Paths of Destruction and Regeneration: Globalization and Forests in the Tropics *

Globalization has spatially and temporally varied effects on forest cover in the tropics. It destroys primary forests (first nature) in some places at the same time that it creates secondary and scrub growth (second nature) in other places. In any one region, globalization first destroys forest and then induces some regrowth. It also contributes to the emergence of persistent rural poverty in tropical regions. Although forest destruction and regeneration would appear to have mutually offsetting environmental effects, the first effect is stronger than the second, so globalization exerts a negative net influence on biodiversity conservation and carbon sequestration. Case studies of change in forest cover in southeast Asia and west Africa illustrate these processes.