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Course:CONS200/2026WT2/Narco-deforestation and degradation in Central America: Status and potential solutions

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CONS 200
CONS 200
Instructor: Fernanda Tomaselli
Email: fernanda.tomaselli@ubc.ca
Office: FSC 3644
Office Hours: Wed: 11:00am
Class Schedule: MWF : 10:00 - 11:00
Important Course Pages

Definition of narco-deforestation

Narco-deforestation refers to loss of forests driven by and also linked to the drug trade and its collateral effects through money laundering. Much evidence in research and literature suggests a significant linkage between deforestation and the cocaine industry, where money laundering takes the form of illegal resource extraction, coca plantations and land clearing for airstrips [1]. Specifically, deforestation is the change in land use from a forest ecosystem to something else, for example agricultural fields, and the informal term narco refers to a drug barron or cartel specifically located in South or Central America[2]. Other terms that will be used on this page include drug trafficking, money laundering, and cocaine. Drug trafficking is the smuggling, distribution and sale of illegal drugs[3]. Money laundering is defined as the process of hiding where illegally obtained money originated using a complex series of bank accounts or commercial transactions[4]. For example, making money through drug trafficking, but hiding it in the accounts of the cattle ranches or oil palm plantations. Cocaine is an illegal and addictive drug made from the leaves of coca plants[5] .

Deforestation in Costa Rica resulted from a land use change to oil palm.

Though narco-deforestation occurs in both Central and South America[6], this page will focus on the effects in Central America, which includes the countries of Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Belize.

Background on Central America: biodiverse forests and drug trade history

Map of Central American nations. Mexico connects to the North Western border of Guatemala, and Colombia connects to the Southern border of Panama.

Central America is the expanse of land between Mexico and Colombia that connects South America to North America. Central America is described as a hotspot for species of amphibians, birds, and mammals which are considered at elevated extinction risk due to the decreasing habitat space from deforestation[7] . Therefore, deforestation in these nations has a profound impact on the biodiversity present.

Central American nations are described as “bridge countries” that don’t produce or consume large amounts of drugs themselves, but are situated on the primary pathway between the producing nations and the consuming nations[8]. The cocaine drug trade started in the 1980s, and was well established in the Central American nations by the 1990s[8]. The relatively fast establishment of the drug trafficking through Central America was in part due to the civil unrest in countries such as El Salvador and Nicaragua due to both sides of their civil conflicts using the profits from drug trafficking to fund their movements[8]. Therefore the authorities had an incentive to not notice the trafficking if it was aiding their side of the conflict[8]. In addition to the conflicts incentivising the drug trade, the unrest made it challenging for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to seize drugs in their countries[8]. Since the 1980s, the drug trade in Central America has evolved to become creative in the smuggling and detection avoidance tactics utilized[8]. Strategies such as air strips hidden in the jungle[9], trafficking the drugs inside the bodies of cattle[10], and money laundering in industrial agriculture[9] are ultimately the backbone of narco-deforestation because they result in forest land conversion[9][10].

Drivers of narco-deforestation

Role of colonisation in drug trade

There are many links that come between colonization and narco-deforestation in the drug distribution chain of events. However, the colonial regulations on drugs and their systems for combatting drug trafficking do inadvertently endorse violent, extractive and deceitful ways of dealing with people and environment [11]. The need for narco-deforestation due to money laundering would be non-existent if making money from drug trade was not punishable in the way it currently is under the colonial system [11]. In a similar manner, trees would not be cleared for clandestine airstrips if transport of drugs was legitimized and regulated. Lastly, there is much collateral damage done by policies like the U.S. government's War on Drugs due to inaccessibility of the legal system to deal with drug-related disputes. This leads to violence by drug traffickers not only to assert territorial claims or settle business disputes, but also to prevent citizens from advising legal bodies about illegal activities such as narco-deforestation and cattle ranching[12]. Because of this monopoly on information, it is difficult and dangerous to properly assess or address the extent of narco-deforestation.

