Small Farms May Be
Better For Tropical Forests Than Intensive
Agriculture
By Roberta Kwok
Instead of encouraging intensive agriculture
in the tropics, conservationists should work
toward building a network of small and
sustainable farms, researchers argue.
The team’s paper casts doubt on a concept
called the “forest transition model.” Under
this model, more productive farms that take
up less space would leave more habitat for
conservation. As the area becomes more
industrialized, the movement of rural
farmers to cities would decrease
deforestation and allow ecosystems to
recover.
But recent studies don’t bear out those
conclusions, the authors say.
In Costa Rica, for example, a move toward
intensified agriculture and
industrialization has not produced the
expected slowdown in deforestation.
Studies of El Salvador, Panama, Argentina,
and Mexico also failed to confirm the
model’s predictions.
And some researchers note that intensive
farming methods are likely to increase
profits, prompting even more agricultural
development.
Instead, tropical countries should create a
“matrix” containing family-owned farms that
allows species to migrate between patches,
the authors write in the Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences. Sustainable
practices would probably be more common
among these small-scale operations, they
argue, and would help maintain a habitable
landscape. While it’s often assumed that
small farms are inefficient, some research
suggests that they can be even more
productive than their larger counterparts.
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