Michael Epprecht
Biographic Data
| ID | 3590195 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Michael Epprecht |
| GIVEN NAMES | Michael |
| FAMILY NAME | Epprecht |
| SIGNATURE | EPPRECHT M |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Bern |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 17 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 130 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 17 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2008 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
Exploring household preferences for ecosystem services as a basis for strategic land use and conservation planning
In rapidly changing tropical landscapes, large-scale resource exploitation threatens biodiversity, ecosystem services (ES) and human well-being. This study examines land use, ES and ecosystem disservices (EDS) in Savannakhet Province, Laos, focusing on household preferences amid shifting land use patterns. Using a survey of 336 households across 22 villages, we assessed preferences for 63 ES and 16 EDS, along with key land types providing or caus…
Gaps between demand and supply of biodiversity impact finance in the Global South
This contribution seeks to fill knowledge gaps on what kinds of biodiversity impact investment models already exist, what factors are constraining biodiversity impact finance in the Global South, and what could be done to bridge the gap. The review identifies complexity, high transaction costs, unfamiliarity with the product, and shortages of bankable projects as key challenges pertaining to the financial sector. On the investors’ side, concerns …
Interactions between sustainable development goals at the district level in Lao PDR
We develop a unique dataset of 3 SDG indicators at district level in Lao PDR. • We find a positive correlation between poverty and stunting in 2005 and in 2015. • We find a negative correlation between these indicators and natural areas. • There are no significant relations between changes in indicators over time. • Variations between districts highlight the need for subnational analyses of SDGs. Monitoring the status and evolution of Sustainable…
Cultivating inequality? Regional rubber dynamics and implications for voluntary sustainability programs in Lao PDR
The Southeast Asian rubber boom beginning in the early 2000′s shaped a myriad of socioeconomic and environmental consequences, including deforestation, ecosystem impacts, shifts in community livelihoods, and altered local access to land and resources. Although there has been significant research assessing rubber production in this region, there has been less focus on economic inequality and polarization outcomes in rubber producing areas. This an…
Proletarianization and gateways to precarization in the context of land-based investments for agricultural commercialization in Lao PDR
Labor is central to the debates on global land-based investment. Proponents purport that these investments are an avenue for rural transformation from resource- to wage-based livelihoods through the generation of employment and contribution to poverty reduction. Drawing on a recent, unique national dataset on land concessions in Lao PDR, this paper uses an agrarian political economy lens to investigate how land-based investments live up to this e…
Carbon emissions from land acquisitions in Laos
Large-scale land acquisitions repeatedly fall short of their acclaimed socioeconomic benefits and are associated with unintended social, economic, and ecological costs. In Laos, the government has started to question its own “Turning Land into Capital” policy, and reviews land acquisitions or concessions with regard to their socioeconomic impacts. Empirical investigations of environmental impacts of land concessions, however, remain underrepresen…
Spatio-temporal unevenness in local land system regime shifts caused by land deals in Lao PDR
Extensive land-use “regime shifts” have been observed as rapid transitions from natural land cover or subsistence-oriented land use to intensified and/or expanded commodity production. However, it is often unclear whether these land-use changes are part of broader land system regime shifts in which pre-existing production systems and livelihood strategies are fundamentally transformed along with observable land-use changes rather than simply disp…
Pathways to human well-being in the context of land acquisitions in Lao PDR
Land acquisitions are transforming land-use systems globally, and their characteristics and impacts on human well-being have been extensively analysed through local case studies and regional or global inventories. However, national-level analysis that is crucial for national policy on sustainable agricultural investments and land use is still lacking. This paper conducts an archetype analysis of a unique dataset on land concessions in Lao PDR to …
Poverty trends in villages affected by land-based investments in rural Laos
The transboundary displacement of deforestation under Redd: Problematic intersections between the trade of forest-risk commodities and land grabbing in the Mekong region
