New article: The implications of remittances for agricultural land use and fuelwood collection: Evidence from the remaining forested landscapes in the Philippines

Migration and remittances can influence smallholder land use with potential implications on forest resource use through an impact on household income and household decisions on local activities. However, little attention has been paid in previous research to how remittances relate to changes in rural households' land use and their implications for forests. The authors use the data from 1,024 household surveys and an instrumental variable approach to investigate the impact of remittances on fuelwood use and on the area cultivated by perennials and cereals.

The findings of this study show that remittances positively influence the size of land planted by perennials and reduce households' reliance on fuelwood use. The study concludes that demographic policy measures should play a bigger role in Land Use, Land-use Change, and Forestry (LULUCF) negotiations than before. Moreover, global sustainability agendas such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) should recognize the impacts of migration on natural resources to help bridge the gap between developmental and environmental goals.

• Zhunusova E, Lippe M, Yang AL, Günter S (2021) The implications of remittances for agricultural land use and fuelwood collection: Evidence from the remaining forested landscapes in the Philippines. Environ Res Lett:in Press, DOI:10.1088/1748-9326/ac44c4

• Project:
  LaForeT