The Human Causes of Deforestation in Southeast Asia

Abstract

The Human Causes of Deforestation i n Southeast Asia The recurrent pattern is that of large-scale logging for exports, followed by agricultural expansion David M. Kummer and B. L. Turner II and-cover change is emerging as a central issue within the community concerned with global environmental change. The importance of this issue is attested by the emerging International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme and the Human Dimensions Programme's science agenda on Land-Use/Cover Change (IGBP-HDP LUCC; Turner et al. 1993), as well as the many international panels, workshops, and symposia devoted to the topic.

Mapping Process to Pattern in the Landscape Change of the Amazonian Frontier

“…While colonists account for ''infilling'' of the landscape with agricultural activity once they occupy their parcels, they themselves may not extend the frontier through road-building activities. After the development highways are in place, the expansion of the system is often the outcome of an interaction between loggers and farmers, both in Amazonia and elsewhere in the tropical forest biome (Leslie 1980;Myers 1980;Schmithusen 1980;Office of Technology Assessment 1984;Ross 1984;Walker 1987;Repetto and Gillis 1988;Walker and Smith 1993;Kummer and Turner 1994;Brookfield 1995). 11 Nevertheless, along development highways such as the Transamazon, roads may be extended after initial colonization due to the demand for land arising from late arrivals, and without much logger involvement.…”

“…In an early account addressing the global situation, Myers (1980) describes a process of invasive forest mobility, in which farmers follow loggers into newly opened forest. There, as they prepare the land for farming, they finish what the loggers started by taking down the trees that remain in the wake of selective logging (Leslie 1980;Myers 1980;Schmithusen 1980;Office of Technology Assessment 1984;Walker 1987;Repetto and Gillis 1988;Walker and Smith 1993;Kummer and Turner 1994;Brookfield, Potter, and Byron 1995). For the Amazonian case, Wood (1983) and Ozório de Almeida (1992) point to another connected process whereby land consolidation by wealthy ranchers induces migration on the part of smallholders, who must pick up and leave for unclaimed lands in primary and old-growth forest.…”

Stable Forest Cover under Increasing Populations of Swidden Cultivators in Central Laos: the Roles of Intrinsic Culture and Extrinsic Wildlife Trade

“…The loss is generally attributed to three main causes: (1) commercial logging, (2) commercial crop plantations, and (3) swidden agriculture, also known as "shifting cultivation" or "slash and burn" (Terborgh 1992, Dove 1993, Kummer and Turner 1994, Brady 1996. Although logging and commercial agriculture are universally recognized as detrimental to the region's forests and biodiversity, there is less consensus on the impact of traditional swidden agriculture.…”

Cambios en el uso del suelo en el municipio de Álamos, Sonora - México

“…Masera et al (1997), afirman que México se encuentra entre los más deforestados del mundo. Sin embargo, no existen análisis cuantitativos de la importancia relativa de estos factores con el cambio de la cobertura y el uso del terreno, ya que las interpretaciones de cómo éstos interactúan para estimular el cambio varían ampliamente de una región a otra (Skole et al, 1994, Kummer y Turner, 1994 (Medley et al, 1995y Pan et al, 1999. Los patrones de deforestación varían notablemente por regiones.…”