Project description DEENESFRITPL A holistic approach to combat tropical deforestation Tropical deforestation is a pressing environmental issue, contributing significantly to climate change by releasing substantial carbon emissions into the atmosphere. The main drivers of deforestation in tropical regions are agricultural expansion and timber extraction. In this context, the ERC-funded INCLUDE project will take a novel approach, aiming to understand the complex interplay of technological, environmental, economic, and social factors that influence land use dynamics. By examining the role of governance structures and stakeholders' perspectives, this research endeavours to identify effective interventions to reduce deforestation and forest degradation. Focusing on the province of Salta in north-western Argentina, the project tackles high rates of land cover change while acknowledging the presence of indigenous and rural communities. Show the project objective Hide the project objective Objective Tropical deforestation is an important contributor to climate change, through the release of significant amounts of carbon in the atmosphere. The main proximate cause of deforestation in tropical regions is agricultural expansion, followed by timber extraction. The general objective of this research is to understand how the interaction of technological, environmental, economic and social factors influence land use dynamics, including household decisions, about agricultural expansion and resource extraction in sensitive tropical regions. More specific questions relate to the role of various governance structures, particularly those recognizing common property regimes of land tenure to indigenous and rural communities, and the deliberative evaluation about the opportunity of reforming such structures in order to reduce deforestation and forest degradation. Although such aspects have been addressed in a variety of contexts, the approach proposed here is novel as a) it explicitly models the interaction between institutional, environmental, technological and socio-economic factors at different spatio-temporal scales, b) it specifically focuses on the governance structures associated with different land tenure regimes through the lenses of Social Network Analysis (SNA), c) uses a Q-methodology framework to develop a participatory approach to study stakeholders’ perspectives and attitudes on the necessary governance interventions to prevent deforestation and forest degradation and d) it assesses the relationships between agricultural expansion, deforestation, governance structures and stakeholders’ attitudes, with particular attention to the sensitivity of household land use decisions and resource extraction. In order to meet the research objectives, this project will focus on the province of Salta in the dry Chaco in North-Western Argentina, a region characterized by high rates of land cover change and the presence of indigenous/rural communities. Fields of science social sciencessociologygovernancenatural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencessoil sciencesland-based treatmentnatural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencesatmospheric sciencesclimatologyclimatic changes Programme(s) H2020-EU.1.1. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC) Main Programme Topic(s) ERC-CoG-2015 - ERC Consolidator Grant Call for proposal ERC-2015-CoG See other projects for this call Funding Scheme ERC-COG - Consolidator Grant Host institution UNIVERSITAET BERN Net EU contribution € 1 596 376,81 Address HOCHSCHULSTRASSE 6 3012 Bern Switzerland See on map Region Schweiz/Suisse/Svizzera Espace Mittelland Bern / Berne Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Total cost € 1 596 376,81 Beneficiaries (3) Sort alphabetically Sort by Net EU contribution Expand all Collapse all UNIVERSITAET BERN Switzerland Net EU contribution € 1 596 376,81 Address HOCHSCHULSTRASSE 6 3012 Bern See on map Region Schweiz/Suisse/Svizzera Espace Mittelland Bern / Berne Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Total cost € 1 596 376,81 THE UNIVERSITY OF READING Participation ended United Kingdom Net EU contribution € 232 081,19 Address WHITEKNIGHTS CAMPUS WHITEKNIGHTS HOUSE RG6 6AH Reading See on map Region South East (England) Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Berkshire Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Total cost € 232 081,19 MODUL UNIVERSITY VIENNA GMBH Participation ended Austria Net EU contribution € 123 725,00 Address AM KAHLENBERG 1 1190 Wien See on map Region Ostösterreich Wien Wien Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Total cost € 123 725,00
