Unexpected Interactions between Agricultural and Forest Sectors through International Trade: Wood Pallets and Agricultural Exports in Costa Rica

Isaline Jadin,Patrick Meyfroidt,Eric Lambin,Juan Zamora Pereira

doi:10.3390/land6010001

Abstract

International market forces have played an increasingly important role in shaping land use dynamics through complex supply chains. In Costa Rica, the shift from a net loss to a net gain in forest cover was facilitated by forest plantations and the replacement of extensive cropland and pastures by export-oriented, high-yielding crops. However, agricultural intensification generated several feedbacks affecting forests. We analyzed the interactions between Costa Rica’s agricultural and forestry sectors associated with the use of wood pallets for commodity exports over 1985–2013. Wood pallets for growing agricultural exports created a demand for domestic tree plantations. The annual land demand for tree plantations to produce these wood pallets increased by 669%, reaching 17,606 ha in 2013 and representing 28% of the increase in demand for cropland for agricultural exports over 1994–2013. Wood supplied from plantations failed to fully substitute for wood from natural forests, only allowing for a relative substitution and preventing a major sparing of these forests. The dominant use of wood from plantations for production of low-value pallets de-incentivized investments in sustainable plantations. We showed that, beyond the typical interactions between agriculture and forestry through direct competition for land, international trade generated unexpected feedback where agricultural activities and supply chains affected forestry by triggering new demand and profound changes in forestry management. Land systems behave as complex systems, calling for integrated approaches to study the outcomes of forest conservation, reforestation programs, and development of land-based businesses.

Highlights

Agricultural activities have usually interacted with forests and the forestry sector at local, regional and national scales, in particular through competition for land
These interviews consisted of a series of open and closed questions adapted to each interlocutor and aimed to gather both quantitative and qualitative information on: (i) domestic production and trade of wood; (ii) domestic production and consumption, and trade of wood pallets; (iii) supply and value chains of wood pallets; (iv) establishment, management, and productivity of forest plantations; (v) use of wood pallets, including the volume and weight of agricultural products that can be loaded on one pallet
As a result of international trade, the development of a more intensive export-oriented agriculture led to unexpected feedback to the forestry sector and the land use dynamics of the country

Summary

Introduction

Agricultural activities have usually interacted with forests and the forestry sector at local, regional and national scales, in particular through competition for land. Forestry activities are often a precursor of agricultural expansion, as the opening of previously inaccessible and undisturbed forests through the construction or improvement of logging roads has facilitated the clearing of land for ranching or cultivation [1,2,3]. More than 80% of the agricultural expansion that occurred in tropical regions over 1980–2000 came at the expense of forests [4]. In 2000–2010, a large part of agricultural expansion in Latin America occurred in forests [5]. Agricultural intensification can help relieve pressure on forests by releasing land while maintaining the same level of production [9,10]

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