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Upland agriculture, the land frontier and forest decline in the Philippines

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Abstract

Population pressure, expansion of small-scale agriculture and shifting cultivation are commonly cited as the causes of tropical deforestation. A close examination of deforestation and agriculture in the Philippine uplands reveals, however, that the vast majority of agriculturists must be sedentary farmers. In addition, the importance of population pressure as a cause of deforestation in the Philippines cannot be supported by the available evidence. Lastly, the concept of ‘arable land’ is shown to be of limited value in discussing upland agriculture in the Philippines.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Geography and George Perkins Marsh Institute, Clark University, 950 Main Street, 01610, Worcester, MA, USA

    D. M. Kummer

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Kummer, D.M. Upland agriculture, the land frontier and forest decline in the Philippines. Agroforest Syst 18, 31–46 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00114815

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