Geography & Environment Publications
Beyond Peasant Deforestation: Environment and Development in Rural Jamaica
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
12-2000
Volume
10
Issue
4
Journal
Global Environmental Change
First Page
299
Last Page
305
URL with Digital Object Identifier
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0959-3780(00)00036-4
Abstract
Jamaica is experiencing one of the highest rates of deforestation in the world, with severe environmental consequences attendant to the loss of its forests. It is also plagued by high levels of poverty, particularly in rural areas. As throughout much of the tropics, impoverished peasant farmers are blamed as the primary agents in Jamaica's forest colonisation. Employing a case study in the Blue Mountains, this paper explores the discord that exists between forest conservation and the development priorities of poor farmers, arguing that this unsustainable dichotomy can only be understood by acknowledging the political economy which constrains peasant agriculture.
Notes
Dr. Tony Weis was not yet affiliated with The University of Western Ontario at the time of publication.