Trends, drivers and impacts of changes in swidden cultivation in tropical forest-agriculture frontiers: a global assessment

Nathalie van Vliet; Ole Mertz; Andreas Heinimann; Tobias Langanke; Unai Pascual; Birgit Schmook; Christina Adams; Dietrich  Schmidt-Vogt; Peter  Messerli; Stephen  Leisz; Jean-Christophe  Castella; Lars Jørgensen; Torben Birch-Thomsen; Cornelia  Hett; Thilde Bech Bruun; Amy  Ickowitz; Kim  Chi Vu; Kono  Yasuyuki; Jefferson  Fox; Christine  Padoch; Wolfram Dressler Dressler; Alan D.  Ziegler

doi:10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2011.10.009

Trends, drivers and impacts of changes in swidden cultivation in tropical forest-agriculture frontiers: a global assessment

Nathalie van Vliet, Ole Mertz, Andreas Heinimann, Tobias Langanke, Unai Pascual, Birgit Schmook, Christina Adams, Dietrich Schmidt-Vogt, Peter Messerli, Stephen Leisz, Jean-Christophe Castella, Lars Jørgensen, Torben Birch-Thomsen, Cornelia Hett, Thilde Bech Bruun, Amy Ickowitz, Kim Chi Vu, Kono Yasuyuki, Jefferson Fox, Christine PadochWolfram Dressler Dressler, Alan D. Ziegler

Geology

327 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This meta-analysis of land-cover transformations of the past 10-15 years in tropical forest-agriculture frontiers world-wide shows that swidden agriculture decreases in landscapes with access to local, national and international markets that encourage cattle production and cash cropping, including biofuels. Conservation policies and practices also accelerate changes in swidden by restricting forest clearing and encouraging commercial agriculture. However, swidden remains important in many frontier areas where farmers have unequal or insecure access to investment and market opportunities, or where multi-functionality of land uses has been preserved as a strategy to adapt to current ecological, economic and political circumstances. In some areas swidden remains important simply because intensification is not a viable choice, for example when population densities and/or food market demands are low. The transformation of swidden landscapes into more intensive land uses has generally increased household incomes, but has also led to negative effects on the social and human capital of local communities to varying degrees. From an environmental perspective, the transition from swidden to other land uses often contributes to permanent deforestation, loss of biodiversity, increased weed pressure, declines in soil fertility, and accelerated soil erosion. Our prognosis is that, despite the global trend towards land use intensification, in many areas swidden will remain part of rural landscapes as the safety component of diversified systems, particularly in response to risks and uncertainties associated with more intensive land use systems.

Original language	English
Journal	Global Environmental Change
Volume	22
Issue number	2
Pages (from-to)	418-429
Number of pages	12
ISSN	0959-3780
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2011.10.009
Publication status	Published - 1 May 2012

Keywords

Faculty of Science
Land use change
Swidden cultivation
Drivers
Impacts
Forest-agriculture frontiers
Metaanalysis

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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van Vliet, N., Mertz, O., Heinimann, A., Langanke, T., Pascual, U., Schmook, B., Adams, C., Schmidt-Vogt, D., Messerli, P., Leisz, S., Castella, J.-C., Jørgensen, L., Birch-Thomsen, T., Hett, C., Bruun, T. B., Ickowitz, A., Chi Vu, K., Yasuyuki, K., Fox, J., ... Ziegler, A. D. (2012). Trends, drivers and impacts of changes in swidden cultivation in tropical forest-agriculture frontiers: a global assessment. Global Environmental Change, 22(2), 418-429. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2011.10.009

van Vliet, N, Mertz, O, Heinimann, A, Langanke, T, Pascual, U, Schmook, B, Adams, C, Schmidt-Vogt, D, Messerli, P, Leisz, S, Castella, J-C, Jørgensen, L, Birch-Thomsen, T, Hett, C, Bruun, TB, Ickowitz, A, Chi Vu, K, Yasuyuki, K, Fox, J, Padoch, C, Dressler, WD & Ziegler, AD 2012, 'Trends, drivers and impacts of changes in swidden cultivation in tropical forest-agriculture frontiers: a global assessment', Global Environmental Change, vol. 22, no. 2, pp. 418-429. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2011.10.009

