Vol. 8 No. 2 (2017)
Research Article

GEOGRAPHICAL AND INDIVIDUAL DETERMINANTS OF RURAL OUTMIGRATION TO A TROPICAL FOREST PROTECTED AREA: THE MAYA BIOSPHERE RESERVE, GUATEMALA

David Lopez-Carr
University of California at Santa Barbara, Department of Geography, Santa Barbara, California, USA
Aracely Martinez
Universidad del Valle de Guatemala, Development Program, Guatemala City, Guatemala

Published 2017-01-01

Keywords

  • Migration,
  • conservation,
  • land use,
  • agriculture,
  • frontier settlement

How to Cite

Lopez-Carr, David, Aracely Martinez, Richard E. Bilsborrow, and Thomas M. Whitmore. 2017. “GEOGRAPHICAL AND INDIVIDUAL DETERMINANTS OF RURAL OUTMIGRATION TO A TROPICAL FOREST PROTECTED AREA: THE MAYA BIOSPHERE RESERVE, GUATEMALA”. European Journal of Geography 8 (2). https://www.eurogeojournal.eu/index.php/egj/article/view/291.

Abstract

Migration necessarily precedes deforestation in tropical agricultural frontiers. Therefore,
identifying individual, household and place characteristics (demographic, political, social,
economic, and ecological) related to this process is crucial for understanding the drivers of
tropical deforestation. This will in turn be useful for developing policies to reduce
deforestation, which cannot be approached only from the destination end since this ignores
the fundamental role played by migrant farmers advancing the agricultural frontier. This
paper uses data from surveys conducted in areas of high out-migration, much to the
agricultural frontier in northern Guatemala. Results suggest that larger family sizes, land
scarcity, soil degradation, poor access to markets, low education, and poverty are linked to
migration to the frontier in Guatemala.

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