Economic lntegration and the Environment in El Salvador Herman Rosa Programa Salvadoreño de Investigación sobre Desarrollo y Medio Ambiente.

Economic lntegration and the Environment in El Salvador

Herman Rosa

Programa Salvadoreño de Investigación sobre Desarrollo y Medio Ambiente

3D Image of El Salvador

Landsat TM & SRTM DEM

Source: Sasan Saatchi NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Percent Tree Cover

AVHRR 92-93

MODIS 00-01

0-10%

11-25%

26-40%

41-55%

56-70%

71-100%

Increased tree coverReduced tree cover

Increased tree coverIncreased tree cover

Changes in tree cover: 1992 - 2001

Change in Tree Cover, 1992 and 2001 (Percent)

6.9

21.3

28.9

19.3

12.2 11.2

0.95.6

31.4 30.8

13.8 14.6

0% - 10% 11% - 25% 26% - 40% 41% - 55% 56% - 70% 71% - 100%

1992 2001

Surface in Corn (Thousands ha)

200

240

280

320

1974 1977 1980 1983 1986 1989 1992 1995 1998 2001 2004

Peace AccordsCivil War

Agroexports expand

Peasants pushed to marginal hillsides

Land reform

Cotton Production collapses

Orthodox economic reform

Relative prices and profitability of agriculture continue to fall.

Cotton, 000 ha

0

40

80

120

1968 1973 1978 1983 1988 1993

Peasant agriculture expands despite falling real prices

Agric Relative Prices, 1990=1

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

75 80 85 90 95 2000

Millions of Dollars

Structure (%)

1978 2002 1978 2002

Traditional agro-exports* 514 161 81% 6%

Non-Traditional exports outside Central America 54 335 8% 12%

Maquila (net income) 21 475 3% 16%

Remittances 51 1,935 8% 67%

Total 640 2,906 100% 100%

Remittances GDPRemittances

/GDP

Nicaragua 660 2.6 25.4%

Haiti 810 3.6 22.5%

Jamaica 1,200 8.0 15.0%

Guyana 100 0.7 14.3%

El Salvador 1,935 14.3 13.5%

Honduras 720 6.6 10.9%

Dominican Republic 1,939 21.3 9.1%

Guatemala 1,579 23.3 6.8%

Ecuador 1,432 24.3 5.9%

Peru 1,100 56.9 1.9%

Mexico 9,815 637.2 1.5%

Brazil 4,000 452.4 0.9%

h.rosa@prisma.org.sv