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title = "Trends, drivers and impacts of changes in swidden cultivation in tropical forest-agriculture frontiers: a global assessment",

abstract = "This meta-analysis of land-cover transformations of the past 10-15 years in tropical forest-agriculture frontiers world-wide shows that swidden agriculture decreases in landscapes with access to local, national and international markets that encourage cattle production and cash cropping, including biofuels. Conservation policies and practices also accelerate changes in swidden by restricting forest clearing and encouraging commercial agriculture. However, swidden remains important in many frontier areas where farmers have unequal or insecure access to investment and market opportunities, or where multi-functionality of land uses has been preserved as a strategy to adapt to current ecological, economic and political circumstances. In some areas swidden remains important simply because intensification is not a viable choice, for example when population densities and/or food market demands are low. The transformation of swidden landscapes into more intensive land uses has generally increased household incomes, but has also led to negative effects on the social and human capital of local communities to varying degrees. From an environmental perspective, the transition from swidden to other land uses often contributes to permanent deforestation, loss of biodiversity, increased weed pressure, declines in soil fertility, and accelerated soil erosion. Our prognosis is that, despite the global trend towards land use intensification, in many areas swidden will remain part of rural landscapes as the safety component of diversified systems, particularly in response to risks and uncertainties associated with more intensive land use systems.",

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AU - van Vliet, Nathalie

AU - Mertz, Ole

AU - Heinimann, Andreas

AU - Langanke, Tobias

AU - Pascual, Unai

AU - Schmook, Birgit

AU - Adams, Christina

AU - Schmidt-Vogt, Dietrich

AU - Messerli, Peter

AU - Leisz, Stephen

AU - Castella, Jean-Christophe

AU - Jørgensen, Lars

AU - Birch-Thomsen, Torben

AU - Hett, Cornelia

AU - Bruun, Thilde Bech

AU - Ickowitz, Amy

AU - Chi Vu, Kim

AU - Yasuyuki, Kono

AU - Fox, Jefferson

AU - Padoch, Christine

AU - Dressler, Wolfram Dressler

AU - Ziegler, Alan D.

PY - 2012/5/1

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N2 - This meta-analysis of land-cover transformations of the past 10-15 years in tropical forest-agriculture frontiers world-wide shows that swidden agriculture decreases in landscapes with access to local, national and international markets that encourage cattle production and cash cropping, including biofuels. Conservation policies and practices also accelerate changes in swidden by restricting forest clearing and encouraging commercial agriculture. However, swidden remains important in many frontier areas where farmers have unequal or insecure access to investment and market opportunities, or where multi-functionality of land uses has been preserved as a strategy to adapt to current ecological, economic and political circumstances. In some areas swidden remains important simply because intensification is not a viable choice, for example when population densities and/or food market demands are low. The transformation of swidden landscapes into more intensive land uses has generally increased household incomes, but has also led to negative effects on the social and human capital of local communities to varying degrees. From an environmental perspective, the transition from swidden to other land uses often contributes to permanent deforestation, loss of biodiversity, increased weed pressure, declines in soil fertility, and accelerated soil erosion. Our prognosis is that, despite the global trend towards land use intensification, in many areas swidden will remain part of rural landscapes as the safety component of diversified systems, particularly in response to risks and uncertainties associated with more intensive land use systems.

AB - This meta-analysis of land-cover transformations of the past 10-15 years in tropical forest-agriculture frontiers world-wide shows that swidden agriculture decreases in landscapes with access to local, national and international markets that encourage cattle production and cash cropping, including biofuels. Conservation policies and practices also accelerate changes in swidden by restricting forest clearing and encouraging commercial agriculture. However, swidden remains important in many frontier areas where farmers have unequal or insecure access to investment and market opportunities, or where multi-functionality of land uses has been preserved as a strategy to adapt to current ecological, economic and political circumstances. In some areas swidden remains important simply because intensification is not a viable choice, for example when population densities and/or food market demands are low. The transformation of swidden landscapes into more intensive land uses has generally increased household incomes, but has also led to negative effects on the social and human capital of local communities to varying degrees. From an environmental perspective, the transition from swidden to other land uses often contributes to permanent deforestation, loss of biodiversity, increased weed pressure, declines in soil fertility, and accelerated soil erosion. Our prognosis is that, despite the global trend towards land use intensification, in many areas swidden will remain part of rural landscapes as the safety component of diversified systems, particularly in response to risks and uncertainties associated with more intensive land use systems.

KW - Faculty of Science

KW - Land use change

KW - Swidden cultivation

KW - Drivers

KW - Impacts

KW - Forest-agriculture frontiers

KW - Metaanalysis

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DO - 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2011.10.009

M3 - Journal article

SN - 0959-3780

VL - 22

SP - 418

EP - 429

JO - Global Environmental Change

JF - Global Environmental Change

IS - 2

ER -

Trends, drivers and impacts of changes in swidden cultivation in tropical forest-agriculture frontiers: a global assessment

Abstract

Keywords

UN SDGs

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