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Plots showing total carbon accumulation across the three habitats, farmland, secondary forest with age, and old-growth forest plots in Nagaland, northeast India. Black line in secondary forest (age in years) shows fitted linear mixed-effect model.
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Shifting cultivation dominates many tropical forest regions. It is expanding into old‐growth forests, and fallow period duration is rapidly decreasing, limiting secondary forest recovery. Shifting cultivation is thus a major driver of carbon emissions through deforestation and forest degradation, and of biodiversity loss. The impacts of shifting cu...
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Citations
... India (Bhuyan, 2019;Borah et al., 2022a). In Northeast India, the cropping cycle is frequently one year; however, the fallow period ranges from six to twenty-seven years (Borah et al., 2018(Borah et al., , 2022a. The N. E. India is mostly hilly, undulating and ecologically fragile terrain. ...
The Himalayan region occupies 18% of the Indian subcontinent. In Indian Himalayas, the Eastern Himalayas is represented by North-East India covering more than 50% of the total area. In this region, terrace farming (TF) together with shifting cultivation (SC)/jhum/swidden are the most important livelihood sources of local tribes since early days. In India, more than 80% of the land under SC lies in the North-East region. The species cultivated in SC present the cultural significance of the respective tribes, while many endemic species together with genetic resources are conserved. Hence, the eradication of SC is not a viable approach to agrobiodiversity and forest conservation. Rapid industrial development and demographic changes have reduced SC and TF. However, uncontrolled deforestation in many regions for SC with a reduced fallow period has caused a reduction in the carbon sink, nutrients, soil fertility, forest cover, productivity, topsoil erosion, loss of biodiversity including microbiota, and climate change. Contours in TF conserve soil, retain moisture/nutrients, and soil productivity. However, TFs have been abandoned pertaining to rugged terrains, steep topography, poorly designed agriculture tools, irrigation difficulties, transport networks, demographic changes etc. Ecosystem restoration and conservation with economic objectives are often not effective and limit fallow regeneration. Therefore, it is worthwhile to study traditional agricultural practices and their challenges in productivity for the conservation of the agroecosystems in the Indian Eastern Himalayas. The policies for livelihood security as per the sustainable development goals (SDGs) and agroecological elements [Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO)] for agricultural management are also addressed.
... Future studies should collect more detailed information on shifting cultivation in field surveys, especially biomass in shifting cultivation landscapes (e.g. Salinas-Melgoza et al 2017, Borah et al 2018, Gogoi et al 2020. Third, the carbon estimation only considered aboveground biomass change and no other carbon pools due to a lack of field survey data on those carbon pools. ...
Although shifting cultivation is the major land use type in Laos, the spatial-temporal patterns and the associated carbon emissions of shifting cultivation in Laos are largely unknown. This study provides a nationwide analysis of the spatial-temporal patterns of shifting cultivation and estimations of the associated carbon emissions in Laos over the last three decades. This study found that shifting cultivation has been expanding and intensifying in Laos, especially in the last 5 years. The newly cultivated land from 2016 to 2020 accounted for 4.5% (±1.2%) of the total land area of Laos. Furthermore, the length of fallow periods has been continuously declining, indicating that shifting cultivation is becoming increasingly intensive. Combining biomass derived from Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation and shifting cultivation maps and area estimates, we found that the net carbon emissions from shifting cultivation declined in 2001-2015 but increased in 2016-2020. The largest carbon source is conversion from intact forests to shifting cultivation, which contributed to 89% of the total emissions from 2001 to 2020. In addition, there were increased emissions from intensified use of fallow lands. This research provides useful information for policymakers in Laos to understand the changes in shifting cultivation and improve land use management. This study not only supports Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation reporting for Laos but also provides a methodology for tracking carbon emissions and removals of shifting cultivation.
... Our Smallholder shifting cultivation is often named among the principal tropical deforestation drivers (Hosonuma et al., 2012); in the Central African Congo Basin, it is identified as the major cause of forest loss (Tyukavina et al., 2018). Our results, however, confirm different trends observed in Latin America where small-scale subsistence agriculture has a much lesser role in deforestation compared to commercial agriculture and cattle raising (75%) (Borah et al., 2018). In México, shifting cultivation has been associated with degradation, related to Our research shows that shifting cultivation and selective logging do not lead to forest degradation, because forest biomass and its changes in such areas did not differ from conserved mature forest. ...
