Latin American cattle ranchers have long been depicted as one of the major perpetrators of deforestation. A new conceptualization of Chayanov’s Theory of Peasant Economy is employed to understand ranchers’ perceptions of tree management in Panama. Chayanov’s theory proposes that the family farm is governed by a balance of decisions farmers make between the utility of producing one more item, with the drudgery of producing that item. Farm visits and interviews with 54 Panamanian farmers indicates that trees are actively maintained as part of the utility–drudgery balancing process. These findings suggest that rather than seeing cattle ranchers as perpetrators of deforestation, more research that considers the benefits and tradeoffs farmers confront with tree management could promote productive partnerships among parties invested in farmers’ livelihoods and forest conservation.

长期以来，拉丁美洲的牧场主被描述为森林砍伐的主要肇因者之一。查亚诺夫的农民经济理论的新概念被用来理解牧场主对巴拿马树木管理的看法。查亚诺夫的理论提出，家庭农场由农民在生产更多物品的效用与繁琐的物品生产之间做出的决策平衡中支配。农场访问和对54名巴拿马农民的访谈表明，树木是公用事业与水力平衡过程中积极维护的树木。这些发现表明，与其将牧场主视为毁林的罪魁祸首，