Balancing shifting cultivation and forest conservation: lessons from a “sustainable landscape” in southeastern Mexico

Abstract

Shifting cultivation is often perceived to be a threat to forests, but it is also central to the culture and livelihoods of millions of people worldwide. Balancing agriculture and forest conservation requires knowledge of how agricultural land uses evolve in landscapes with forest conservation initiatives. Based on a case study from Quintana Roo, Mexico, and remote sensing data, we investigated land use and land cover change (LUCC) in relation to accessibility (from main settlement and road) in search of evidence for agricultural expansion and/or intensification after the initiation of a community forestry program in 1986. Intensification was through a shortening of the fallow period. Defining the sampling space as a function of human needs and accessibility to agricultural resources was critical to ensure a user-centered perspective of the landscape. The composition of the accessible landscape changed substantially between 1976 and 1997. Over the 21-year period studied, the local population saw the accessible landscape transformed from a heterogeneous array of different successional stages including mature forests to a landscape dominated by young fallows. We detected a dynamic characterized by intensification of shifting cultivation in the most accessible areas with milpas being felled more and more from young fallows in spite of a preference for felling secondary forests. We argue that the resulting landscape provides a poorer resource base for sustaining agricultural livelihoods and discuss ways in which agricultural change could be better addressed through participatory land use planning. Balancing agricultural production and forest conservation will become even more important in a context of intense negotiations for carbon credits, an emerging market that is likely to drive future land changes worldwide.

Traditional shifting agriculture: tracking forest carbon stock and biodiversity through time in western Panama

“…Our results support the view that shifting cultivation can have a transitory impact on forest carbon stocks and may contribute to the maintenance of ecosystem services, such as carbon reservoirs in human-modified landscapes (Ickowitz, 2006;Fischer et al, 2008;Harvey et al, 2008;DeClerck et al, 2010;Padoch & Pinedo-Vasquez, 2010). Of course, the intensification of land-use practices, including shortening of the fallow period, may change these conditions (Eaton & Lawrence, 2009;Dalle et al, 2011;Robiglio & Sinclair, 2011).…”

Spatial and temporal dynamics of shifting cultivation in the middle-Amazonas river: Expansion and intensification

“…Carrying the produce over longer distances [43]) is unpractical and inhabitants of the study area acknowledged that fallow period has been recently shortened because “forest is too far” to open new fields (c.f. [13, 42]).…”

Linking Remote Sensing, Census and Interview Data to Understand Forest Transitions in the Southern Cone of the State of Yucatán, México

“…Oxkutzcab was dominated by commercial agriculture production with no evidence of cattle ranching and an intermediary amount of locally grown produce was sold there. A complex pattern of livelihood strategies also occurs in the southern region of the Yucatán Peninsula, including subsistence maize, commercial chili cultivation, wage labor, pasture production, and conservation land uses such as harvest of non-timber forest products (Chowdhury 2010, Dalle et al 2011. The hierarchical system of distribution that was implemented in the southern cone of the state of Yucatán as a result of a neoliberal federal policy also reveals the connections between local markets and global agricultural production, as does the increase in commercial chili pepper production in Campeche (Keys 2004, Klepeis & Vance 2003.…”

“…The relationship that people have with the land and their land use choices also depends on their length of residence in the area, with long-time residents typically practicing diversified subsistence strategies that have less of an adverse environmental impact than the commercial agriculture typically practiced by immigrants from central and northern México who moved to the region during the agrarian reform of 1994 (Chowdhury 2010, Gurri 2010 (Bray et al 2004). A more localized analysis of land cover change in Senor, communally held (ejido) lands in central Quintana Roo, between 1976 and 1997 showed a shift in landscape from one dominated by heterogeneous tracts of land in different successional stages, including mature forest, to one consisting almost exclusively of young fallows (Dalle et al 2011).…”

“…Policies leading to the establishment of large common property forests for non-timber forest product extraction and institutions to manage these forests sustainably are critical in maintaining existing forest cover (Bray et al 2004). Increases in deforestation in the region may be due to agricultural expansion and intensification as a result of the implementation of a community forestry program in 1984 (Plan Piloto Forestal), in-migration, increase in wage labor and off-farm activities, changes in agricultural policies, and the increase of non-ejiditarios (Dalle et al 2011).…”