) are senior fell ows in envi ro n m en t a l s tu d i e s , Ea s t-West Cen ter, Ho n ol u l u , and Ngh i em Phuong Tuyen (email: tuyen @ u plands.ac.vn) are re se a rch ers at, and Le Trong Cuc (em a i l :c u c @ u plands.ac.vn) is dire ctor of , the Cen ter for Re sou rce and Envi ro n m ental Stu d i e s , Vi etnam Na tional Un ivers i ty, Ha n o i , 1 6 7 Bui Thi Xu a n , Ha n o i , Vi etn a m . Step h en Lei sz (e-mail: s j lv m @ f pt.vn) is GIS/monito ring and eva l u a tion advi so r, C A R E In tern a tional in

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Shifting cultivation, Vietnam, land cover change, land cover fragmentation.To assess the role of shifting cultivation as a driving force of land cover change we examined the social, cultural, economic, and spatial dynamics of land use in a Vietnamese village. Instead of the denuded landscapes associated with shifting cultivation, the landscape of Tat hamlet is composed of a heterogeneous mosaic of fields, pastures, and forest patches in various stages of secondary succession. Failure to see secondary forests, let al.one the benefits of secondary forests, has led to government policies encouraging permanent agriculture -most of which have failed. Failure to account for the effects of landscape heterogeneity also means that significant effects of land cover change are not being recognized.