Secondary Forests and Local Livelihoods along a Gradient of Accessibility: A Case Study in Northern Laos
Rural livelihoods in developing countries can be enhanced by improving access to natural resources, services, and markets. In remote rural areas of the humid or semihumid tropics, forests represent an important resource for livelihoods. In countries like Laos, where most primary forest has been converted to secondary forest, and where an intricate and interlinked mosaic of forest and farmland prevails, people depend on secondary forests as a prim…
Socio-Economic Perspectives on Shifting Cultivation Landscapes in Northern Laos
Carbon Pools and Poverty Peaks in Lao PDR: Spatial Data Inform Policy-making for Redd+ at the National Level
Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation and enhancing forest carbon stocks in developing countries (REDD+) is heavily promoted in Laos. REDD+ is often perceived as an opportunity to jointly address climate change and poverty and, therefore, could come timely for Laos to combine its prominent national target of poverty eradication with global climate mitigation efforts. Countrywide planning of the right approaches to REDD+ com…
Who Counts? Demography of Swidden Cultivators in Southeast Asia
Swidden cultivators are often found as a distinct category of farmers in the literature, but rarely appear in population censuses or other national and regional classifications. This has led to a worldwide confusion on how many people are dependent on this form of agriculture. The most often cited number of 200-300 million dates back to the early 1970s, but the source is obscure. We assess available, published data from nine countries in Southeas…
An Assessment of Trends in the Extent of Swidden in Southeast Asia
Finding Homogeneity in Heterogeneity-A New Approach to Quantifying Landscape Mosaics Developed for the Lao PDR
A key challenge for land change science in general and research on swidden agriculture in particular, is linking land cover information to human-environment interactions over larger spatial areas. In Lao PDR, a country facing rapid and multi-level land change processes, this hinders informed policy- and decision-making. Crucial information on land use types and people involved is still lacking. This article proposes an alternative approach for th…
Why Forests Are Important for Global Poverty Alleviation: A Spatial Explanation
Sunderlin, W. D., S. Dewi, A. Puntodewo, D. Müller, A. Angelsen, and M. Epprecht. 2008. Why forests are important for global poverty alleviation: a spatial explanation. Ecology and Society 13(2): 24. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-02590-130224
Who Counts? Demography of Swidden Cultivators in Southeast Asia
Swidden cultivators are often found as a distinct category of farmers in the literature, but rarely appear in population censuses or other national and regional classifications. This has led to a worldwide confusion on how many people are dependent on this form of agriculture. The most often cited number of 200-300 million dates back to the early 1970s, but the source is obscure. We assess available, published data from nine countries in Southeas…
An Assessment of Trends in the Extent of Swidden in Southeast Asia
Finding Homogeneity in Heterogeneity-A New Approach to Quantifying Landscape Mosaics Developed for the Lao PDR
A key challenge for land change science in general and research on swidden agriculture in particular, is linking land cover information to human-environment interactions over larger spatial areas. In Lao PDR, a country facing rapid and multi-level land change processes, this hinders informed policy- and decision-making. Crucial information on land use types and people involved is still lacking. This article proposes an alternative approach for th…
The transboundary displacement of deforestation under Redd: Problematic intersections between the trade of forest-risk commodities and land grabbing in the Mekong region
Proletarianization and gateways to precarization in the context of land-based investments for agricultural commercialization in Lao PDR
Labor is central to the debates on global land-based investment. Proponents purport that these investments are an avenue for rural transformation from resource- to wage-based livelihoods through the generation of employment and contribution to poverty reduction. Drawing on a recent, unique national dataset on land concessions in Lao PDR, this paper uses an agrarian political economy lens to investigate how land-based investments live up to this e…
Socio-Economic Perspectives on Shifting Cultivation Landscapes in Northern Laos
Why Forests Are Important for Global Poverty Alleviation: A Spatial Explanation
Sunderlin, W. D., S. Dewi, A. Puntodewo, D. Müller, A. Angelsen, and M. Epprecht. 2008. Why forests are important for global poverty alleviation: a spatial explanation. Ecology and Society 13(2): 24. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-02590-130224
Pathways to human well-being in the context of land acquisitions in Lao PDR
