontier areas by land-seeking farmers and commercial agrarians, who facilitated the conversion of forest land to pasture, more expansion of cash crop like coffee, banana, logging activities, pasture and fuelwoods among other urbanization activities. The central American region experienced the highest rate of deforestation in the world between the 1960s to 1970s. The so-called "hamburger connection" has been the leading cause of deforestation in the region, with more settlers concentrating on clearing the land for cattle ranching and commercialization activities. Moreover, various research statistics provide that approximately 949,150 acres of forest, in which equals to 384,107.377 ha of forest, were lost each year between 1990 and 2010 in the United States. According to Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), central America lost an average of 285,000 ha of forest annually between 2000 and 2005. One of the most troubling observations made by the research team in the report is that in the past 15 years, the three largest remaining forest blocks in Central America have been decreased in size by more than 23 percent.
Fifteenth century
By the fifteenth century, intensive Mayan agriculture had significantly thinned the forests, but had not completely decimated them. Before Europeans arrived, forests covered 500,000 square kilometers – approximately 90% of the region. The arrival of the Spaniards caused a sharp decrease in population resulting from the highly contagious diseases introduced by the conquistadores. This reduction in human pressure gave much of the land that had been cleared for cultivation time to recover. Eventually, the forcing of "Europe's money economy on Latin America" created the demand for the exportation of primary products, which introduced the need for large amounts of cleared agricultural land to produce those products.Myers, Norman, and Richard Tucker. "Deforestation in Central America: Spanish Legacy and North American Consumers ." Environmental Review 11, no. 1 (1987): 55–71. While the cultivation of some exports such as indigo and cochineal dye worked harmoniously with the surrounding indigenous vegetation, other crops such as sugar required clear-cutting of land and mass quantities of firewood to fuel the refining process, which spurred rapid, destructive deforestation.
Eighteenth century to twentieth century
From the eighteenth to the twentieth century, mahogany exports for furniture became the major cause of forest exhaustion. The region experienced economic change in the nineteenth century through a "fuller integration in the world capitalist system". This, combined with conflict with Spain, put an even greater emphasis on plantation cropping. Throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Europe and North America have become the chief importers of the region's coffee and banana crops, thus putting increasing demand on the land to produce large quantities of these cash crops and perpetuating the clearing of more forest in an attempt to acquire more exploitable farmland.
Most recent
Most recently, as of the 1960s, cattle ranching has become the primary reason for land clearing. The lean grass-fed cattle produced by Central American ranches (as opposed to grain-fed cattle raised elsewhere in America) was perfectly suited for North American fast-food restaurants and this seemingly bottomless market has created the so-called "hamburger connection" which links "consumer lifestyles in North America with deforestation in Central America". This demonstrates how the developed world has had an indirect influence on the environment and landscape of developing countries.
In Central America, the deforestation rate also threatens the survival of iconic species such as jaguars, tapirs, and scarlet macaws.Conde, D. A. (2008). Road impact on deforestation and jaguar habitat loss in the Mayan Forest. Ecology PhD, Nicholas School of the Environment. Duke University. The white-lipped peccary, an important keystone species for Central American forests, is so endangered that it could soon become extinct in the area. White-lipped peccaries migrate in large herds in search of fruit and other food in large forest tracts, acting both as an indicator of forest health and connectivity and as a key prey species for jaguars.
Logging Logging is another factor that increases deforestation in multiple ways. Entry to the forest fringes by roads increases resource misuse, such as illegal logging and bush meat hunting. Though regulated logging is far less detrimental to the forest, uncontrolled logging is prevalent in developing countries due to the demand for timber to house growing populations, and the poor economic situation of those making their living from and in the forest itself. Furthermore, all forms of logging necessitate the building of roads, which generates easy access to those seeking new land to clear for agriculture. The use of wood as the primary fuel for cooking and heating is compounded by developing countries inability to pay high oil prices. As a result, the demand for firewood is "one of the most commonly cited causes of deforestation".Allen, Julia C., and Douglas F. Barnes. "The Causes of Deforestation in Developing Countries." Annals of the Association of American Geographers 75, no. 2 (1985): 163–184.
In Guatemala, because of agriculture and timber industries, 98 percent of the original rainforest was destroyed in this region. Huge areas of forest are, in most situations, lost only to destroy a few highly valued trees. There are permanent effects of the impact of this devastation: heavy machinery compacts soil and renders it more vulnerable to erosion.
Narco-deforestation The pervasion of the illegal drug trade throughout the region decimates forestland and is primarily fueled by demand for narcotics in North America. Honduras, Guatemala, and Nicaragua have suffered from some of the highest rates of deforestation in the world since 2000 and in 2005 these rates of forest loss began to accelerate, coinciding with an influx of drug trafficking activity. Following the election of Felipe Calderón in 2006 and the ignition of the Mexican drug war, many Mexican drug trafficking organizations (DTO) relocated their operations southward enticed by the porous borders, corruption, and weak public institutions characteristic of Guatemala and Honduras. The sparsely populated forested highlands in these countries harbor little state presence and offer perfect refuge for DTO's looking to evade interdiction.
Avocado trade in Mexico
Mexico's multi-billion dollar avocado industry has become a prime target for DTOs, which seize farms and clear protected woodlands to plant avocado groves. Cartel members have been known to show up unannounced, armed with automatic weapons and chainsaws. When locals protest that the area is protected from logging, they are held at gunpoint and ordered to keep quiet. The deforestation is not always obvious — loggers covertly trim back only the forest canopy, planting avocado trees in a hidden layer beneath. This practice increases greenhouse gas emissions as forests are thinned to make way for more orchards.
Illegal cattle ranching
One of the principal causes of deforestation has been determined to be large-scale illegal cattle ranching, much of it taking place within protected areas and indigenous territories. Often, this criminal activity is related to drug trafficking and money laundering. Corruption makes poor forest inhabitants less likely to formally engage in conservation, whether forced or voluntary. One interviewee clarified common knowledge among forest communities: the grossest environmental violations are committed by wealthy, politically-connected, narco-enriched elites.
The increased trafficking of cocaine through Guatemala and Honduras is correlated with a rise in the region's rate of forest loss. In the forests of eastern Honduras, the amount of newly detected deforestation is greater than 5.29 hectares while in Guatemala's Petén, extensive amounts of forest loss was matched by an unprecedented number of cocaine flows through the area. According to Dr. Kendra McSweeney from Ohio State University, the baseline rate of deforestation in the region of about 20 km2 per year has accelerated to 60 km2 per year under the narco-effect – a deforestation rate of around 10%. In 2011, the Río Plátano Biosphere Reserve in Honduras was designated as a "World Heritage in Danger" by UNESCO due to the striking degree of deforestation at the hands of narco-traffickers.
Mechanisms linked with narcotics and forest loss