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This chapter examines the policy debate related to the links between forests and water in Central America and the approaches that policymakers and others have used to address the perceived problems, with emphasis on the siltation of large reservoirs. It shows how political, institutional, and technical factors have interacted to produce positive but sub-optimal results and offers suggestions for future initiatives. While the focus is on Central America, many of the arguments presented apply to other tropical regions. The next section provides a brief history of the debates surrounding catchment issues in Central America, followed by a summary of recent scientific literature on the physical and economic links between forests, climate, and water and sediment flows. Case histories of the El Cajon hydroelectric dam in Honduras, the Lempa River basin in El Salvador, the Panama Canal, and Hurricane Mitch, are then presented. These cases have many dimensions but this paper concentrates exclusively on the aspects related to off-farm hydrological effects; there is no attempt to evaluate the projects involved, which may well be justified on the grounds. In addition, the main focus is on forest cover.

International concern about illegal forestry activities has grown markedly. Asian, African, and European governments have held high-level regional conferences on Forest Law Enforcement and Governance (FLEG). Indonesia has signed path-breaking Memoranda of Understanding on illegal logging with the United Kingdom, China, and Norway. The Convention on Biological Diversity, the United Nations Forum on Forests, the International Tropical Timber Organisation, and the G8 have all issued forceful statements, and incorporated the issue in their work plans. The European Commission has committed itself to formulating a European FLEG Action Plan. Japan and Indonesia have initiated an Asian Forest Partnership, with a major focus on illegal logging. Global Witness, the Environmental Investigation Agency, Transparency International, Greenpeace, Global Forest Watch, and Friends of the Earth have raised public awareness about the problem.

This brief paper presents basic background information on decentralization in Bolivia and the role of municipal governments in forest management. Then it provides some possible lessons from the Bolivian experience for Central America. In concludes that decentralization opens new opportunities for local participation but does not gurantee that participation will occur or that benefits will be share more equitably. Informal power relations can be more important than formal changes in laws. Decentralisation's impact on the conservation of natural resources remains uncertain, with conflicting tendencies operating in both directions.

Determinants of low deforestation in Bolivia are analysed, based on the Bolivian experience and general deforestation literature, and lessons are drawn for other countries with low deforestation. Weak domestic demand for agricultural products and poor transportation infrastructure are the principal causes of low deforestation. Weak domestic demand is related to small population and low per capita income, and poor transportation infrastructure is a function of a country's low capacity for investment in infrastructure and political factors. Production for export plays an important role in deforestation in these contexts, and is influenced by policies such as road building, appreciated exchange rates and subsidies for commercial agriculture. Factors influencing land clearing by poor families are less relevant. Political and institutional factors deserve greater attention than they have received in previous deforestation literature.

Este documento examina até onde a América Latina avançou na busca de uma agricultura mais sustentável, e alguns fatores que explicam esse grau de avanço. Pretende-se efetuar um balanço global do quanto percorremos, quais são os obstáculos no caminho e até onde é realista pensar chegar. Por agricultura sustentável intende-se uma agricultura que permite alimentar e vestir toda a população com um cuto razoável, oferece um nível de vida aceitável para os que dependem do setor e degrada pouco a base dos recursos naturais. O documentao conclui que, em termos globais, o avanço em direçáo a uma agricultura mais sustentável foi mínimo. No entanto, esse panorama geral esconde o facto de que se progrediu bastante em temas e lugares específicos. O documento está dividido em seis seções. A primeira analisa as mudanças gerais quanto à segurança alimentar da população e as receitas da população rural. A segunda examina as tendências gerais quanto à degredação dos recursos naturais relacionados com a agricultura. A terceira, a quarta e a quinta analisam o avanço da agricultura sustentàvel quanto às politicas das intituições e à tecnologia respectivamente, e a sexta apresenta algumas conclusões fainais.

This article analyzes why it has been easier to promote some types of environmental policy reform in Latin America than others. It first looks at the main groups that might promote such reforms - developed country organizations, the urban middle class, groups that have direct material interests in reform, and movements for social justice. Then in looks at how the existing patterns of development in Latin America condition the prospects for reform, particular the region's great dependence on the exploitation of natural resources and the overall context of economic liberalization and structural adjustment. Finally, it examines how political factors, such as the degree of democratization favor or hinder environmental policy reform.