Land acquisitions are transforming land-use systems globally, and their characteristics and impacts on human well-being have been extensively analysed through local case studies and regional or global inventories. However, national-level analysis that is crucial for national policy on sustainable agricultural investments and land use is still lacking. This paper conducts an archetype analysis of a unique dataset on land concessions in Lao PDR to …
Secondary Forests and Local Livelihoods along a Gradient of Accessibility: A Case Study in Northern Laos
Rural livelihoods in developing countries can be enhanced by improving access to natural resources, services, and markets. In remote rural areas of the humid or semihumid tropics, forests represent an important resource for livelihoods. In countries like Laos, where most primary forest has been converted to secondary forest, and where an intricate and interlinked mosaic of forest and farmland prevails, people depend on secondary forests as a prim…
Interactions between sustainable development goals at the district level in Lao PDR
We develop a unique dataset of 3 SDG indicators at district level in Lao PDR. • We find a positive correlation between poverty and stunting in 2005 and in 2015. • We find a negative correlation between these indicators and natural areas. • There are no significant relations between changes in indicators over time. • Variations between districts highlight the need for subnational analyses of SDGs. Monitoring the status and evolution of Sustainable…
Carbon emissions from land acquisitions in Laos
Large-scale land acquisitions repeatedly fall short of their acclaimed socioeconomic benefits and are associated with unintended social, economic, and ecological costs. In Laos, the government has started to question its own “Turning Land into Capital” policy, and reviews land acquisitions or concessions with regard to their socioeconomic impacts. Empirical investigations of environmental impacts of land concessions, however, remain underrepresen…
Spatio-temporal unevenness in local land system regime shifts caused by land deals in Lao PDR
Extensive land-use “regime shifts” have been observed as rapid transitions from natural land cover or subsistence-oriented land use to intensified and/or expanded commodity production. However, it is often unclear whether these land-use changes are part of broader land system regime shifts in which pre-existing production systems and livelihood strategies are fundamentally transformed along with observable land-use changes rather than simply disp…
Why Forests Are Important for Global Poverty Alleviation: A Spatial Explanation
Sunderlin, W. D., S. Dewi, A. Puntodewo, D. Müller, A. Angelsen, and M. Epprecht. 2008. Why forests are important for global poverty alleviation: a spatial explanation. Ecology and Society 13(2): 24. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-02590-130224
Who Counts? Demography of Swidden Cultivators in Southeast Asia
Swidden cultivators are often found as a distinct category of farmers in the literature, but rarely appear in population censuses or other national and regional classifications. This has led to a worldwide confusion on how many people are dependent on this form of agriculture. The most often cited number of 200-300 million dates back to the early 1970s, but the source is obscure. We assess available, published data from nine countries in Southeas…
An Assessment of Trends in the Extent of Swidden in Southeast Asia
Finding Homogeneity in Heterogeneity-A New Approach to Quantifying Landscape Mosaics Developed for the Lao PDR
A key challenge for land change science in general and research on swidden agriculture in particular, is linking land cover information to human-environment interactions over larger spatial areas. In Lao PDR, a country facing rapid and multi-level land change processes, this hinders informed policy- and decision-making. Crucial information on land use types and people involved is still lacking. This article proposes an alternative approach for th…
Carbon Pools and Poverty Peaks in Lao PDR: Spatial Data Inform Policy-making for Redd+ at the National Level
Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation and enhancing forest carbon stocks in developing countries (REDD+) is heavily promoted in Laos. REDD+ is often perceived as an opportunity to jointly address climate change and poverty and, therefore, could come timely for Laos to combine its prominent national target of poverty eradication with global climate mitigation efforts. Countrywide planning of the right approaches to REDD+ com…
Secondary Forests and Local Livelihoods along a Gradient of Accessibility: A Case Study in Northern Laos
Rural livelihoods in developing countries can be enhanced by improving access to natural resources, services, and markets. In remote rural areas of the humid or semihumid tropics, forests represent an important resource for livelihoods. In countries like Laos, where most primary forest has been converted to secondary forest, and where an intricate and interlinked mosaic of forest and farmland prevails, people depend on secondary forests as a prim…
