COVID-19 impacts on Amazon deforestation

We leverage spatial variation in the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic across Peru to examine its impacts on deforestation. We find that COVID-19 explains one-third of the increase in deforestation in 2020. We estimate that a 10 % increase in COVID-19 cases increases deforestation by 1.5 %. This imp...

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Main Authors: Jerico Fiestas-Flores, Minoru Higa, Javier G. Montoya-Zumaeta
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-06-01
Series:Trees, Forests and People
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666719325001141
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author Jerico Fiestas-Flores
Minoru Higa
Javier G. Montoya-Zumaeta
author_facet Jerico Fiestas-Flores
Minoru Higa
Javier G. Montoya-Zumaeta
author_sort Jerico Fiestas-Flores
collection DOAJ
description We leverage spatial variation in the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic across Peru to examine its impacts on deforestation. We find that COVID-19 explains one-third of the increase in deforestation in 2020. We estimate that a 10 % increase in COVID-19 cases increases deforestation by 1.5 %. This impact is exacerbated in districts with coca production or illegal mining. Pandemic-driven deforestation increased CO2 emissions by over 8 million tons, representing a social cost five times the national budget for forest management. These findings underscore the vulnerability of environmental monitoring and enforcement to external shocks in developing countries.
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spelling doaj-art-b4b32793ad02493cbff9b27dd6e0e4cd2025-08-20T02:05:13ZengElsevierTrees, Forests and People2666-71932025-06-012010088810.1016/j.tfp.2025.100888COVID-19 impacts on Amazon deforestationJerico Fiestas-Flores0Minoru Higa1Javier G. Montoya-Zumaeta2Institute for Environmental Planning (IUP), Leibniz University Hannover, Hannover D-30419, GermanySchool of Management, Universidad de los Andes, Carrera 1 18A -12, Bogota 111711, ColombiaCentre for Development and Environment (CDE), University of Bern, SwitzerlandWe leverage spatial variation in the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic across Peru to examine its impacts on deforestation. We find that COVID-19 explains one-third of the increase in deforestation in 2020. We estimate that a 10 % increase in COVID-19 cases increases deforestation by 1.5 %. This impact is exacerbated in districts with coca production or illegal mining. Pandemic-driven deforestation increased CO2 emissions by over 8 million tons, representing a social cost five times the national budget for forest management. These findings underscore the vulnerability of environmental monitoring and enforcement to external shocks in developing countries.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666719325001141Q23Q24Q28Q54
spellingShingle Jerico Fiestas-Flores
Minoru Higa
Javier G. Montoya-Zumaeta
COVID-19 impacts on Amazon deforestation
Trees, Forests and People
Q23
Q24
Q28
Q54
title COVID-19 impacts on Amazon deforestation
title_full COVID-19 impacts on Amazon deforestation
title_fullStr COVID-19 impacts on Amazon deforestation
title_full_unstemmed COVID-19 impacts on Amazon deforestation
title_short COVID-19 impacts on Amazon deforestation
title_sort covid 19 impacts on amazon deforestation
topic Q23
Q24
Q28
Q54
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666719325001141
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AT minoruhiga covid19impactsonamazondeforestation
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