[{"command":"openDialog","selector":"#drupal-modal","settings":null,"data":"\u003Cdiv id=\u0022republish_modal_form\u0022\u003E\u003Cform class=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form ecl-form\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 action=\u0022\/en\/article\/modal\/9474\u0022 method=\u0022post\u0022 id=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 accept-charset=\u0022UTF-8\u0022\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHorizon articles can be republished for free under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence.\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EYou must give appropriate credit. We ask you to do this by:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 1) Using the original journalist\u0027s byline\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 2) Linking back to our original story\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 3) Using the following text in the footer: This article was originally published in \u003Ca href=\u0027#\u0027\u003EHorizon, the EU Research and Innovation magazine\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003ESee our full republication guidelines \u003Ca href=\u0027\/horizon-magazine\/republish-our-stories\u0027\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EHTML for this article, including the attribution and page view counter, is below:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022js-form-item form-item js-form-type-textarea form-item-body-content js-form-item-body-content ecl-form-group ecl-form-group--text-area form-no-label ecl-u-mv-m\u0022\u003E\n \n\u003Cdiv\u003E\n \u003Ctextarea data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 aria-describedby=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 id=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 name=\u0022body_content\u0022 rows=\u00225\u0022 cols=\u002260\u0022 class=\u0022form-textarea ecl-text-area\u0022\u003E\u003Ch2\u003EDeforestation cuts through community as well as biodiversity\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe second largest forest in South America after the Amazon rainforest is the Gran Chaco. Home to 9 million people and thousands of species, it is under intense pressure from deforestation.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EStretching across Argentina, Paraguay, Bolivia and Brazil, it has one of the highest rates of deforestation in the world. Since 1985, more than 140 000 square kilometres, about one fifth of the entire forest, has been cut down.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOccupying a vast region to the east of the Andes, unlike the Amazon rainforest, the Gran Chaco is semi-arid or dry. The population living there includes about 35 different groups of indigenous people. Hunter-gatherers by tradition, their livelihoods are closely entwined with the forest\u2019s future.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDr Valentina Bonifacio has been working as a researcher in the Gran Chaco forest for the past 15 years, and has experienced its rapid deforestation first-hand. Densely-wooded areas have been cleared and turned into agricultural land to grow highly-profitable soybean crops, and expanses of pastureland have given way to cattle raised for beef production.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018I really saw the Chaco disappearing and it\u0027s very scary to see how quickly a territory can change,\u2019 said Dr Bonifacio, associate professor at the Ca\u2019 Foscari University of Venice in Italy. \u2018If it continues to be deforested at the same rate, very soon the Chaco is not going to be a forest anymore.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDeforestation contributes to climate change by releasing significant amounts of carbon into the atmosphere, and threatens plant and animal survival. Several species in the Chaco, such as the South American jaguar and the screaming hairy armadillo, are disappearing. Deforestation also impacts the local communities that call the forest home.\u003Cbr\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cfigure role=\u0022group\u0022\u003E\n\u003Cimg alt=\u0022The Gran Chaco\u2019s dry thorn forests, cactus stands, palm savannas and a 100s of native species of animals are threatened by rampant deforestation. \u00a9 Michele Graziano Ceddia 2017\u0022 data-entity-type=\u0022file\u0022 data-entity-uuid=\u002207b7c3c5-bd1f-4d43-9cdc-c26a26201bb0\u0022 src=\u0022\/sites\/default\/files\/hm\/IMCEUpload\/michele_graziano_ceddia_2017.jpg\u0022\u003E\n\u003Cfigcaption class=\u0022tw-italic tw-mb-4\u0022\u003EThe Gran Chaco\u2019s dry thorn forests, cactus stands, palm savannas and a 100s of native species of animals are threatened by rampant deforestation. \u00a9 Michele Graziano Ceddia 2017\u003C\/figcaption\u003E\n\u003C\/figure\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EHuman impact\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/cordis.europa.eu\/project\/id\/846550\u0022\u003Elanloss\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;project, Dr Bonifacio is supervising Dr Tamar Blickstein who is investigating what the loss of the forest means to people living in the region.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESmall-scale farmers often experience feelings of grief as large commercial farms take over and droughts and extreme rainfall caused by clearing forested land makes it harder for them to carry on growing crops. Indigenous people are also impacted by the threat deforestation poses to their kinship networks embedded in the forest.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDuring fieldwork later this year, Dr Blickstein plans to use satellite maps of deforestation as a form of storytelling. One of her goals is to show these maps to people from different communities, such as indigenous people, small-hold farmers and settlers who are experiencing deforestation, to see how they react to it and to gather their opinions.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\u0022tw-text-center tw-text-blue tw-font-bold tw-text-2xl lg:tw-w-1\/2 tw-border-2 tw-border-blue tw-p-12 tw-my-8 lg:tw-m-12 lg:tw--ml-16 tw-float-left\u0022\u003E\n \u003Cspan class=\u0022tw-text-5xl tw-rotate-180\u0022\u003E\u201c\u003C\/span\u003E\n \u003Cp class=\u0022tw-font-serif tw-italic\u0022\u003EI really saw the Chaco disappearing and it\u0026#039;s very scary to see how quickly a territory can change. If it continues to be deforested at the same rate, very soon the Chaco is not going to be a forest anymore.