Large-scale infrastructure investments in Latin American countries threaten efforts to protect tropical forests and mitigate climate change, according to a new analysis published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
When Guatemala created a major reserve 30 years ago, environmentalists complained that too much land was entrusted to local people and not converted to parks. Now, community-run lands are more well preserved than parks.
To keep malaria from becoming an even bigger threat, the authors call for better monitoring of mosquito populations, land planning, and income generation schemes for forest-dwelling communities.
