Migration and Environmental Change: tenure insecurity in a Zambian frontier

发展中世界的移徙是环境变化的一个重要力量。移徙者与其他移徙者和当地社区就获得资源-特别是粮食安全所需的土地资源-进行互动。土地权利（土地保有权）在影响移徙者与目的地资源和社区的互动方式以及由此产生的环境后果方面发挥着主要作用。这项研究审查了赞比亚森林砍伐与移民之间的联系，并侧重于便利获得土地的保有权安排。赞比亚是世界上森林砍伐率最高的国家之一，而且正在进行大量的移民，赞比亚提供了一个典型的例子，说明南部省的移民与环境退化有关。这项研究将审查东道社区的土地保有制度如何可能导致移徙者砍伐面积远大于当前耕作需要的森林。研究人员是一名人类学家和一名地理学家，他们将与赞比亚同事合作进行人种学研究，并将数据与卫星图像（时间序列）分析相结合，以衡量森林砍伐率，并将比较移民和非移民地区的森林砍伐率。在赞比亚为期七个月的密集实地考察中，研究人员将调查当地领导人分配给移民的土地保有权，以及移民对这一保有权过程的看法，以解释：1）移民的权利主张观念，以及他们为什么显然试图通过砍伐森林来获得土地权保障，2）权利主张、土地清理和对儿童未来的担忧相互交织，因为土地保有制度（涉及土地分配和继承）对目的地地区的移徙者和对原籍地的移徙者的作用不同。了解移徙与毁林之间联系的土地保有权方面，将提供关于发展中国家移徙如何改变环境的重要知识，并有助于目前开发将遥感与“实地”社会科学研究相结合的方法。研究的更广泛影响包括提高我们对发展中国家管理移徙的政策限制和机会的理解。由于所有社会都有关于财产权的规则，涉及移徙和发展的地方、国家和国际政策和条约将需要注意影响粮食和生计安全的资源获取安排。

Migration in the developing world is an important force in environmental change. Migrants interact with other migrants and with local communities over access to resources - in particular the land resources needed for food security. Rights in land (land tenure) play a primary role in affecting how migrants interact with destination resources and communities, and the resulting environmental consequences. This research examines the links between deforestation and migration in Zambia, and focuses on the tenure arrangements that facilitate land access. With one of the highest deforestation rates in the world and significant migration underway, Zambia provides a representative case where migration in Southern province is tied to environmental degradation. The research will examine how land tenure systems in host communities may lead migrants to clear areas of forest much larger than needed for immediate farming needs. The researchers, an anthropologist and a geographer, will collaborate with Zambian colleagues to conduct ethnographic research, and integrate the data with satellite imagery (time series) analysis in order to measure deforestation rates, and will compare deforestation rates between migrant and non-migrant areas. During seven months of intensive fieldwork in Zambia, the researchers will investigate the land tenure rights allocated to migrants by local leaders, and the perception of this tenure process among migrants, in order to explain: 1) notions of claim among migrants and why they apparently attempt to gain tenure security through deforestation, and 2) the intersection of claims, land clearing, and concerns about children's future, given that land tenure systems (involving land allocation and inheritance) work differently for migrants in the destination area than they did in the area of origin. Understanding the land tenure aspects of the migration - deforestation linkage will provide important knowledge on how migration in the developing world changes the environment, and to the ongoing development of methodologies that mix remote sensing with 'on the ground' social science research. Broader impacts of the research include improving our understanding of the policy constraints and opportunities for managing migration in the developing world. Because all societies have rules governing property rights, local, national and international policies and treaties involving migration and development will need to attend to resource access arrangements that impact food and livelihood security.