\r\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cfooter\u003E\n \u003Ccite class=\u0022tw-not-italic tw-font-normal tw-text-sm tw-text-black\u0022\u003EDr Valentina Bonifacio, lanloss \u003C\/cite\u003E\n \u003C\/footer\u003E\n\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EShe might also use satellite images on a website to illustrate people\u2019s stories related to deforestation. \u2018I think it would be an interesting outcome to have people\u2019s subjective voices meshed in a storytelling process with these satellite data visuals to illuminate data that is quite abstract and quantitative,\u2019 she said. \u2018It would give it a human face and a human voice.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EPrevious research has typically focused on specific populations rather than examining different social groups together. Dr Blickstein hopes that her work will contribute to increasing awareness about deforestation in the Chaco and even help empower locals.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018Interpreting (satellite) data with communities in the field means that they learn how to use these maps and this kind of data,\u2019 said Dr Bonifacio. \u2018It might turn out to be useful to them.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EPower struggles\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIndigenous people that live in the Gran Chaco rely on the forest for food and materials. It is also fundamental to their culture.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018To them, the loss of the forest is nothing less than the end of the world,\u2019 said Dr Graziano Ceddia, assistant professor at the Centre for Development and Environment of the University of Bern in Switzerland.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAgricultural expansion drives deforestation, but the attitudes and aspirations of the different people involved is less clear. In the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/cordis.europa.eu\/project\/id\/681518\u0022\u003EINCLUDE project\u003C\/a\u003E, Dr Ceddia and his colleagues focused on better understanding the governance structures that underpin deforestation in the Chaco Salte\u00f1o, a part of the forest located in the province of Salta in north-western Argentina.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBringing to light the perspectives of indigenous people and small-scale farmers living in the region affected by capital-intensive agriculturalisation was equally important. Their views and needs are often ignored when land-use decisions are made and they typically miss out on economic gains. \u2018We wanted to give a voice to both of these marginalised groups who are paying most of the consequences of deforestation,\u2019 said Dr Ceddia.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOver the course of three years, Dr Ceddia and his colleagues talked to many different people in the region who have an interest in deforestation, such as academics, public administration and non-governmental organisations (NGO) employees, farmers and indigenous people.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\u0022tw-text-center tw-text-blue tw-font-bold tw-text-2xl lg:tw-w-1\/2 tw-border-2 tw-border-blue tw-p-12 tw-my-8 lg:tw-m-12 lg:tw--ml-16 tw-float-left\u0022\u003E\n \u003Cspan class=\u0022tw-text-5xl tw-rotate-180\u0022\u003E\u201c\u003C\/span\u003E\n \u003Cp class=\u0022tw-font-serif tw-italic\u0022\u003ETo (indigenous people), the loss of the forest is nothing less than the end of the world.\r\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cfooter\u003E\n \u003Ccite class=\u0022tw-not-italic tw-font-normal tw-text-sm tw-text-black\u0022\u003EDr Graziano Ceddia, INCLUDE \u003C\/cite\u003E\n \u003C\/footer\u003E\n\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOverall, they found that large-scale producers were in a better position to influence government policies related to deforestation compared to other groups. They also found that deforestation was perceived differently by different groups of people. Large-scale producers, for example, typically associated forested areas with poverty and agricultural expansion with development. On the other hand, farmers and indigenous people referred to forests as their homes and their lives.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFurthermore, Dr Ceddia and his colleagues found that land-use scenarios based on the views of indigenous people and farmers were more sustainable and environmentally just. Local farmers\u2019 organisations, for example, have helped develop a switch to modes of production that are less damaging to remaining forests.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EConversely, while looking more generally at tropical areas from Latin America to Southeast Asia, Dr Ceddia showed how cropland expansion, which contributes significantly to carbon emissions and biodiversity loss, is driven by investors. They choose to grow flex-crops such as oil palm, soy and sugar cane, since they have multiple uses, for example as food, fuel and animal feed. This means they are more likely to generate a profit compared to crops with a single use, often at the expense of the local people and the environment.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018Agriculture is not necessarily oriented to the production of food but simply as a branch of investment which has to generate a certain return on invested capital,\u2019 said Dr Ceddia.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EEnabling change\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAlthough research can provide information about the impact of deforestation, Dr Ceddia thinks that social activism is important to bring about change. He and his team found that laws to protect the forest were implemented more stringently in provinces of the Chaco in Argentina where indigenous people and small-scale farmers organised protests against deforestation.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAt the same time, in provinces where large-scale producers were better organised to protect their interests, deforestation laws were less strictly implemented. \u2018I think what is important for change is grassroot movements and people acting on the ground,\u2019 said Dr Ceddia. \u2018It brings hope to see that there are some scientists who are also taking action and becoming activists.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWatch the video\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ciframe allow=\u0022accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\u0022 allowfullscreen frameborder=\u00220\u0022 height=\u0022315\u0022 src=\u0022https:\/\/europa.eu\/webtools\/crs\/iframe\/?oriurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fembed%2FWPvJs80OyIk\u0022 title=\u0022YouTube video player\u0022 width=\u0022560\u0022\u003E\u003C\/iframe\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch5\u003EThe research in this article was funded by the EU\u2019s European Research Council and the Marie Sk\u0142odowska-Curie Actions (MSCA). 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