Identifying drivers of forest clearances in Switzerland

Abstract

Deforestation is prohibited in Switzerland, as in most European countries. Nevertheless, exemptions from the ban on forest clearing may be granted, mostly for infrastructure purposes. However, surprisingly little is known about the drivers of deforestation outside of the tropics and developing countries. In this paper, we present results from a spatial econometric analysis of the drivers of forest clearances in Switzerland between 2001 and 2017. The analysis is based on a complete data set on forest clearances, which are defined as land-use and not just land-cover changes. We observe that landscape metrics are pertinent predictors of forest clearances in Switzerland. Unlike common findings on drivers of deforestation in the tropics, in Switzerland, (1) variables related to agriculture exhibited no explanatory power, (2) we found a positive effect of altitude on forest clearances in the Alps, and (3) a negative effect of the population density. We close by critically reviewing our results with regard to the use of spatial and non-spatial regression methods used in the analysis.