Beyond blame: Migration's limited role in Madagascar's deforestation

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dc.creatorRakotonarivo, O. Sarobidy
dc.creatorMueller, Valerie
dc.creatorRakotoarisoa, Mirindra
dc.creatorRakoto Harison, Henintsoa
dc.creatorBell, Andrew Reid
dc.date2026-01
dc.date2026-03-10T20:55:25Z
dc.date2026-03-10T20:55:25Z
dc.date.accessioned2026-06-27T15:07:30Z
dc.descriptionWorldwide, more people are migrating to the forest frontier, significantly altering land use in smallholder farming communities, yet there is limited empirical evidence on the environmental impacts of this migration. The common assumption is that migrants disproportionately contribute to resource degradation. In this study, we investigate if migration drives deforestation in Madagascar, using national census data, global land cover datasets, and qualitative insights from drought-affected migrant-sending and forest-margin migrant-receiving areas. Quantitative analysis showed no evidence of spatial overlap between net positive in-migration and forest loss, and only a marginally significant negative relationship between in-migration and forest cover for extreme in-migration. The qualitative findings suggested that while in-migrants may sometimes access lands through clearing forestlands, they were no more likely than local people to clear land. These results challenge narratives of migrants as primary drivers of environmental degradation and highlight the need for a nuanced understanding of migration–environment interactions.
dc.identifierhttps://hdl.handle.net/10568/182040
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/123456789/95266
dc.languageen
dc.publisherWiley
dc.rightsOpen Access
dc.sourceRakotonarivo, O. Sarobidy; Mueller, Valerie; Rakotoarisoa, Mirindra; Rakoto Harison, Henintsoa; and Bell, Andrew Reid. 2026. Beyond blame: Migration's limited role in Madagascar's deforestation. Conservation Letters 19(1): e70018. https://doi.org/10.1111/con4.70018
dc.subjectmigration
dc.subjectdeforestation
dc.subjectland conservation
dc.subjectsmall-scale farming
dc.subjectsmallholders
dc.titleBeyond blame: Migration's limited role in Madagascar's deforestation
dc.typeJournal Article

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Instituto Internacional de Investigación sobre Políticas Alimentarias (IFPRI)