Evaluation and monitoring of forest biomass are important to help combat global warming and conserve biodiversity. Above ground biomass (AGB) mapping has been effectively used to assess forest loss, degradation, and recovery in the tropics. In this
study, temporal (2007, 2010, and 2015) AGB maps were
developed for the MayanZone of the Yucatan Peninsula, México integrating vegetation data from the NationalForest Inventory (NFI) with synthetic aperture radar (SAR) image data (ALOS PALSAR). We assess if degradation could be attributed to the land use categories present in the study area: selectively logged forest, shifting agriculture, permanent commercial cultivation, and conservation forest. Spatial autoregressive models are applied to determine differences in AGB dynamics between land use categories, compared to baselines of mature conserved forest. We find that forest biomass remains stable in
the study area. AGB does not differ in selectively logged areas compared to conserved mature forests. Biomass losses are observed due to deforestation for commercial cropping and pasture. AGB in shifting agriculture areas, however, fluctuates
and shows a slight gain from 2007 to 2015. AGB mapping using NFI data and SAR imagery has the potential for monitoring forest loss and degradation on the Yucatan Peninsula.
... Shifting cultivation is one of the oldest forms of agriculture and millions of people across the tropics depend fully or partly on the system for their livelihood and food security [8,9] . Due to the central practice of slashing and burning vegetation to prepare fields, the system is often portrayed as a source of GHG emissions and a driver of deforestation [10,11] . ...
... Critics, therefore, argue that to mitigate climate change and limit deforestation and forest degradation, shifting cultivation must be eradicated or reduced [10,12,13] . Accordingly, many countries in the Global South (particularly in Asia) have included eradication or "stabilization" of shifting cultivation in their strategies to reduce GHG emissions and adopted policies aimed at limiting the land area used for shifting cultivation or prohibiting the practice altogether while instead, promoting intensified agriculture or plantations (e.g., rubber, oil palm) that are perceived as sustainable alternatives [9,14,15] . However, empirical data on C emissions from shifting cultivation, and the promoted alternatives, are limited and much of the information that serves as the basis for such land use policies is inconsistent or has been misconstrued [16][17][18] . ...
... It was beyond the scope of this paper to discuss the CFP of the land use types that are currently replacing shifting cultivation in many areas -often with the encouragement of land use policies claiming to reduce the climate change impacts of land use systems. A recent pan-tropical meta-study concluded that shifting cultivation is mainly replaced by monocrop tree plantations, annual crops, permanent agroforestry systems and regrowing secondary vegetation [66] , and while positive environmental outcomes prevail for transitions to permanent agroforestry and regrowing secondary vegetation, most of the transitions resulted in negative outcomes for the environment (including a decrease in carbon storage) [9,28,59,66,70] . ...
Shifting cultivation, a rotational land use system widely practiced in tropical regions, is often blamed for contributing to climate change due to the perceived association with deforestation and resulting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from slash and burn activities. This concern is often used to justify the implementation of national land use policies aiming at restricting or eradicating shifting cultivation while encouraging alternative land use systems. However, the contribution of shifting cultivation to global climate change is questionable. This study summarizes the available-and unavailable-data and knowledge required to calculate the carbon footprint (CFP) of shifting cultivation and highlights the methodological challenges and problematic assumptions that lie therein. Data on carbon stocks of fallows are found to be incomplete with large unexplained variation in the relationship between fallow age and carbon stocks of above-and belowground vegetation, and studies from Africa are under-represented. Knowledge of GHG emissions during burning is limited and associated with unsubstantiated assumptions on combustion completeness and emissions factors that represent important sources of uncertainty. Data on the global extent of shifting cultivation is coarse, and spatially explicit data on the rotation intensity of these systems is unavailable, thus hindering any upscaling of CFP calculations. Finally, it is concluded that the contribution of shifting cultivation to deforestation remains unclear, with remote sensing-based studies likely overestimating the scale of this due to methodological flaws. This review calls for caution when interpreting data on GHG emissions from shifting cultivation and suggests ways of addressing the identified data gaps.
... These variations in the practice have led to different perceptions of the practice. These range from being considered as a sustainable practice well adapted to the communities and their environment to a highly wasteful, unproductive practice requiring vast swathes of land, as well as a driver of soil degradation and more recently carbon losses and greenhouse gas emissions Maithani, 2005; for the former view and Bandy, Garrity, and Sanchez, 1993;Borah, Evans, and Edwards, 2018;Kotto-Same, Woomer, Appolinaire, et al., 1997;Nath, Sahoo, Giri, et al., 2020 for the latter view). Irrespective of this wide spectrum, governments and policies in most countries have largely focused on eradicating, modifying, or improving the practice and providing alternatives to reduce the communities' dependence on it without acknowledging and appreciating the nuances of the practice (Ickowitz, 2006;O'Brien, 2002). ...
