Rattan and Tea-Based Intensification of Shifting Cultivation by Hani Farmers in Southwestern China

he forest cover in the Xishuangbanna Prefecture of China’s Yunnan Province has decreased significantly, from 62.5% in 1950 to only 33.9% in 1985. According to the government census, the population has increased from 200,000 to nearly 800,000 over roughly the same time. Indigenous people, particularly swidden cultivators, are often blamed for destroying the forests of Xishuangbanna. The concept of carrying capacity is often applied in measuring population densities in agroecosystems. However, the potential for indigenous technological innovation and institutional evolution to contribute to increased carrying capacity is often ignored. For instance, swidden farmers have often accumulated comprehensive indigenous technical knowledge about crop selection, cropping patterns, and crop and land rotations. They have also learned how to use different microenvironments and niches within swidden agroecosystems in response to changes in biophysical or socioeconomic conditions. In addition, they have developed practices for enhancing forest regeneration. They protect useful tree species through successive swidden cycles, combine annual crops with perennial tree crops, selectively weed their fields to preserve forest tree seedlings, and plant favored trees and plants for both economic and ecological benefits. As stated by Warner (1991):