Beyond peasant deforestation: environment and development in rural Jamaica

Jamaica is experiencing one of the highest rates of deforestation in the wo rld, with severe environmental consequences attendant to the loss of its fo rests. It is also plagued by high levels of poverty, particularly in rural areas. As throughout much of the tropics, impoverished peasant farmers are blamed as the primary agents in Jamaica's forest colonisation. Employing a case study in the Blue Mountains, this paper explores the discord that exis ts between forest conservation and the development priorities of poor farme rs. arguing that this unsustainable dichotomy can only be understood by ack nowledging the political economy which constrains peasant agriculture. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.