The Last Swiddens of Sarawak, Malaysia

Swidden cultivation was observed to be under pressure but still persisting in many areas in Sarawak, Malaysia around 2000–2003. Since then rapid development of smallholder oil palm and rubber, continuing urbanization and rural to urban migration appear to have considerably reduced the area under swidden cultivation. With the aim of understanding the extent and impacts of this development, 55 households in three communities that were interviewed in 2002–2003 were re-interviewed in 2011. In an area with rapid oil palm development, the households engaged in smallholder oil palm production have experienced considerable improvements in income and wealth whereas the other households have experienced more limited wealth increases or even a decline in income. Many households have decreased or abandoned cultivation of upland rice, which used to be the core of the swidden cultivation system, and the upland soils in the area are now dominated by oil palm. In another area, where no oil palm development has taken place because of a hydroelectric dam, upland rice fields under swidden cultivation have also decreased and new high yielding rubber is now being planted because of the favorable rubber prices. Moreover, tourism has in this area gained further economic importance and overtaken agriculture as the main economic activity of households. The demise of swidden has not yet occurred in Sarawak, but a continued decline has been observed. However, there is a possibility that the new smallholder oil palm and rubber may provide an opportunity for a new type of ‘productive fallow’ that will allow continued cultivation of upland rice on a small scale.     

Swidden, Sawah, and In-Between: Agricultural Transformation in Borneo

The change from swidden to sawah cultivation in Tara'n Dayak villages in West Kalimantan, Indonesia, is presented as a long-term, complex incremental process in which distinct, unstable, and often confusing production technologies figure as transitional forms. The transitional phases are discussed in terms of their efficiency and sustainability. It is argued that the failure to perceive and understand long-term processes of agricultural change may result in both misinterpretation of technological patterns and environmental variables, as well as of rules of labor and resource sharing.     

Swidden cultivation in forest and savanna in lowland southwest Papua New Guinea

Ecological aspects of traditional swidden cultivation by Bine- speaking groups in wetland areas of lowland southwest Papua New Guinea are examined. A notable feature of the area is the coexistence of extensive, polycultural forest cultivation and more intensive, specialized savanna cultivation. Both agrosystems occur on soils of inherently similar properties. The savanna vegetation is secondary in character and, once established, is better suited to more intensive swidden cultivation based on taro (Colocasia esculenta). The agrosystems in question represent stages in the local development of agriculture, and, although multiple causes of intensification may be involved, the study confirms that lowland, as well as highland, areas of New Guinea have provided development opportunities for traditional cultivators.     

Environmental Consequences of the Demise in Swidden Cultivation in Southeast Asia: Carbon Storage and Soil Quality

The effects of swidden cultivation on carbon storage and soil quality are outlined and compared to the effects of the intensified production systems that swidden systems of Southeast Asia transform into. Time-averaged aboveground carbon stocks decline by about 90% if the long fallow periods of traditional swidden cultivation are reduced to 4 years and by about 60% if swidden cultivation is converted to oil palm plantations. Stocks of soil organic carbon (SOC) in tree plantations are 0–40% lower than stocks in swidden cultivation, with the largest losses found in mechanically established oil palm plantations. Impacts of tree plantations on soil quality are to a large extent determined by management. Conversion of swiddening to continuous annual cropping systems brings about substantial losses of time-averaged aboveground carbon stocks, reductions of SOC stocks and generally leads to declining soil quality. Knowledge of carbon storage in belowground biomass of tree based systems of the tropics is sparse but failure to include this pool in carbon inventories may significantly underestimate the total biomass of the systems. Moreover, studies that consider the ecological reasons behind farmers’ land use decisions as well as spatial variability in biogeophysical and edaphological parameters are needed to evaluate the effects of the ongoing land use transitions in Southeast Asia.     

Persistence of Swidden Cultivation in the Face of Globalization: A Case Study from Communities in Calakmul, Mexico

Over the last decades, political, economic and environmental pressures have encouraged changes from swidden to more intensive agricultural practices, resulting in the hypothesis that swidden cultivation systems are disappearing. In Calakmul, southeastern Mexico, communities decreased the area under milpa, the traditional maize swidden system, but a collapse did not occur. To document and explain the persistence of swidden we employ a variety of data: (1) 59 standardized household surveys from 2003 and 2010 in five villages, (2) in-depth interviews in one village, and (3) coupled human–environmental timelines in this same village. Droughts, hurricanes, and remittances were important drivers of decreases in milpa cultivation. Market crop profitability and conservation programs were also reported to affect the area under milpa. Off-farm employment and governmental transfers have tended to stabilize household economies and decrease dependency on agricultural production, but have also allowed households to maintain their milpas for subsistence and cultural reproduction. Findings in Calakmul point to the need to consider swidden as an evolving and active response to changing policy, economic, and environmental conditions.     

