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In this paper we address the often sterile and circular debates over relationships between poverty and deforestation. These debates revolve around questions of whether forest loss causes poverty or poverty contributes to forest encroachment, and questions of whether it is loss of access to forests or dependence on forest-based livelihoods that cause poverty. We suggest that a way beyond the impasse is to set such debates within the context of agrarian change. Livelihoods of those who live in or near forests depend considerably on a rapidly changing agriculture, yet agrarian contexts receive only background attention in popular, political and academic discourse over poverty and forests. Moreover, to the extent that agriculture is considered, little heed is paid to social, technical and economic change. We therefore address agriculture's changing relationships with the wider economy, otherwise referred to as the agrarian transition, and with the natural resource base on which it depends. The paper draws on the experience of Thailand to illustrate our key argument, and more specifically addresses the situation on the resource periphery through a look at the agriculture-forest interface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fifteen years after its implementation, the North American Free Trade Agreement has been subject to evaluations from different perspectives, including environmental assessments. According to the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC), results of these evaluations show that at the aggregate level, the environmental impacts of free trade are marginal. This article presents relationships between corn trade and environment through an ex post evaluation. I show a quantification of the land-use change and connections with deforestation and biodiversity loss in Mexico, as poor farmers expanded their agricultural activity into marginal forest and jungle areas to compensate for lost income. I also analyze the impact on land-use change in the United States resulting from increased corn exports to Mexico. Related Articles: Ibarrarán. 2007. 'Climate Change Research and Policy in Mexico: Implications for North American Security.' VanNijnatten. 2007. 'The Security and Prosperity Agreement as an 'Indicator Species' for the Emerging North American Environmental Regime.' Related Media: Annan. 2005. 'Message of Kofi Annan.' Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. 2005b. 'Ecosystems and Human Well-being.' Quince años después de su implementación, el TLCAN ha sido sujeto a muchos estudios desde diferentes perspectivas, incluyendo evaluaciones ambientales. De acuerdo con la Comisión para la Cooperación Ambiental (CCA), los resultados de estas evaluaciones muestran que a un nivel agregado los impactos ambientales del libre comercio son marginales. Este artículo presenta la relación entre el comercio de maíz y el medio ambiente a través de una evaluación ex post. Se muestra una cuantificación del cambio de uso de suelo y su conexión con la deforestación y la pérdida de biodiversidad en México; a medida que agricultores de escasos recursos expandieron sus actividades agrícolas hacia los márgenes de áreas con bosques y selvas para compensar pérdidas en su ingreso. También se analiza el impacto de un cambio en el uso de suelo en los Estados Unidos como resultado de un aumento en las exportaciones de maíz a México. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]