The Alternatives to Slash and Burn (asb) research program in northern Thailand seeks to understand land use change in the mountainous mainland Southeast Asia (mmsea) ecoregion and to develop technologies and policies that can improve land use management and human welfare in the region. The mmsea includes the large region of hill and mountain terrain that joins the Himalayan mountains in southwestern China and extends through northern portions of Myanmar Thailand and Laos to Vietnam in the east (figure 16.1). Several major river systems flow through or have head -waters in this region also long known for its diverse ethnic composition and complex mosaic patterns of traditional land use that include shifting cultivation. Because this region also includes most of what remains of mainland Southeast Asia’s rapidly dwindling forest resources it is the focus of increasing environmental concern related to the use and management of surface water and biodiversity and to global climate change.
Publication year
2005
Authors
Suraswadi, P.; Thomas, D.E.; Pragtong, K.; Preechapanya, P.; Weyerhaeuser, H.
Keywords
Land use, Mountains, Smallholders
