Colombia’s transition to peace is enhancing coca-driven deforestation

Juan P. Mendoza*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to JournalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Forests cover 70% of the Colombian territory, which includes part of the Amazon. Recent studies have examined how the country’s tree cover dynamics are affected by coca cultivation and its internal armed conflict. In light of Colombia’s recent peace agreement, this study examines whether the impact of coca cultivation on forest loss is conditional on the conflict (i.e. whether the impact varies across different levels of conflict intensity). This conditional association is supported by a state-of-the-art spatial panel data analysis, covering the entire territory throughout 2006–2019. As the conflict becomes less intense, each hectare of coca is associated with a larger extension of forest loss.

Original languageEnglish
Article number104071
Pages (from-to)1-9
Number of pages9
JournalEnvironmental Research Letters
Volume15
Issue number10
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Oct 2020

Keywords

  • Armed conflict
  • Coca cultivation
  • Colombia
  • Deforestation
  • Transition to peace

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