Land Tenure Security and Deforestation: Experimental Evidence from Uganda
Sarah Walker, Jennifer Alix-Garcia, Anne Bartlett, Alice Calder
We conduct a framed field experiment with Ugandan forest users to elucidate the impact of land tenure security on deforestation. One-third of participants faced a threat of eviction, one-third had the option to secure tenure through costly certification, and one-third faced secure tenure. The results show that insecure tenure increases tree extraction by 23%, while certification reduces that effect by half. The conservation effects of certification are intensified for participants with a lived experience of land tenure insecurity. Our findings demonstrate that land certification can improve environmental outcomes and that these effects may be amplified by historical legacies of insecurity.
Event: World Bank Land Conference 2024 - Washington
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