Democracy, political instability and tropical deforestation

The alarming rate of depletion of tropical forests and the economic, social, and environmental implications are serious issues facing the world. Very prominent among the myriad factors at play is the political environment within these tropical countries. This study therefore investigates to what extent the rate of tropical deforestation is exacerbated by the democratic/non-democratic nature of the governments in power. We construct a democracy index variable for fifty-five countries across the four regions of the tropical world. The average annual deforestation from 1981-85, is compared to the democracy index variable. We find a strong negative correlation between the level of democracy and the rate of tropical forest exploitation. The global policy implications of this finding are outlined. Copyright (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.