Objectives

At the end of this lesson, you should be able to:

1. understand the political, cultural, and economic history leading to tropical deforestation in Amazonia.
2. understand issues facing the major stakeholders in the Amazon.
3. understand the concern for such a large loss in biodiversity.
4.  understand the concepts of market and non-market valuation of ecosystems, benefit-cost analysis, and opportunity cost.
5. perform a benefit-cost analysis of clearing a plot of tropical forest in the Amazon, from the perspective of a peasant farmer, logger, and a conservation organization.
6. critically evaluate economic vs. ethical valuation of ecosystems.
7. appreciate the political, social, economic, and ecological complexity of tropical deforestation.
8. appreciate how difficult decisions must me made in the face of limited or nonexistent data.

TERMS: 

Read the case study linked to the title.

Questions to answer before class:

1. Who are the stakeholders involved in Amazonian deforestation, and what are the issues facing them?
2. What does opportunity cost mean and how does it apply to the valuation of land uses in this case?
3. How does the new view of ecological economics differ from traditional economic views?
   
4. How is "willingness to pay" being used to value ecosystems? What would you be willing to pay to ensure the protection of at least 10% of remaining tropical forests? A random 5-hectare plot in the middle of the Amazon forest?

Questions to answer and hand in the next week:

IV. QUESTIONS FOR FURTHER THOUGHT

1. Based on this simplified form of benefit-cost analysis, which land use option wins?
2. Evaluate the ways that peasant farmers, loggers, and conservation organizations approach land use. Which do you agree with? Is there room for peaceful coexistence in the Amazon, especially with the prospect of population growth?
3. Support or criticize the use of benefit-cost analysis as a means of economic planning and as a means of preventing environmental degradation.  Do you feel that species have intrinsic rights to exist? Can such existence values be incorporated into environmental policy?
4. Do you believe that citizens of tropical countries have the right to deforest the most biologically diverse communities on earth? Compare and contrast the economic and environmental issues of tropical deforestation with deforestation that occurred in the US and Europe over the last several hundreds of years.
5. John Terborgh, tropical ecologist at Duke University, asserts that in order to save tropical forests, citizens of industrial nations are going to have to pay developing countries. Do you agree? What are some ways that this might be done?
   

Biodiversity Value group work and discussion=10 pts.
Answers to "FURTHER THOUGHT" Questions=50 pts.

Discussion Grading Rubric:

FURTHER THOUGHT Assignment Grading:
Each of five questions is worth 10 points.
Late papers will lose 2 pts. for each day late.