Cocaine trafficking threatens critical bird habitats, new study finds

In addition to its human consequences, cocaine trafficking harms the environment and threatens important habitats for dozens of species of migratory birds, according to a new study.

According to the study “Intersection of Narco-Trafficking, Enforcement and Bird Conservation in the Americas”, published in Sustainability of nature.

“When drug traffickers are pushed into isolated forest areas, they clear the land to create airstrips, roads and pastures for livestock,” said lead author Amanda Rodewald, senior director of the Center for avian population studies at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. “These activities – and the drug strategies that contribute to them – can deforest landscapes and threaten species.”

In this study, scientists from four universities, along with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, combined measurements of various landscape features and concentrations of migratory birds in Central America to highlight the unexpected link between a pervasive social problem and biodiversity.

More than half of the world's population, or one in five migratory species, lives in areas that have become more attractive for trafficking following the strong pressure exerted by law enforcement, measured by the volume of cocaine seized. For example, 90 percent of the world's population of golden-cheeked warblers, a federally endangered species, and 70 percent of golden-winged warblers and Philadelphia vireos winter in these vulnerable landscapes.

Central America's largest remaining forests, which are disproportionately inhabited by indigenous peoples – known as the Five Great Forests – are experiencing increasing levels of cocaine trafficking.

“US drug policy in Central America focuses on the supply side of the equation, and law enforcement pressure plays a significant role in the movement of trafficking routes and locations of narco-deforestation” , said co-author Nicholas Magliocca, an associate professor at the University of Washington. University of Alabama. “After 40 years, this approach has not worked. In fact, cocaine trafficking has only expanded and become a global network. In the past, cocaine only passed through Central America, but it has now become a global transshipment hub.”

This study builds on previous ethnographic and modeling work by Magliocca and a group of researchers examining land use conditions and the decisions made by traffickers themselves based on perceived risk and profit.

“This research provides an even more comprehensive overview of the damage caused by drug trafficking and how we are currently combating it,” Magliocca said. “The adaptive behavior of traffickers must be taken into consideration. You must do more than reactively pursue drug traffickers, who have almost unlimited money and power in the region. There is no doubt that This is a complex, fluid and dangerous situation.”

“Incorporating measures that strengthen the capacities of local communities and governments to monitor and protect their forests, generate other forms of income and resolve unclear land tenure issues would be a big step forward,” Rodewald said. “Our study reminds us that we cannot solve social problems in isolation, because they can have unintended environmental consequences that compromise conservation.”

This research was conducted by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the University of Alabama, Ohio State University, Northern Arizona University and the US Fish & Wildlife Service.