Innovations in conservation and development in Amazonian rainforest: endogenous community location and poverty traps

2019 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26245032
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (A)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Economic policy
• Research Institution: The University of Tokyo (2015-2019); University of Tsukuba (2014)
• Principal Investigator: Takasaki Yoshito 東京大学, 大学院経済学研究科(経済学部), 教授 (00334029)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2019-03-31
• Keywords: 開発経済学 / 貧困 / 熱帯雨林 / GIS / アマゾン

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The aim of this study is to conduct innovative interdisciplinary research on tropical forest conservation and development in the Peruvian Amazon by combining a largest-scale field research and remote sensing/GIS. Building on basin community census data covering 919 communities in 6 basins we had already collected, we conducted community and household surveys for about 4,000 households in 235 communities. Using remote sensing/GIS, we constructed various measures, such as forest cover, flood vulnerability, open water/inundated area, soil fertility, river network distance, and so forth. By combining these data, we conducted empirical analysis on a wide range of important interdisciplinary topics, leading to significant academic contributions. This study has extended to a leading interdisciplinary international collaborative project.

Free Research Field

開発経済学、実証ミクロ経済学、フィールド実験、資源経済学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

「熱帯雨林の保全と開発はどうしたら両立できるのか」という人類にとっての大きな課題に取り組んだ。実証分析（経済学）、フィールドリサーチ（地理学）、リモートセンシングという３つの研究群を有機的に統合し、これまでにないスケールで、革新的な学際的国際共同研究を実践した。導かれた多くの新しい知見は、アマゾン熱帯雨林の保全と開発のための政策立案・実践に極めて有益である。