Reducing forest emissions in Southeast Asia: A review of drivers of land-use change and how payments for environmental services (PES) schemes can affect them

Abstract

Southeast Asia witnesses high rates of deforestation and forest degradation. Large-scale deforestation for agriculture (notably oil palm) is driven by international market demand. Small-scale deforestation is partly driven by: market opportunities for typical smallholder crops like rubber; land races to gain or secure property rights; and in marginalised, remote areas of the countries also by poverty and population growth. Forest degradation is primarily a consequence of logging activities, especially illegal logging, driven by high international demand for timber. Logging activities are concentrated in Papua New Guinea, but also occur in Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar and Cambodia.