Slash & Burn

Palangkaraya, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia, September 2011. Photo by Rini Sulaiman for CIFOR Center for International Forestry Research⁴⁴.

Slash and burn is the process of cutting down existing trees and put them on fire to clear for new crops. This method is preferred by farmers and tribes for its efficiency ⁴³.

Burning forests releases carbon into the air, covering Indonesia and neighbouring Southeast Asian countries with a “choking haze”⁴³.

Indigenous tribes have practiced slash and burn agriculture before it has been adopted for commercial uses where the land burnt is permanently damaged.

Shifting cultivation is a type of temporary rotational farming which varies by region and cultural practices⁴⁵:

  1. Cutting down a small patch of land usually of 1ha.

  2. Leaving the trees, foliage and bushes to dry

  3. Dried vegetation is then burnt to give nutrients to the the soil for the planting season.

  4. After one or two harvests , the field is fallowed, leaving the forest to rest and recover. Fallow periods can be as short as 3 years or up to 30 years ⁴⁶.

  5. 2nd cycle begins on a new plot of forest land.

Shifting Cultivation

An example of the shifting cultivation cycle over 2 years, showing the clearing, cropping, abandonment and recovery of plots⁴⁷.