The global project on 'Alternatives to Slash and Burn' agriculture was initiated by a consortium of international and national research institutes to speed up
intensification of the use of convened forest land in order to help protect the f;"
remairling forest areas for their biodiversity values as well as role vis-a-vis
greenhouse gas emissions. In the first phase of the project benchmark areas
were chosen and fun her (:;haracterized in Brazil Camerbon and Indonesia. Data
for the Indonesian t)enchmark areas on Sumatera are discussed here in the light
of the hypothesis that '1ntensifying land use as alterrlative to slash-and-burn
farming can help to reduce deforestation conserve biodiversity reduce net
emission of greenhouse gasses and alleviate poverty' We conclude that this
t1ypothesis indicates only one of three necessary conditions. Apart from farmeradaptable
technologies effective protection of the remaining forests is needed as
well as a reduction of other driving forces of deforestation.
Publication year
1995
Authors
Murdiyarso, D.; Wasrin, U.R.; Hairiah, K.; Rachman, A.; Van, Noordwijk.M.
Keywords
Soil, Projects, Slash and burn agriculture
