Decentralization and Environmental Management in Latin America: Analysis of Academic Journals

Abstract

Decentralization of environmental management implies the transfer of power and responsibilities at the local level. Although there are bibliographic reviews dealing with decentralization and the environment, there is a gap in the specific case of Latin America. Through the Systematic Quantitative Literature Review technique, we observed that the literature patterns reveal territorial and thematic imbalances in the analysis. Said results correspond to a majority of studies that have focused on Bolivia and Brazil. These approaches, their focus on decentralization of forest management and their dissimilar result –which are within the domain of Anglo-Saxon academics– depended, in turn, on the country being reviewed and the disciplinary approach.