Population mobility and land fragmentation: land use-cover change in Brazil and Guatemala

In the agricultural frontier, land fragmentation has the potential to reduce property sizes, change the demographic characteristics of rural populations and influence decision making on land use-cover change. The study objective is to explore the connection between fragmentation and population mobility from the household and land unit perspective. We aim towards a better understanding of land fragmentation process and discuss its implications on land use-cover change in two distinct contexts: Santarém city in the Brazilian Amazon and the Sierra del Lacandón National Park (SLNP) in Guatemala. Based on survey data incorporating sociodemographic and environmental information, the analysis will compare the role of household demographic factors such as the out-migration of the second generation in influencing property fragmentation. In Santarém, 311 properties were sampled in 2003 and 2009; in the SLNP 186 properties were sampled in 1998 and 2009. The comparison between the areas informs how the two contexts can lead to similar changes. Fragmentation is not a simple, one-dimensional process: its location and setting have an important role in impacting household livelihoods and land use outcomes. Improving knowledge about this phenomenon will assist in policy creation related to rural population, food security and forest conservation