Gender, Deliberation, and Natural Resource Governance: Experimental Evidence from Malawi
Tropical deforestation is estimated to cause about one-quarter of anthropogenic carbon emissions, the second largest source of greenhouse gas emissions after fossil fuel combustion. Deforestation is also catastrophic for the communities that depend on tree harvesting for the livelihoods and who suffer the consequences of natural disasters linked to deforestation (e.g., mudslides). Avoiding the over-harvesting of communal forests in Malawi and other developing countries is particularly difficult because community members face enormous incentives to over-harvest.