基诺族传统食用植物的民族植物学研究

基诺族是国务院１９７９年确认的我国第５６个民族,至今仍依赖于歇农业即刀耕火种为生,自给自足的自然经济是他们主要经济形式。除在轮歇地内栽培少数几种作物外,基诺族的菜肴绝大部分采自其周围的林地、山野。本文记述了基诺族的传统食用植物１７９种,其中野菜类８６种、野生水果类３７种,栽培植物５４种。     

Degradation and loss of forest land and land-use changes in Sarawak,East Malaysia: a study of native land use by the Iban

Swidden agriculture, commercial logging and plantation development have been considered to be the primary common causes of degradation and loss of tropical rain forests in Southeast Asia. In this paper, I chose a part of northeastern Sarawak, East Malaysia as my case study area to analyze the changes in its land-use characteristics. In the study area, as well as primeval forests, we see that land use began about 100 years ago by a native group called the Iban; commercial logging began in the 1960s, and the development of oil palm plantations began recently. I describe the changes in land use as well as their social and economic causes by referring to aerial photographs, literature surveys, interviews with government officers and the Iban, and observation of land use. My analysis of land use demonstrates that on “state land”, where commercial logging and oil palm plantation development are occurring, large areas of forest have been disturbed in a short period of time. The objective is to benefit economically in response to the social and economic conditions surrounding the study area. On the other hand, in the “Iban territory,” where the Iban practice their land use, land conversion has not occurred on a large scale and in a short period of time, even though the forest has been cut and agricultural fields have been created in response to social and economic conditions as well. They disperse small agricultural fields throughout their forest land. Therefore, the landscape of the “Iban territory” is based on secondary forest, composed of patches of forest in various stages and with several types of agricultural land. Today in Sarawak, monocrop plantations are rapidly expanding and little primeval forest remains. Given these conditions, the land-use practices of natives such as the Iban will be evaluated from the viewpoint of ecosystem and biodiversity conservation. It could play an important role in providing habitats for natural wildlife.     

Sacred Forest, Hunting, and Conservation in West Kalimantan, Indonesia

In a number of places, sacred forest sites play an important role in conservation and local livelihoods. Here we examine how Iban hunters and animals alike use sacred forest in West Kalimantan, Indonesia. To determine the relative importance of different sites in hunting, we compare hunting effort, animal species and their numbers encountered by hunters, and encounters and captures in a variety of forest sites including sacred groves. We relate the results to the role of such sites in the overall Iban agroforestry system and in the conservation of forest habitat that professional conservationists deem precious. Such land use practices, while having social and religious origins, may be important for local economic purposes, but they may also be valuable in promoting and enhancing the more global goals of biodiversity conservation.     

Saving Slash-and-Burn to Save Biodiversity

Several prominent articles have recently revived the debate on how to advance and reconcile two pressing global issues: conservation of biodiversity, and food production for an increasing human population. These discussions contrast a ‘land-sparing/intensive agriculture’ strategy with a ‘biodiversity-friendly’ agriculture approach. We propose that swidden or shifting cultivation should be an important component of the latter approach in the tropics because many swidden systems maintain very high levels of biodiversity while providing livelihood for populations in tropical forest areas worldwide. We suggest further that when many swidden systems are viewed without prejudice and in broader spatial and longer temporal perspectives, the conservationist aspects of the systems become evident.     

Agricultural intensification in a Philippine frontier community: Impact on labor efficiency and farm diversity

There continues to be much debate in anthropology concerning the mechanism by which agricultural intensification takes place and its impact on labor efficiency, farm diversity, and quality of diet. A major reason for this lack of consensus is the paucity of data from case studies that focus on specific agricultural systems at the point of transition from extensive to intensive methods of cultivation. Research in a frontier community in the Philippines, where farmers are making the shift from swidden cultivation to small-scale irrigated rice production, indicates that intensification does not necessarily result in lower efficiency or a decline in dietary standards. Rather, farmers faced with growing population pressure and an unproductive short fallow swidden system have been motivated to adopt irrigation because it increases the efficiency of their labor while maintaining a reliable and diverse farming system.     

