Rural-urban migration: challenges and opportunities for conservation in Latin America

GRAU, HR; AIDE, TM

Merida, Mexico

Congreso; Ecology in an Era of Globalization; 2006

Ecological Society of America

Rural-urban migration is one of the most important ongoing processes of human population dynamics.  Rural-urban migration is likely to increase in the coming decades, particularly in Latin America due to intensification of agriculture in the most productive soils, increasing job opportunities in urban areas, and the internationalization of job markets.  In Latin America, a region characterized by high levels of biodiversity, this demographic trend will have major implications for conservation; however, the ecological consequences of rural-urban migration have received little attention outside the developed world.  Most research on land use and land cover change has focused on the causes of deforestation (e.g. agriculture expansion, timber extraction, infrastructure development) and its ecological consequences: carbon emissions, fragmentation, and biodiversity loss.  Although deforestation is still an important process, in areas with rural-urban migration, ecosystem recovery can be common on abandonment agriculture or grazing lands. The worldwide trend of rural-urban migration is frequently associated with “forest transition”.  “Forest transition” or more generally, ecosystem recovery, occurs when an economy shifts from predominantly agriculture toward industry and services.  For example, between 1990 and 2000 forest area expanded in more than 50 countries, mainly in Europe and North America.  In Latin America the human population is becoming more urban, and there is evidence of ecosystem recovery.  Puerto Rico is a dramatic example of rural-urban migration, agriculture abandonment, and forest recovery, but many have argued that Puerto Rico’s unique relationship with the United States does not reflect the reality of other Latin American countries.  Although this may have been true 50 years ago when the process was initiated in Puerto Rico, the present day globalization process is having similar impacts on many regions of Latin America. For example, rural-urban migration and ecosystem recovery have been reported for tropical forests in Brazil, Ecuador, and Honduras; subtropical montane forests in Dominican Republic and Argentina; dry savannas in Argentina, Paraguay and Bolivia; Andean highlands; and temperate forests in Patagonia.  The combination of decreasing agriculture jobs, increasing urban jobs, and the increase in transnational migration should result in extensive land abandonment throughout Latin America, but the degree of ecosystem recovery will depend greatly on the barriers to regeneration.   These important processes need to be better understood and communicated to policymakers so that land use and conservation policies are modified to reflect the changes that are occurring in Latin America. In Latin America, high rates of rural-urban migration are projected to continue over the next 50 years, yet there has not been a comprehensive assessment of the impacts of this demographic process. At the same time, the human population continues to grow and per capita caloric intact (i.e. food production) is increasing.  How will these different processes interact and affect natural ecosystems in a region with some of the highest levels of biodiversity in the world? As a starting point for the workshop the co-coordinators will present a recent analysis that compares the demographic changes in >15,000 municipalities with changes in biomass between 1980-2000 based on NDVI data for all of Latin America. The major activity of the workshop will be to evaluate this demographic/biomass change map, focusing on the local expertise and experience of the workshop participants. In addition, the workshop participants will discuss: -        How to better understand, monitor, and model the relationship between demographic dynamics and land use/land cover change, -        Conservation strategies that better integrate present day socioeconomic changes -        How to assess the ecological implications of current population and land use policies in rural areas -        Barriers for ecosystem recovery, and restoration practices to overcome these barriers. The specific products of the workshop will be: -        A demographic/ biomass change map that identifies regions of rapid change -        The establishment of working groups for different countries/regions of Latin America to address research problems identified in the workshop -        The final product will be an edited book, “Rural-urban migration: challenges and opportunities for conservation in Latin America”.  A major goal of the book will be to influence land use and conservation policies, and provide concrete suggestion for managers and policy makers.