Population and the environment: a cross-country exploration of deforestation in low income countries.

In this paper we explore linkages between population growth and environmental degradation in low income countries focussing on deforestation. The analysis is primarily based upon country-level data from 85 developing countries with 1990 populations of over one million and is considered quite preliminary. At the outset it is important to acknowledge three major difficulties in examining these interrelations. First the available data are suspect. We have used what appears to be the most comparable available data from various UN agencies and the World Resources Institute; however environmental data are particularly weak for much of the developing world. In some of the developing countries population and agricultural censuses--the major sources for cross-country data--are not regularly taken. Furthermore rural populations are sometimes not separately reported by countries which do have a census. (excerpt)