This study analyses seven factors used to explain the conversion of forest to pasture in Central America between 1979 and 1994: 1) favourable markets for livestock products; 2) subsidised credit and road construction; 3) land-tenure policies; 4) limited technological change in livestock production; 5) policies which reduce timber values; 6) reduced levels of political violence; and 7) characteristics specific to cattle which make conversion attractive. Deforestation rates in Central America declined in the 1980s, but remained high. After expanding rapidly, cattle population and pasture area have stagnated, although they continue to expand on the humid tropical frontier. Strong markets for beef and dairy products stimulated livestock expansion and deforestation in the 1960s and 1970s after which markets for livestock products became less favourable, which led to lower investment. During the 1960s and 1970s large government subsidies for cattle raising encouraged forest conversion. Since then credit subsidies have been reduced, but subsidised public road construction continues, causing widespread deforestation. Land speculation is another reason why pasture expansion has continued in agricultural frontier areas. There is little evidence that technological progress in livestock production reduces deforestation. Nor is it clear that removing policies which discriminate against forest production would have a major positive effect in this regard. The author proposes: 1) restrictions on road construction and livestock credit in agricultural frontier areas; 2) increased enforcement of land-use restrictions in protected areas; 3) the expansion of land rights for indigenous peoples; 4) stronger restrictions on the titling of natural lands by large landholders; 5) pilot efforts to establish local land taxes with higher rates for pasture and crop lands than for forest; and 6) economic incentives for secondary forest regeneration and research on pasture degradation in Central America.

This article analyzes why it has been easier to promote some types of environmental policy reform in Latin America than others. It first looks at the main groups that might promote such reforms - developed country organizations, the urban middle class, groups that have direct material interests in reform, and movements for social justice. Then in looks at how the existing patterns of development in Latin America condition the prospects for reform, particular the region's great dependence on the exploitation of natural resources and the overall context of economic liberalization and structural adjustment. Finally, it examines how political factors, such as the degree of democratization favor or hinder environmental policy reform.

Nicaragua's experience between 1979 and 1987 shows that using planning to achieve state centered accumulation is inappropriate for peripheral nations in transition. Peasant-based strategies, which make greater use of decentralised market mechanisms, are necessary. (Abstract amended)

In the 1980s, Nicaragua's Sandinista government faced armed mestizo and indigenous insurgencies in much of the nation's central and eastern region. After the Sandinistas lost the 1990 elections, the in-coming government signed peace agreements with the insurgents and facilitated their return to civilian life. With the war over, the Nicaraguan army greatly reduced its troop strength, leaving tens of thousands of people unemployed. Within a few years, however, many former insurgents and soldiers took up arms again for multiple and complex reasons. This paper examines how three groups that rearmed influenced forest conservation in the buffer zone of Nicaragua's Bosawas biosphere reserve between 1991 and 1999. The three groups were the Mestizo Northerm Front 3-80 (FN 3-80) and the Andres Castro United Forces (FUAC), and the Miskito YATAMA movement. The presence of these armed groups impeded the government from taking coercive action to remove farmers from the reserve's nucleus. It also limited the advance of cattle ranching. At times, the groups favored logging, at times they did not. The armed conflicts have tended to keep out prudent foreign investors and encourage the presence of smaller companies willing to take greater risks.

This chapter reviews Central America's experience with regional collaborative policy research efforts focusing on rural issues, with particular emphasis on natural resources issues. It first presents a historical description of these efforts. Regional rural policy research began with the institutions developed around the Central American Common Market in the 1960s and 1970s, then became heavily tainted by the region's military conflicts in the 1980s, and came under the predominant influence of CGIAR centres and international agencies in the 1990s. Some specific issues are examined, including the need for greater Central American control over the research agenda, stakeholder participation, the role of regional research coordinators, the quality of the research being conducted, the balance between primary and secondary research, and coordination between different regional initiatives. (DK)