Ancestry of the Iban is predominantly Southeast Asian: genetic evidence from autosomal, mitochondrial, and Y chromosomes

Humans reached present-day Island Southeast Asia (ISEA) in one of the first major human migrations out of Africa. Population movements in the millennia following this initial settlement are thought to have greatly influenced the genetic makeup of current inhabitants, yet the extent attributed to different events is not clear. Recent studies suggest that south-to-north gene flow largely influenced present-day patterns of genetic variation in Southeast Asian populations and that late Pleistocene and early Holocene migrations from Southeast Asia are responsible for a substantial proportion of ISEA ancestry. Archaeological and linguistic evidence suggests that the ancestors of present-day inhabitants came mainly from north-to-south migrations from Taiwan and throughout ISEA approximately 4,000 years ago. We report a large-scale genetic analysis of human variation in the Iban population from the Malaysian state of Sarawak in northwestern Borneo, located in the center of ISEA. Genome-wide single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers analyzed here suggest that the Iban exhibit greatest genetic similarity to Indonesian and mainland Southeast Asian populations. The most common non-recombining Y (NRY) and mitochondrial (mt) DNA haplogroups present in the Iban are associated with populations of Southeast Asia. We conclude that migrations from Southeast Asia made a large contribution to Iban ancestry, although evidence of potential gene flow from Taiwan is also seen in uniparentally inherited marker data.     

Folk taxonomy and evolutionary dynamics of cassava: A case study in Ubatuba, Brazil

A survey was conducted of Caicara farmers from Ubatuba in the Brazilian coastland between São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro States regarding the folk-taxonomy for cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) landraces they cultivate and cassava evolutionary dynamics in swidden cultivation. The accuracy of their folk taxonomy was assessed. Cluster analysis was used to make comparisons between names given by the farmers to sampled individuals and their isozyme phenotypes obtained with four isozyme systems. Interviews with farmers were done and ethnobiological data collected. These farmers possess a loose taxonomic system and tend to underestimate cassava genetic diversity in their gardens. However, classification skills vary considerably among them. The accuracy of their taxonomy along with the results of interviews with farmers and ethnobiological data are discussed in light of a proposed evolutionary dynamics model for cultivated cassava and its ecology in tropical swidden cultivation.     

Consequences of Swidden Transitions for Crop and Fallow Biodiversity in Southeast Asia

Swidden agriculture, once the dominant form of land use throughout the uplands and much of the lowlands of Southeast Asia, is being replaced by other land uses. While change and adaptation are inherent to swiddening, the current rapid and widespread transitions are unprecedented. In this paper we review some recent findings on changes in biodiversity, especially plant diversity at various scales, as swidden farming is replaced by other land uses. We focus particularly on two areas of Southeast Asia: northern Thailand and West Kalimantan. We examine actual and potential changes in the diversity of crops that characterize regional swidden systems, as well as that of the spontaneously occurring plants that appear in swidden fields and fallows. Severe declines in plant diversity have been observed in most areas and at most spatial scales when swidden is replaced by permanent land use systems. However, shifts away from swidden agriculture do not invariably result in drastic declines or losses of biological diversity, but may maintain or even enhance it, particularly at finer spatial scales. We suggest that further research is necessary to understand the effects of swidden transitions on biodiversity.     

Variation in Swidden practices in four central Brazilian Indian societies

It has been suggested that indigenous tropical forest agriculture, in contrast with other agricultural systems, is characterized by a high degree of polyculture, and, being similar in diversity to the forest itself, has little disturbing effect on the generalized ecosystem that surrounds native gardens. Our comparative study of four Central Brazilian Indian groups shows, however, that while each of these groups practices polyculture to some extent, the crop mix found in their swidden plots is highly patterned, and includes single crop stands at certain stages of garden life. Different crops are planted in the same swidden plot from year to year, in accordance with variation in soil fertility within the swidden cycle. None of the swiddens we observed compares in complexity to the surrounding forest. We suggest that polyculture, rather than being regarded as the distinguishing characteristic of swidden cultivation, should be considered as a varying dimension—along with other variables such as use of wild plants, soil fertility and exhaustion, tillage practices, the introduction of novel crops, and production for the market—within the overall subsistence strategy of a group.     

