Drivers of Deforestation: Facts to be considered regarding the impact of shifting cultivation in Asia

An estimated 260 million indigenous peoples live in Asia. Most of them inhabit forested uplands where a large number of them practice shifting cultivation, which is also called as swidden cultivation or rotational farming. For them, shifting cultivation is not merely a technique of farming; it is their ways of life. Government policies and laws have attempted to limit or outright ban shifting cultivation since it is considered a primitive and destructive form of land use. Recently, several governments of the region involved in REDD have identified shifting cultivation as a driver of deforestation in their REDD Readiness-Plan Idea Note (R-PIN) and Readiness Preparation Proposals (RPP).