Socio-Economic Perspectives on Shifting Cultivation Landscapes in Northern Laos
The transboundary displacement of deforestation under Redd: Problematic intersections between the trade of forest-risk commodities and land grabbing in the Mekong region
Poverty trends in villages affected by land-based investments in rural Laos
Pathways to human well-being in the context of land acquisitions in Lao PDR
Land acquisitions are transforming land-use systems globally, and their characteristics and impacts on human well-being have been extensively analysed through local case studies and regional or global inventories. However, national-level analysis that is crucial for national policy on sustainable agricultural investments and land use is still lacking. This paper conducts an archetype analysis of a unique dataset on land concessions in Lao PDR to …
Proletarianization and gateways to precarization in the context of land-based investments for agricultural commercialization in Lao PDR
Labor is central to the debates on global land-based investment. Proponents purport that these investments are an avenue for rural transformation from resource- to wage-based livelihoods through the generation of employment and contribution to poverty reduction. Drawing on a recent, unique national dataset on land concessions in Lao PDR, this paper uses an agrarian political economy lens to investigate how land-based investments live up to this e…
Carbon emissions from land acquisitions in Laos
Large-scale land acquisitions repeatedly fall short of their acclaimed socioeconomic benefits and are associated with unintended social, economic, and ecological costs. In Laos, the government has started to question its own “Turning Land into Capital” policy, and reviews land acquisitions or concessions with regard to their socioeconomic impacts. Empirical investigations of environmental impacts of land concessions, however, remain underrepresen…
Spatio-temporal unevenness in local land system regime shifts caused by land deals in Lao PDR
Extensive land-use “regime shifts” have been observed as rapid transitions from natural land cover or subsistence-oriented land use to intensified and/or expanded commodity production. However, it is often unclear whether these land-use changes are part of broader land system regime shifts in which pre-existing production systems and livelihood strategies are fundamentally transformed along with observable land-use changes rather than simply disp…
Cultivating inequality? Regional rubber dynamics and implications for voluntary sustainability programs in Lao PDR
The Southeast Asian rubber boom beginning in the early 2000′s shaped a myriad of socioeconomic and environmental consequences, including deforestation, ecosystem impacts, shifts in community livelihoods, and altered local access to land and resources. Although there has been significant research assessing rubber production in this region, there has been less focus on economic inequality and polarization outcomes in rubber producing areas. This an…
Interactions between sustainable development goals at the district level in Lao PDR
We develop a unique dataset of 3 SDG indicators at district level in Lao PDR. • We find a positive correlation between poverty and stunting in 2005 and in 2015. • We find a negative correlation between these indicators and natural areas. • There are no significant relations between changes in indicators over time. • Variations between districts highlight the need for subnational analyses of SDGs. Monitoring the status and evolution of Sustainable…
Gaps between demand and supply of biodiversity impact finance in the Global South
This contribution seeks to fill knowledge gaps on what kinds of biodiversity impact investment models already exist, what factors are constraining biodiversity impact finance in the Global South, and what could be done to bridge the gap. The review identifies complexity, high transaction costs, unfamiliarity with the product, and shortages of bankable projects as key challenges pertaining to the financial sector. On the investors’ side, concerns …
Exploring household preferences for ecosystem services as a basis for strategic land use and conservation planning
In rapidly changing tropical landscapes, large-scale resource exploitation threatens biodiversity, ecosystem services (ES) and human well-being. This study examines land use, ES and ecosystem disservices (EDS) in Savannakhet Province, Laos, focusing on household preferences amid shifting land use patterns. Using a survey of 336 households across 22 villages, we assessed preferences for 63 ES and 16 EDS, along with key land types providing or caus…
Geography (15 works) · Economics (14 works) · Agriculture (13 works) · Ecology (12 works) · Conservation, Biodiversity, and Resource Management (11 works) · Livelihood (9 works) · Economic growth (8 works) · Land use (8 works) · Business (7 works) · Natural resource economics (7 works)