Colonist land-allocation decisions, land use, and deforestation in the Ecuadorian Amazon frontier

In Ecuador, as in many other parts of the humid tropics, the future of tropical forests hinges on colonists' adoption of sustainable land-use options. The current state of knowledge regarding the dynamics of resource allocation in frontier environments is presented. A conceptual framework is proposed for understanding colonist land-allocation behavior in frontier environments. Colonist household characteristics, the natural resource base, and the land use practices in the survey area in the Ecuadorian Amazon are described. A statistical model is developed and used to estimate the ecological, socioeconomic, and institutional factors influencing colonist land-allocation decisions.