Title page 1

Contents 1

ABSTRACT 1

1. INTRODUCTION 2

1.1. ILLICIT ACTIVITIES, NARCOTRAFFICKING, AND ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION 2

1.2. NARCOTRAFFICKING'S INFLUENCE ON LAND USE, CONSERVATION, AND GOVERNANCE 2

1.3. STUDY FOCUS: LINKS BETWEEN NARCOTRAFFICKING AND NGO EFFECTIVENESS 3

1.4. RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND HYPOTHESES 3

2. METHODS 3

2.1. RESEARCH DESIGN 3

2.2. MEDIA SPATIAL ANALYSIS 4

2.3. NGO QUALITATIVE PHONE INTERVIEWS AND ONLINE QUANTITATIVE SURVEY ANALYSES 4

3. RESULTS 5

3.1. IN-DEPTH INTERVIEWS 5

3.2. MEDIA-REPORTED NARCOTRAFFICKING EVENTS AND OVERLAP WITH NGO WORK LOCATIONS 6

3.3/3.2. CONSERVATION AREAS AND NARCOTRAFFICKING ACTIVITIES 7

3.4/3.3. NARCOTRAFFICKING ACTIVITIES VS. OTHER ILLICIT EXTRACTIVE ACTIVITIES 7

3.5/3.4. PERCEIVED IMPACTS OF NARCOTRAFFICKING VS. OTHER ILLICIT ACTIVITIES ON CONSERVATION 7

3.5.1/3.4.1. Narcotrafficking and its relationship to other illicit extractive activities 8

3.5.2/3.4.2. Relationship between narcotrafficking activities and licit economic sectors 9

3.6/3.5. ILLICIT EFFECT INDEX 9

4. DISCUSSION 9

4.1. PROXIMITY OF NGO WORK AND ILLICIT ACTIVITIES AT A NATIONAL SCALE 9

4.2. THE 'NARCO-EFFECT' ON CONSERVATION, SD, AND RURAL ECONOMIC INDUSTRIES 9

4.3. ILLICITNESS INDEX: COMPOUNDING BURDEN OF NARCOTRAFFICKING ACTIVITIES 10

4.4. LIMITATIONS 12

5. CONCLUSION 12

REFERENCES 13

Tables 7

Table 1. Perceptions of 17 Challenges of illicitness for Both Non-Trafficking Group and Trafficking Group 7

Figures 6

Figure 1. Enduring narcotrafficking events reported by media in Honduras (2000-2019). Total 'Enduring' narcotrafficking events reported by the media... 6

Figure 2. Transit narcotrafficking events reported by media in Honduras (2000-2019). Total 'Transit' narcotrafficking events reported by the media... 6

Figure 3. Perceived effects of narcotrafficking activities on illicit extractive activities in Honduras. Department-level mean valuations of 3 (somewhat related)... 8