Who Counts? Demography of Swidden Cultivators in Southeast Asia

Swidden cultivators are often found as a distinct category of farmers in the literature, but rarely appear in population censuses or other national and regional classifications. This has led to a worldwide confusion on how many people are dependent on this form of agriculture. The most often cited number of 200–300 million dates back to the early 1970s, but the source is obscure. We assess available, published data from nine countries in Southeast Asia and conclude that on this basis it is not possible to provide a firm estimate of the number of swidden cultivators in the region. A conservative range of 14–34 million people engaged in swidden cultivation in the region is suggested, however. We argue that along with improved knowledge of swidden livelihoods, there is an urgent need to develop techniques that will allow for better estimates of swidden populations in order to secure appropriate rural development and poverty reduction in swidden areas.     

从社区林业的观点探讨西双版纳刀耕火种农业生态系统的演化

1　引　言西双版纳地处我国西南边陲 ,东、南、西三面分别与缅甸、老挝接壤。由于地处热带最北缘 ,是热带与亚热带的交汇地带 ,动植物资源非常丰富 ,一直被誉为“动植物王国的明珠”。近 2× 1 0 4 ｋｍ2(全国总面积的 0 .2 % )分布了我国 2 5%的植物。但是 ,由于几十年不合理的政策和技术指导 ,1 950～ 1 985年期间森林覆盖率从 63%降到 34% ,其中包括了大面积的人工林如橡胶林和其它热带经济林 ,即有林地面积为 6 67× 1 0 5ｈａ ,其中保护区2 0× 1 0 5ｈａ,约占 1 /3。其他国有林 (包括国营橡胶林 )占 1 /3多 ,集体林和自留山占 1 /3多…     

高黎贡山地区民族植物学的研究Ⅰ.勒墨人

应用民族植物学的方法,对生活在云南西部高黎贡山东坡的勒墨人进行了调查。主要研究结果如下勒墨人对野生植物及环境有较大的依赖性;从 事刀耕火种轮歇栽培,并种植漆树(Toxicodendron vernicifiuum)和桤木(Alnus nepalensis)以促进轮歇地的休闲管理;栽培和管理漆树、收割生漆交换或出售,是勒墨人轮歇农业的一大特色;他们采集利用60余种野生食用植物和100余种药用植物,云黄连(Coptis teeta)和贝母(Fritillaria cirrhosa)等重要药材用于同外界进行物资交换;在对自然界的崇拜过程中,勒墨人对当地生物多样性的保护起到了积极的作用。     

Hunting Primates and Managing Forests: The Case of Iban Forest Farmers in Indonesian Borneo

Hunting by Iban forest farmers in West Kalimantan, Indonesia, is an important part of their subsistence economy, and as such became a focus of study as part of a conservation project in the Danau Sentarum Wildlife Reserve. In this paper, we examine Iban hunting of nonhuman primates with comparison to other large mammals. We analyze rates of encounter and capture, comparing encounters, hunting trips, and animal numbers. Information on habitats hunted shows the importance of secondary and old growth forest. Also examined are Iban attitudes, game preferences, and taboos. The significance of these findings is discussed with regard to the threats to wildlife from increases in the use of shotguns, human population, and habitat destruction, showing that conservation may be aided by promoting or enhancing certain aspects of the traditional Iban agroforestry system.     

Palms,Pastures, and Swidden Fields: The Grounded Political Ecology of “Agro-Extractive/Shifting-cultivator Peasants” in Maranhão,Brazil

This article examines transformations associated with changes in resource use and land cover dynamics in the community of São Manoel, Maranhão state, in the eastern Brazilian Amazon. The shifting cultivator peasants in São Manoel integrate swidden fields for annual cropping, the extraction of babassu palm products, and pastures for cattle ranching. Since the early twentieth century, predominant vegetative cover patterns have been altered from species-rich mature forests to secondary succession with babassu dominant to pasture or swidden fields containing palm stands of various densities. A grounded political ecology of resource use in the area suggests that management strategies and the resulting land cover dynamics integrate site-specific decisions of peasant producers. I discuss the trajectory of production strategies in São Manoel since the establishment of the community in the 1920s, and identify the multiple dimensions affecting resource use and environmental outcomes, with an emphasis on the period following land struggles and the recovery of peasant tenure rights in the mid-1980s. The analysis indicates that socionatural trajectories that optimize resource use and address the socioeconomic needs of the community include the maintenance of palm/pastures associations.