Money laundering

Money laundering is the practice of legitimizing income from the drug trade by reinvesting the money earned from drugs in other, legal, products or enterprises. These products often come from extractive resource industries, some of which take place illegally in protected areas or Indigenous land [13]. Logging is one of the most prevalent methods of money laundering as it is relatively accessible and easy to hide from authorities, but also because it clears land for other profitable uses such as cattle ranching. In South America, land clearings are sometimes also used for illegal mining, agricultural or coca farming operations [14]. Other methods of money laundering involve complex trading and "flying money" schemes which make it more challenging for customs agents to identify and trace illegally sourced trades [15].

Consequences of narco-deforestation

Illegal logging and land use

There are not strong forest management systems in place across Central America due to a lack of regulation and institutionalization and highly concentrated land ownership. Forests are a very valuable resource for many communities and provide fuel for heating and cooking to rural communities which contributes to deforestation. Growing populations, conflicts and agriculture push poor families further into the forest which increases the spread of their forest use and contribution to deforestation[16].

Forest in La Tigra, Honduras.

The extent of illegal logging varies widely between different countries in Central America. It is estimated that in Nicaragua, Honduras and Guatemala 15-30% of deforestation is caused by the narco trafficking on cocaine[17]. For Nicaragua, the most forested country in the region, illegal logging represents over 50% of the total harvested timber. Though drug cartels are not as involved as in countries such as Guatemala where there is a presence of Mexican drug cartels in the Peten jungle region and land conflicts with indigenous communities and large land owners that increase the complexity of the issue. Honduras has large protected forests such as the Moskitia jungle region, but that does not stop illegal logging with 80% of hardwood mahogany production and 50% of pinewood production being illegal[18]. The sector is very corrupt and has the largest number of narco trafficking events reported [19].  Though El Salvador is located very close to the countries with high illegal logging, it is less of a problem due to conservation projects being promoted by the government since 2006[20].

Indigenous displacement

Indigenous rights to traditional land are threatened by narco-deforestation, as well as the safety and wellbeing of communities. Between 2000-2014, cocaine flows led to 15-30% forest loss in Nicaragua, Honduras, and Guatemala, disproportionately impacting Indigenous land and protected areas[21]. Indigenous land dispossession typically occurs through property fraud, violence, and bribery[22]. Both the loss of access to ancestral lands and enforcement of corruption and aggression have negative impacts on the livelihoods and governance of Indigenous peoples[21]. The direct degradation of forests caused through narco-trafficking is exacerbated through Indigenous displacement, as lands that have been stewarded in the long-term past suffer ecologically following exclusion of these communities[21].

Biodiversity loss

Illegal logging has intense effects on more than just forests, including  environmental degradation, flooding, desertification and loss of biodiversity. Because these areas are so biodiverse when deforestation gets pushed into more remote forested areas the habitat of many species is destroyed. There are many migratory birds including some who are endangered who breed in the U.S. and Canada migrate to areas in central America which are at risk of narco-trafficking. Many counter narcotic activities cause the narcotic operations location to change, often into areas that are valuable to both resident and migratory birds. Out of the areas of the forest which have an increased risk of deforestation after counter activities due to their high suitability for narco-deforestation (based on their location, isolation etc), 69% fall in important bird landscapes of resident tropical birds and 62% of migratory birds This puts these already vulnerable species in danger of loosing there habitat which is already so limited [23]. These birds are just one example of species that are effected by this forest loss.

Mitigation efforts and potential solutions

Remote sensing methods are currently being employed as a step towards addressing narco-deforestation. Geospatial data monitoring has been used to track patterns in location, reasoning, and mechanisms allowing narco-deforestation to persist in Central American regions[1]. Monitoring systems such as Colombia's Sistema Integrado de Monitoreo de Cultivos Ilícitos (SIMCI) are beneficial for understanding connections between drug trafficking and socio-ecological dynamics[24]. News media data has also proven to be useful for monitoring location and intensity of drug activity[25]. News media data yields insights into environmental change driven by illicit activity that official statistics exclude, such as revealing money laundering strategies reliant on land use change[25].

