Global study of the correlation between deforestation and living conditions

The project aims to examine the complex relationship between use of natural resources and changes in living conditions in low- and middle-income countries. The focus is on deforestation, which is most extensive in tropical regions, and the second-largest source of greenhouse gas emissions.

Deforestation also poses a threat to biodiversity and has a number of other negative environmental effects.

It also impacts people’s living conditions. In many cases the use of forest resources and increased access to grazing and agricultural land represent some of the few available means of avoiding poverty. In other cases the availability of economic and technical resources causes large scale deforestation.

Since the data are geographically coded, the researchers can study conditions at local level, where deforestation actually occurs. Based on earlier research and the project team’s own preliminary study, they expect their findings to vary from one region to another. The next step they intend to take is to analyze the reasons for that variation and then predict areas where the risk of future deforestation is high.

Stopping the ongoing process of global deforestation is an essential environmental goal. Improving people’s living conditions is another key objective, and in many cases an individual aspiration. The researchers believe these goals will only be achieved if we can understand how people who live in deforested areas are impacted and how they react to deforestation.