Department of Animal and Food Science, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, 08193, Spain.
Agroecology and Food Systems Chair, Universitat de Vic-Universitat Central de Catalunya, Vic, 08500, Spain.
Environ Manage. 2024 Jun;73(6):1231-1246. doi: 10.1007/s00267-024-01957-7. Epub 2024 Mar 8.
Deforestation is one of the most relevant transformations characterizing global environmental change in the tropics at present. There is wide consensus in pointing the context-dependent nature of tropical deforestation. In this sense, a better characterization of the phenomenon considering the social context could provide a more accurate picture of tropical deforestation. With this aim, a Q-methodology discourse analysis was conducted to characterise the different discourses that coexist in the particular region of the Paraguayan Chaco concerning the development of cattle ranching and derived deforestation. Four different discourses were identified as making sense the wide range of interests and values coexisting and clashing in the Paraguayan Chaco, namely: the Environmentalist discourse, the Business discourse, the Resigned discourse, and the Possibilist discourse. The results point that the fundamental differences between the discourses are largely explained by the different positions on three specific domains: (i) the socio-economic benefits the expansion of cattle ranching brings about; (ii) the environmental impacts the expansion of cattle ranching and the derived deforestation brings on; and, finally (iii) the degree to which an active intervention from the side of policy making to regulate the expansion of cattle ranching and to minimize possible detrimental effects is seen as necessary. The position of the different discourses in relation to these domains could help policy makers to make measures and regulations more widely accepted and followed.
森林砍伐是目前热带全球环境变化中最相关的转变之一。人们普遍认为热带森林砍伐具有语境依赖性。从这个意义上说，考虑到社会背景，更准确地描述这一现象，可以更准确地描绘热带森林砍伐的情况。为此，采用 Q 方法论话语分析，对巴拉圭查科地区有关养牛业发展和由此产生的森林砍伐的不同话语进行了特征描述。确定了四个不同的话语，这些话语使人们能够理解巴拉圭查科地区共存和冲突的广泛利益和价值观，即：环保主义者话语、商业话语、顺从话语和可能主义话语。研究结果表明，话语之间的根本差异主要是由三个特定领域的不同立场解释的：（i）养牛业扩张带来的社会经济效益；（ii）养牛业扩张和由此产生的森林砍伐带来的环境影响；最后（iii）从政策制定方面积极干预以规范养牛业扩张并尽量减少可能的不利影响的必要性程度。不同话语在这些领域的立场可以帮助政策制定者制定更广泛接受和遵循的措施和规定。