Police officers in Colombia conducting a drug search.

Further development of geospatial data and news media for monitoring land use connections to trafficking can provide a useful framework for land-forward drug regulation, a key step towards addressing the issue[25]. Restructuring of policy to integrate both drug regulation and conservation has also been discussed as a strategy to mitigate narco-deforestation[1]. Greater focus must be placed on biodiversity-oriented development, climate change mitigation, and Indigenous land rights in order to prioritize forest communities. It's also necessary to avoid a "balloon effect"[22] where attempts at interdiction policy push traffickers further into forests, exacerbating environmental degradation. Drug policy efforts that disregard the socio-ecological context of a region are unlikely to create change where trafficking and land degradation are evidently linked[25]. In other words, more research and monitoring should be conducted on the ties between drug movement and deforestation, rather than focusing solely on supply-side intervention[22]. Effective policy changes must consider both drug trafficking and conservation concerns[22].

Works Cited:

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Devine, J. A., Wrathall, D., Currit, N., Tellman, B., & Langarica, Y. R. (2020). Narco‐Cattle Ranching in Political Forests. Antipode, 52(4), 1018–1038. https://doi.org/10.1111/anti.12469
  2. ↑ Oxford University Press. (n.d.). Narco, n., 2.b. In Oxford English dictionary. Retrieved February 13, 2026, from https://doi.org/10.1093/OED/1611545474
  3. ↑ Oxford University Press. (n.d.). Drug trafficking, n. & adj. In Oxford English dictionary. Retrieved February 13, 2026, from https://doi.org/10.1093/OED/9074570591
  4. ↑ Oxford University Press. (n.d.). Money laundering, n. In Oxford English dictionary. Retrieved February 13, 2026, from https://doi.org/10.1093/OED/2976349490
  5. ↑ Oxford University Press. (n.d.). Cocaine, n. In Oxford English dictionary. Retrieved February 13, 2026, from https://doi.org/10.1093/OED/8698206600
  6. ↑ López, H. M. (2025). Footprints of cocaine: A bibliometric analysis and systematic review of the environmental impacts of the cocaine value chain in Latin America. Environmental Research Letters, 20(3), 033002. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/adb5a1
  7. ↑ Tracewski, Łukasz; Butchart, Stuart H.M.; Di Marco, Moreno; Ficetola, Gentile F.; Rondinini, Carlo; Symes, Andy; Wheatley, Hannah; Beresford, Alison E.; Buchanan, Graeme M. (2016). "Toward quantification of the impact of 21st-century deforestation on the extinction risk of terrestrial vertebrates". Conservation Biology. Wiley, Society for Conservation Biology. 30 (5): 1070–1079. ISSN 15231739 08888892, 15231739 Check |issn= value (help). Retrieved 2026-03-04.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 Fowler, Michael; Bunck, Julie (2012). Bribes, Bullets, and Intimidation: Drug Trafficking and the Law in Central America. Penn State University Press. pp. 1–69. ISBN 978-0-271-05945-7.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Devine, Jennifer A.; Wrathall, David; Aguilar-González, Bernardo; Benessaiah, Karina; Tellman, Beth; Ghaffari, Zahra; Ponstingel, Daria (08/2021). "Narco-degradation: Cocaine trafficking's environmental impacts in Central America's protected areas". World Development. 144. doi:10.1016/j.worlddev.2021.105474. ISSN 0305-750X. Retrieved 2026-02-12 14:26:16. Check date values in: |access-date=, |date= (help)
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 From cocaine-dusted doughnuts to narco-cattle, cartel innovation to camouflage drugs. (2025, October 1). CE Noticias Financieras. ProQuest Central Premium (3256639895). https://www.proquest.com/wire-feeds/cocaine-dusted-doughnuts-narco-cattle-cartel/docview/3256639895/se-2?accountid=14656
