The Impact of Forest Loss on Public Health: Evidence from Peru

Abstract

Deforestation can lead to public health problems, especially in rural regions. In recent years, there has been growing evidence of the relationship between forest cover loss and the increased incidence of health issues for children under 5 years of age. However, causal links between them need further exploration. Given its extensive database of Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) and environmental geospatial data, including forest cover change from 2004 to 2020, Peru is a great case study for this analysis. From a short-term to a long-term perspective, considering the water channel as a causal mechanism, this study explores the impact of upstream forest loss in the previous year of the survey on the incidence of diarrhea and the impact of upstream forest loss in the year prior to the child’s birth on the incidence of stunted growth. The results show that a 1% increase in upstream forest cover loss increased the incidence of childhood diarrhea by 0.16% and stunted growth by 0.28%.