... In recent times, there have been relatively more studies appreciating shifting cultivation, while there are some studies that continue to reprimand the practice (e.g., Borah, Evans, and Edwards, 2018;Nath, Sahoo, Giri, et al., 2020). Even among the studies that appreciate its nuances and the cultural aspects of the farming communities, our study is on the extreme end of this spectrum due to at least three factors. ...
Shifting cultivation, or is popularly known as Jhum in North East India, is being practised in Northeast India since time immemorial. However, time and again it has been observed that the tribal communities of the Northeast are discouraged from practicing Jhum due to the prevalent narrative that Jhum is primitive and unsustainable, which leads to biodiversity loss, habitat fragmentation, and carbon emission. However, new global research has challenged this view and recent publication of Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) suggests the need for re-examination of such perceptions. Many scholars and researchers have pointed out the fact that Jhum is not merely an alternative method of farming but a form of landscape management that has not only evolved over centuries of experimentation but is also inseparable from the culture and the way of life of those who continue to practice Jhum. However, with modernization and changing society in Northeast India, this tradition is currently in transition and possibly declining due to increasing economic and financial aspirations of Jhum cultivators rather than by the environmental concerns associated with the practice. Hence, it becomes imperative to understand the role of shifting cultivation for sustainable development in the present context.
Through this book volume, we envisage to gather wisdom pertaining to shifting cultivation in Northeast India, providing useful knowledge and lessons so that these traditional practices and knowledge can contribute to sustainable development in India and beyond.
... To adhere to the pledge, approximately 9.8-million-hectare degraded land have been restored across India between 2011 and 2017, with major efforts from various government agencies (94.4% of restored land) and significant contributions from NGOs (3.6% of restored land) and private companies (2% of restored land) (Bhattacharjee, 2020). Effective implementation of forest landscape restoration (FLR) principles across deforested landscape is one of the most practical ways of achieving these national targets and international commitments (Borah et al., 2018). ...
... Other major afforestation programmes that ensured land restoration in India include: National afforestation programme, Green India mission, The Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) Act 2016. Other pertinent schemes and programmes which are included under the umbrella of the Twenty Point Programme are National Agroforestry Policy, National Bamboo Mission, National Green Highway Mission, and National Mission for a Clean Ganga and Nagar Van Yojana (Borah et al., 2018). ...
The recent declaration of 'UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration' recognizes the need to massively accelerate global restoration of degraded and human altered ecosystems to provide multiple environmental benefits, including mitigation of climate change impacts. Commitment to various global obligations like UNCCD and SDG-15 to achieve land degradation neutrality, sustainable land management and enhanced resilience of vulnerable populations and ecosystems requires concerted efforts at national, regional and local levels. In view of strengthening the efforts towards achieving the land neutrality the present study attempts to provide the status of 8 restoration sites located across subtropical to temperate region of Pithoragarh and Champawat districts in west Himalaya, which now contributes to ex-situ and in-situ biodiversity conservation, carbon sequestration, soil conservation and sustenance of local inhabitants, etc. The results of survival percentage revealed that most of the species planted at Jajut site showed better survival with an average of 69% as compared to Digtoli (59%) and Naikina (62%) after 3 years of plantation. Quercus leucotrichophora showed maximum survival percentage (72%) at all the sites followed by Q. glauca (63%), whereas minimum survival (49%) was observed in Zanthoxylum armatum at Naikina site. At Champawat site, height of all planted species increased significantly (p < 0.05) in 2021 as compared to 2011. The carbon stock value increased from 40.02 Mg ha − 1 in 2011-65.53 Mg ha − 1 in 2021. Increase in carbon stock and carbon sequestration in restoration areas over past 10 years shows higher potential of native species for carbon storage and prospective role of restoration sites in long term carbon sink. The study also attempts to bring the results of restoration activities, implications and benefits to draw some prescription to support the policy and practice interface. The mentioned case studies would be helpful to understand the good practices of restoration for ecological & socioeconomic connect, and furtherance of efforts towards land restoration and biosphere integrity across Indian Himalayan Region (IHR).
... Landscape simulations draw inspiration from landscape ecology (Gardner et al., 1987;Peterson et al., 2003) and have been used extensively to assess a range of consequences from land-use policy and corresponding land-use change (Diebel et al., 2008;Gibon et al., 2010;Janssen et al., 2005;Wallin et al., 1994). In the simplest form, landscape simulation models allocate an expected proportion of landscape change (i.e., land use/land cover transitions) based on some set of rules (Borah et al., 2018;Castellazzi et al., 2010;Gibon et al., 2010;Van Dessel et al., 2008). Landscape simulation models have been used to evaluate the potential outcomes of incentive programs aimed at private landowner conservation behaviors (Bell et al., 2019;Pattanayak et al., 2004;Smith et al., 2016;Spies et al., 2007) as well as to evaluate potential land use and forest management response to carbon offset markets and market conditions (Borah et al., 2018;Cho et al., 2018;Latta et al., 2016). ...
