Criminal control shapes options for Amazon forests

Criminal control shapes options for Amazon forests | Authorea try { document.documentElement.classList.add('js'); } catch (e) { } var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'G-8VDV14Y67G']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })(); Skip to main content Preprints Collections Wiley Open Research IET Open Research Ecological Society of Japan All Collections About About Authorea FAQs Contact Us Quick Search anywhere Search for preprint articles, keywords, etc. Search Search ADVANCED SEARCH SCROLL This is a preprint and has not been peer reviewed. Data may be preliminary. 7 July 2025 V2 Latest version Share on Criminal control shapes options for Amazon forests Authors : Liliana Davalos 0000-0002-4327-7697 [email protected] , Liliana M Dávalos , and Dolors Armenteras Authors Info & Affiliations https://doi.org/10.22541/au.173498193.35964980/v2 698 views 336 downloads Contents Abstract Supplementary Material Information & Authors Metrics & Citations View Options References Figures Tables Media Share Abstract Transnational crime networks trafficking cocaine and gold are increasingly active in the Amazon. How international demand, trafficking, and impacts have changed, however, remain underexplored. We show that, annually, cocaine metabolite concentration in European sewage increased by 17% since 2011, while in the Brazilian Amazon cocaine seizures and gold royalties recently rose by ~50%, and forest loss in Peru since 2004 grew by 31% for every tenfold increase in coca cultivation with high recent losses (2019–2023). During this period, transnational networks of violent non-state actors (VNSAs) consolidated control over borders and triple borders, fostering environmental degradation. We also explore scenarios of relaxed cocaine prohibition and falling demand and find neither necessarily curbs conservation impacts because policy gradients between countries can increase crime or bifurcate markets into legal and illegal portions (as with gold), and traffickers can build on their economies of scope to pivot to other products (as they do with gold). Instead, opening options for non-criminal social control is essential for Amazon conservation, which requires much greater coordination and investment, even under relaxed prohibition scenarios. Therefore, robust, transnationally coordinated environmental law enforcement and sustainable, legal economic alternatives are indispensable to protect Amazonian peoples and ecosystems. Supplementary Material File (perspective_amazon_transnational_crime_whole_v17.pdf) Download 2.21 MB Information & Authors Information Version history V1 Version 1 23 December 2024 V2 Version 2 07 July 2025 Copyright This work is licensed under a Non Exclusive No Reuse License. Keywords amazon cocaine demand forest loss violent non-state actors Authors Affiliations Liliana Davalos 0000-0002-4327-7697 [email protected] View all articles by this author Liliana M Dávalos Department of Ecology and Evolution, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook View all articles by this author Dolors Armenteras Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Universidad Nacional de Colombia View all articles by this author Funding Information Fulbright Program Liliana M Dávalos Fulbright Program 100023029 Liliana M. Dávalos Metrics & Citations Metrics Article Usage 698 views 336 downloads .FvxKWukQNSOunydq8rnd { width: 100px; } Citations Download citation Liliana Davalos, Liliana M Dávalos, Dolors Armenteras. Criminal control shapes options for Amazon forests. Authorea . 07 July 2025. DOI: https://doi.org/10.22541/au.173498193.35964980/v2 If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download. For more information or tips please see 'Downloading to a citation manager' in the Help menu . Format Please select one from the list RIS (ProCite, Reference Manager) EndNote BibTex Medlars RefWorks Direct import Tips for downloading citations document.getElementById('citMgrHelpLink').addEventListener('click', function() { popupHelp(this.href); return false; }); $(".js__slcInclude").on("change", function(e){ if ($(this).val() == 'refworks') $('#direct').prop("checked", false); $('#direct').prop("disabled", ($(this).val() == 'refworks')); }); View Options View options PDF View PDF Figures Tables Media Share Share Share article link Copy Link Copied! 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