Presentation short abstract

To better understand the relationships between past and current land dynamics, we explore an ongoing agroforestry project in an Ecuadorian conservation frontier, exploring how land dynamics stemming from the creation of an ecological reserve go on to impact farmers’ participation in the project.

Presentation long abstract

The creation of protected areas has long been a staple of global conservation policy, often accompanied by profound impacts on local communities and land dynamics. In some cases, the creation of such spaces results in “conservation frontiers” where ecological and human interests are co-evolving and sometimes conflicting. To understand how the land dynamics behind these conservation frontiers impact new conservation strategies, we focus on the case of Ecuador’s Mache-Chindul Ecological Reserve, a reserve established in the 1990s atop existing agricultural communities. In and around this Reserve, an initiative is underway to increase smallholder farmers’ cultivation of cacao in agroforestry systems with hopes of improving livelihoods, improving conservation outcomes within the Reserve, and expanding a form of conservation outside of the Reserve. While other research from this area explores the complex land dynamics which have influenced conventional cacao cultivation and by extension deforestation within the Reserve, we seek to understand how these same land dynamics are now influencing participation in this agroforestry initiative. We employ a methodology rooted in interviews and focus groups with farmers inside and outside of the Reserve. These methods result in a holistic understanding of farmers’ varied and evolving relationships with their land, drawing a throughline between the creation of the Reserve, the ways it impacted livelihoods and land dynamics, and the present ways that smallholders perceive this agroforestry initiative. Our findings have implications for the broader Green Transition, highlighting the temporal interconnectedness of “green” projects and the ways they may shape local contexts and land dynamics.