High deforestation trajectories in Cambodia slowly transformed through economic land concession restrictions and strategic execution of REDD+ protected areas.

ABSTRACT: Protected Areas (PAs) are continuously being established in tropical forests in an effort to preserve biodiversity and reduce deforestation. It was recently demonstrated that PAs are more effective at reducing forest loss than unprotected control sites across southeast Asia. The voluntary REDD+ scheme offers a new framework for the protection of high deforestation landscapes, jurisdictions, and countries backed by international carbon finance. Here we analyzed the economic drivers of deforestation in Cambodia and the effectiveness of 3 REDD+ projects vs. adjacent protected areas. We find that Economic Land Concessions were a predominant driver of deforestation in Cambodia and influenced the trajectory of illegal forest conversion in PAs. Furthermore, REDD+ projects offer significantly more

SUBMITTER: Pauly M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9568659 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature