Abstract:

Slash-and-burn clearance of forests leads to large emissions of CO2 and other greenhouse gasses. Often the blame is on ‘shifting cultivators’, although migrants to the forest margin and companies clearing land for plantations have used the same method for ‘land clearing’. In promoting livelihoods that help maintain high carbon stocks in the landscape, many lessons can be learned from the way ‘shifting cultivation’ or ‘swidden’ systems evolved in Southeast Asia.