The environmental effects of social inequality in tropical agricultural landscapes

Land use policies, especially in the tropics, are frequently seen as facing three insoluble problems: 1) low or inefficient agricultural production which leads to 2) clearing of natural habitat for more farmland which leads to 3) loss of biodiversity.  The solution to this three-part dilemma is most often seen by going backwards, so to speak: 1) we can stem the loss of biodiversity if we 2) stop farmers from clearing natural habitat which we can do if we 3) intensify agricultural production.  The seemingly inescapable conclusion is that increasing agricultural intensification is the main solution to the problem of biodiversity loss.  We argue that this seemingly impeccable framework is wrong from the start and that a more realistic framing suggests a view of conservation that is distinct from more traditional forms.  In our view, this more realistic framing must acknowledge the conservation consequences of the agricultural matrix and related social inequalities in a landscape framework.