... In the simplest form, landscape simulation models allocate an expected proportion of landscape change (i.e., land use/land cover transitions) based on some set of rules (Borah et al., 2018;Castellazzi et al., 2010;Gibon et al., 2010;Van Dessel et al., 2008). Landscape simulation models have been used to evaluate the potential outcomes of incentive programs aimed at private landowner conservation behaviors (Bell et al., 2019;Pattanayak et al., 2004;Smith et al., 2016;Spies et al., 2007) as well as to evaluate potential land use and forest management response to carbon offset markets and market conditions (Borah et al., 2018;Cho et al., 2018;Latta et al., 2016). However, to our knowledge, the use of landscape simulations to assess the outcome of forest carbon incentive programs remains rare in the forest policy and climate policy literature (but see Cho et al., 2019). ...
Privately-owned forests in the Pacific Northwest (PNW) are important potential carbon sinks and play a large role in carbon sequestration and storage. Non-industrial private forest (NIPF) owners constitute a substantial portion of overall forest landownership in productive regions of the PNW; however, little is known about their preferences for non-market incentive programs aimed at increased carbon storage and sequestration, specifically by limiting timber harvest, and how those preferences might impact the outcome of forest carbon programs. We simulated landscape-scale outcomes of hypothetical forest carbon incentive programs in western Oregon (USA) by combining empirical models of NIPF owners' participation with spatially explicit forest carbon storage and sequestration data. We surveyed landowners to determine their willingness to enroll in various hypothetical forest management incentive programs that varied in terms of harvest restrictions, contract length, annual payment and incentive payment amounts, and cost-share percentages, as well as the program framing (e.g., carbon versus forest health). We used multinomial logistic regression to model whether landowners might enroll based on program attributes, landowners' attitudes toward climate change and forest management, past and planned future forest harvest activities, and socio-demographics. We found that 36% of respondents stated that they would probably or definitely enroll in at least one of the hypothetical programs they were shown while 21% of respondents refused all programs that they were offered. Our final model of landowner willingness to enroll indicated that higher annual and higher cost-share payments were the strongest positive predictors of whether landowners would enroll vs. not enroll. Landowners' willingness to enroll was not influenced by program framing as either a “forest carbon” or a “forest health”; however, landowner attitudes toward climate change were the next strongest positive predictor of enrollment after annual and cost-share payments. By simulating landowner enrollment in six policy relevant program scenarios, we illustrate that carefully designed forest carbon incentive programs for NIPF owners could have tangible carbon protection benefits (16.25 to 50.31 MMT CO2e cumulative) at relatively low costs per MT CO2e ($3.60 to $7.70). We highlight tradeoffs between maximizing enrollment in forest carbon incentive programs and providing longer term protection of carbon. This research contributes to the literature on the design of potential forest carbon incentive programs and communication about forest carbon management, as well as aims to aid policy makers and program administrators that seek ways to engage private landowners in carbon-oriented forest management.
... Meta-analysis suggests that tropical secondary forests take at least 48 years to reach 80% of the species richness of old-growth forest, but with variation across taxa and locations (Norgrove & Beck, 2016). This average recovery time is much longer than the typical shifting cultivation cycle, which traditionally is around 20-30 years in most regions (Spencer, 1966) but has frequently been reduced to <5 years (6-27 years in Nagaland; Borah et al., 2018) due to increasing human population densities and associated demand for agricultural land (Ramakrishnan & Patnaik, 1992;Schmidt-Vogt et al., 2009;Thong et al., 2018). ...
... Carbon-based payments for ecosystem services (PES) schemes, including the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) program initiated by United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), present an opportunity to protect old-growth and secondary forests from further clearing in shifting cultivation landscapes (Borah et al., 2018). ...
... PES schemes can potentially help to protect old-growth forest from conversion to shifting cultivation and can also promote permanent abandonment of older fallows to maximize carbon sequestration via recovery of secondary forest. Previous studies suggest that sparing old-growth forests from deforestation and intensifying cropping in the remaining area of shifting cultivation under REDD+ can maximize landscape-level carbon stocks while maintaining food production, and that in areas lacking old-growth forest, substantial carbon stocks can be stored by sparing old fallows for permanent forest regeneration (Borah et al., 2018). ...
