Role of Forest Farmers in Conversion of Tropical Moist Forests

Abstract

"By far the most important factor in conversion of tropical moist forests (TMF) appears to be the forest farmer. Of the various forms of forestland agriculture, the main ones are shifting cultivation of traditional style, smallholder agriculture of more recent style, and sundry types of squatter colonization. Shifting cultivation can likewise be categorized into variations in accord with local environmental factors in each of the three main TMF regions.

"A characteristic common to all forms of forest farming is that the farmer clears a patch of forest of virtually all its trees, and then usually burns the wood (locally the larger logs may be sold). Hence a generic term for forest farming could be slash-and-burn cultivation--a term that is frequently though erroneously used in the limited sense of shifting cultivation."