ForestPolicy project

Tropical forests are rapidly disappearing. In the last 60 years, more than half of the tropical forests worldwide have been destroyed. The EU-funded FORESTPOLICY project will improve our understanding of the conditions under which supply chain policies can lead to better conservation and livelihoods in the tropics. Specifically, it examines whether company policies to stop sourcing products associated with deforestation have helped to slow forest clearing and encourage restoration. It then assesses whether environmental effectiveness comes at the cost of excluding poorer farmers or rather benefits local communities. Finally, it identifies why supply chain policies succeed or fail, examining the governance context in the production regions. The findings will support improved decision-making to help end deforestation.

Main objectives

Tropical forests are critical for human wellbeing through their contributions to climate stability, biodiversity conservation, food production, and rural livelihoods. Despite numerous global commitments to help conserve and restore tropical forests, these areas are disappearing faster than ever. The goal of this research is to provide major advancements in our understanding of the conditions under which forest-focused supply chain policies (FSPs), a form of voluntary environmental governance, can lead to improved conservation and livelihoods in the tropics. My proposal overcomes major methodological limitations of past work through four major innovations: i) a coordinated pan-tropical analysis of multiple forest-risk commodities, ii) simultaneous examination of conservation and livelihood outcomes, iii) a focus on mechanisms of impact, not just measures of impact, and iv) comparative study with triangulation across multiple scales and methods. I will examine the importance of four key contextual factors in determining FSP effectiveness: i) the degree of public sector involvement in the governance of land use behaviors in the target regions; ii) historical land use trends in the target regions; iii) supply chain arrangements for the targeted commodities; and iv) values of the targeted populations. Additionally, I examine how the type of implementation mechanism used (i.e. whether the firm immediately suspends non-compliant producers) interacts with these contextual factors in determining the effectiveness and equity of FSPs. By identifying the conditions under which different types of FSPs and related implementation mechanisms can deliver improved conservation and livelihood outcomes, the resulting analysis will provide urgently needed policy recommendations to companies and other policy makers for how to better tailor the design of FSPs to specific contexts.

Main results

In the proposed research, we aim to conduct replicated pan-tropical analysis of multiple forest-risk commodities across six hotspots of commodity-driven deforestation and reforestation in tropics, overcoming the geographical and methodological limitations of past work. To date only four studies have examined both the conservation and livelihood outcomes of FSPs. No paper has examined these outcomes in a dynamic setting. In the proposed research, we aim to assess tradeoffs and synergies between conservation and livelihood outcomes of FSPs over time. Despite many papers measuring the conservation or livelihood outcomes associated with FSPs (especially certifications), few studies have designed their research to answer the “how” and “why” questions underlying policy impacts. In the proposed research, we aim to fill this substantial gap in the literature by providing rigorous analysis of the causes of private policy success or failure with respect to conservation and livelihood outcomes. To disentangle directionality and mechanisms of impact and triangulate our findings, we use counterfactual analysis in a variety of contexts. Specifically, we combine experimental and quasi-experimental methods to measure impacts and identify mechanisms of impact within each case. We draw on heterogeneity and overlap across our focal regions and commodities to conduct comparative analysis to systematically assess the importance of contextual differences in key factors of interest.

ForestPolicy

Main objectives

Main results

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