Land-Use Changes in the Globalization Era

Land changes are, cumulatively, a major driver of global environmental change. I will discuss mechanisms through which economic globalization increasingly drives land use change. Global trade in agricultural and wood commodities amplify displacement, rebound, and cascade effects, which are weakening the ability of national land use policies to spare land for nature through land use zoning and agricultural intensification. Reconciling development with nature conservation requires better understanding land change as part of open systems with global-scale circulation of goods, people, and capital. I will discuss a few case studies to better understand under what conditions local land use policies are effective in decreasing - or even reverting – the rate of conversion of natural ecosystems.