Publication

This paper focuses on the stance that international lenders, agencies and foundations, as well as national and local governments have held toward the shifting of traditional cultivation practices by farmers in many mountainous areas of Southeast Asia. The author states that the attempt to modernize those practices has actually contributed to deforestation, a loss of biodiversity and a reduction in carbon storage. The report suggests that shifting cultivation may be ecologically appropriate, culturally suitable and under certain circumstances the best means for preserving biodiversity in the region.