Abstract

We study the relationship between culture and environmental conservation through the lens of deforestation. Focusing on Sub-Saharan Africa over the period 2001-2021, we show that national leaders affect deforestation in a way that depends on their ethnic group’s culture. We use data on folklore to measure the importance of forests in group-specific culture. We find that deforestation and land-intensive activities are boosted in the ethnic homelands of leaders whose ethnic groups have no forest-related folklore. These patterns are mitigated, or even reversed, when the leader’s group has a forest culture. Our results suggest that culture is an important lever for environmental conservation in Africa.

Co-authors : N. Berman and M. Couttenier

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