Aim
Shifting cultivation is a widespread land‐use in many tropical countries that also harbours significant levels of biodiversity. Increasing frequency of cultivation cycles and expansion into old‐growth forests have intensified the impacts of shifting cultivation on biodiversity and carbon sequestration. We assessed how bird diversity responds to shifting cultivation and the potential for co‐benefits for both biodiversity and carbon in such landscapes to inform carbon‐based payments for ecosystem service (PES) schemes.
Location
Nagaland, Northeast India.
Methods
We surveyed above‐ground carbon stocks and bird communities across various stages of a shifting cultivation system and old‐growth forest using composite carbon sampling plots and repeated point counts directly overlaying the carbon plots in both summer and winter. We assessed species diversity using species accumulation and rarefaction curves based on Hill numbers. We fitted a linear mixed‐effect model to assess the relationship between species richness and fallow age. We also examined possible co‐benefits between carbon and biodiversity from fallow regeneration in terms of relative community similarity to old‐growth forest across carbons stocks.
Results
Farmland and secondary forests regenerating on fallowed land had similar bird species richness to old‐growth forests in summer and relatively higher species richness in winter. Within regenerating fallows, we did not find any strong evidence that fallow age influenced bird species richness. Bird community resemblance to old‐growth forest increased with secondary forest maturity, correlating also with carbon stocks in summer. However, bird community assemblage did not show a strong association with habitat types and carbon stocks during winter.
Main conclusions
This study underscores the important role of traditional non‐intensive shifting cultivation in providing refuges for biodiversity within heterogeneous habitat mosaics. Effectively managing these landscapes is crucial for both biodiversity conservation and carbon sequestration in the subtropics.
... Previous studies reported that secondary forests can gain half of the aboveground biomass of an old-growth forest within 30 years (Mukul et al. 2016;Melgoza et al. 2017;Borah et al. 2018). However, in the present study, the 12-15 year old fallow acquired 41.75% of the aboveground biomass of the NF. ...
Shifting cultivation has been the primary cause of forest degradation and destruction. Secondary forests are spreading around the globe and hence the importance of secondary forests has been recognised and its growth could help to alleviate the effects of deforestation and supplement existing conservation efforts. Various complex processes occur in regenerating secondary forests; in the initial stages, the forests are dominated by herbs and shrubs, and in the latter stages, trees predominate. The current study was carried out in Reiek forest, Mizoram, India at various phases of succession following abandonment in order to better understand biomass and carbon recovery in differently aged fallow periods (FP) and natural forest (NF). Fallow ages were divided into four categories: FP03, FP07, FP11, and FP15 (i.e., 0–3, 4–7, 8–11, and 12–15 years old), with three additional experimental plots in NF for comparison. In this study the biomass and carbon in standing vegetation were estimated. The soil organic carbon (SOC) was also quantified. We found that all the fallow ages and NF were significantly different in biomass, carbon stock, and SOC. Longer fallow period (FP) stores more biomass and carbon than shorter FP. Total biomass stock (TBS) of more than 42% and total carbon stock (TCS) of more than 43% of NF was achieved in plots abandoned for 12–15 years. Although SC fallow takes longer period to recover to a forest, they perform a crucial role as a carbon sink in the atmosphere.
... It can provide a diverse, extended, and nutritional food supply with lower pest pressures and higher surrounding biodiversity (FAO, n.d.). Carbon sequestration within the production area is also enhanced (Borah et al., 2018). Shifting cultivation, when "managed sustainably from the viewpoints of both natural resource management and household food security under conditions of sufficient and legally recognized access to land (Erni, 2015, p. viii), remains a suitable system for many Indigenous Peoples around the world. ...
Among food practices that foster climate resilience, traditional agricultural practices of Indigenous communities have been recognized and noted in recent times. These forms of agriculture include shifting cultivation and its adaptations across communities in the tropics. However, the policy narrative around shifting cultivation is rooted in its misunderstanding, as it was once seen as primitive and backward. New research and a reinterpretation of existing research present challenges to long-held policies that have discouraged and deterred the practice of shifting cultivation. With the onset of this new narrative is a call to action that seeks a rethinking by policymakers and governance actors around the nature and merits of traditional agriculture. Through the case study of Meghalaya, a small hilly state in the Northeastern region of India largely inhabited by Indigenous Peoples, this paper aims to provide the dominant narrative at the local context, evidence of the adaptations in shifting cultivation that contribute to sustainability, and the need to rethink policy relating to shifting cultivation at the local level.