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Blume, Laura R. “Collusion, Co-Optation, or Evasion: The Politics of Drug Trafficking Violence in Central America.” Comparative Political Studies 55, no. 8 (2022): 1366–402. https://doi.org/10.1177/00104140211066218.
  12. ↑ Jankowiak, William R. Drugs, Labor and Colonial Expansion. 1st ed. With Daniel Bradburd. University of Arizona Press, 2003.
  13. ↑ Chavkin, Sasha, Eli Moskowitz, Nathan Jaccard, Daniela Castro, and Maria Fernanda Cruz. “Nicaragua’s Forgotten Deforestation Crisis.” OCCRP. Accessed April 3, 2026. https://www.occrp.org/en/investigation/nicaraguas-forgotten-deforestation-crisis.
  14. ↑ Andreoni, Manuela. “Climate: ‘Narco-Deforestation’ and the Future of the Amazon.” New York Times (Online), New York Times Company, April 11, 2024. 3037033321. ProQuest Central Premium. https://www.proquest.com/blogs-podcasts-websites/climate-narco-deforestation-future-amazon/docview/3037033321/se-2?accountid=14656.
  15. ↑ Cassara, John A. Trade‐Based Money Laundering: The Next Frontier in International Money Laundering Enforcement. 1st ed. Wiley, 2015. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119125389.
  16. ↑ OxResearch Daily Brief Service (Oxford). “CENTRAL AMERICA: Illegal Logging Hard to Curb.” March 20, 2012. 929088584, pp. 1-n/a. ProQuest Central Premium.
  17. ↑ Rodewald, Amanda D., Anna Lello-Smith, Nicholas R. Magliocca, et al. “Intersection of Narco Trafficking, Enforcement and Bird Conservation in the Americas.” Nature Sustainability 7, no. 7 (2024): 855–59. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-024-01365-z.
  18. ↑ OxResearch Daily Brief Service (Oxford). “CENTRAL AMERICA: Illegal Logging Hard to Curb.” March 20, 2012. 929088584, pp. 1-n/a. ProQuest Central Premium.
  19. ↑ Tellman, Beth, Steven E. Sesnie, Nicholas R. Magliocca, et al. “Illicit Drivers of Land Use Change: Narcotrafficking and Forest Loss in Central America.” Global Environmental Change 63 (July 2020): 102092. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2020.102092.
  20. ↑ OxResearch Daily Brief Service (Oxford). “CENTRAL AMERICA: Illegal Logging Hard to Curb.” March 20, 2012. 929088584, pp. 1-n/a. ProQuest Central Premium.
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 Devine, Jennifer A., David Wrathall, Bernardo Aguilar-González, et al. “Narco-Degradation: Cocaine Trafficking’s Environmental Impacts in Central America’s Protected Areas.” World Development 144 (August 2021): 105474. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2021.105474.
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 22.3 McSweeney, Kendra, Erik A. Nielsen, Matthew J. Taylor, et al. “Drug Policy as Conservation Policy: Narco-Deforestation.” Science 343, no. 6170 (2014): 489–90.
  23. ↑ Rodewald, Amanda D., Anna Lello-Smith, Nicholas R. Magliocca, et al. “Intersection of Narco Trafficking, Enforcement and Bird Conservation in the Americas.” Nature Sustainability 7, no. 7 (2024): 855–59. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-024-01365-z.
  24. ↑ Sesnie, Steven E., Beth Tellman, David Wrathall, et al. “A Spatio-Temporal Analysis of Forest Loss Related to Cocaine Trafficking in Central America.” Environmental Research Letters 12, no. 5 (2017): 054015. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aa6fff.
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 25.2 25.3 Tellman, Beth, Steven E. Sesnie, Nicholas R. Magliocca, et al. “Illicit Drivers of Land Use Change: Narcotrafficking and Forest Loss in Central America.” Global Environmental Change 63 (July 2020): 102092. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2020.102092.
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