Reciprocal agreements for water: An environmental management revolution in the Santa Cruz valleys
Deforestation and cattle-grazing—a tragedy of commons exacerbated by climate change—are changing the Santa Cruz valleys
Abstract
Deforestation and cattle-grazing—a tragedy of commons exacerbated by climate change—are changing the Santa Cruz valleys
The upland forests of the Santa Cruz valleys are also increasingly threatened by illegal land incursions. Encouraged by farmers’ unions and local leaders, landless migrants from the altiplano are entering the region to clear water-producing cloud forests for agriculture. Deforestation and forest degradation in the Mosqueras and Vilcas watersheds of Cruceño Valleys increased by almost 500% between 1986 and 2004, while downstream flooding over the same period caused $250 million in damages. In 2006, floods in the lower Rio Grande destroyed more than 250,000 acres of soy and other crops.
Citation
Asquith, N., Reciprocal agreements for water: An environmental management revolution in the Santa Cruz valleys., Harvard Review Of Latin America, vol. 2011, pp.58-60, 2011
Links
Reciprocal agreements for water: An environmental management revolution in the Santa Cruz valleys