Saving Slash-and-Burn to Save Biodiversity

• Published in: Biotropica Vol. 42; no. 5; pp. 550 - 552
• Main Authors: Padoch, Christine, Pinedo-Vasquez, Miguel
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Malden, USA Malden, USA : Blackwell Publishing Inc 01.09.2010; Blackwell Publishing Inc; Wiley Subscription Services
• Subjects: Agriculture; Agrobiodiversity; Biodiversity; Biodiversity conservation; Biological diversity; Conservation; Crop production; cultivation; Environmental conservation; Food; Food crops; Food production; Forest conservation; human populations; Intensive production; Landscape conservation; Shifting cultivation; slash and burn; SPECIAL SECTION: 2010 INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF BIODIVERSITY; Sustainable agriculture; swidden agriculture; Tropical environments; tropical forests
• ISSN: 0006-3606; 1744-7429
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1744-7429.2010.00681.x

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.