By: Cheryl Palm (Editor), Stephen A. Vosti (Editor), Pedro Antonio Sanchez (Editor), Polly J. Ericksen (Editor)

Hardcover

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Every year about 130,000 km2 of humid tropical rain forest is destroyed. Caused in part by the slash-and-burn practices of both large- and small-scale farmers in Brazil, Cameroon, Indonesia, and elsewhere, the environmental implications of tropical deforestation and its threat to biodiversity and carbon emissions remain a worldwide concern. Yet the small-scale farmers who use slash-and-burn agriculture depend on it to produce food and make a living for their families. Balancing the legitimate interests of rural households and global concerns about tropical deforestation is one of the major challenges of the coming decades.

The Alternatives to Slash and Burn (ASB) consortium was formed in 1992 by a group of concerned national and international research institutions to address the global and local issues associated with this form of agriculture. With contributions from agronomists, foresters, economists, ecologists, and anthropologists, this book synthesizes the first decade of ASB's work. It assesses the environmental, economic, and social impact of deforestation and identifies the costs and benefits of alternative uses of forests and cleared land. Throughout the volume, the contributors present new conceptual tools and a rich compendium of empirical analyses needed to formulate viable alternatives to slash-and-burn agriculture.

This book... offers a detailed analysis of the many dimensions of deforestation. New Agriculturist 11/1/05 The book is rich in conceptual tools, empirical analyses, and alternatives... I highly recommend it. -- Raymond P. Poincelot Journal of Sustainable Agriculture 28 (3) Recommended Choice 3/2006 An important synthesis of research arising from the 1992 creation of the Alternatives to Slash and Burn (ASB) consortium. -- Gary S. Hartshorn Bioscience 3/1/2006 The book is worth reading. It is a cornucopia of facts, hypotheses, research approaches, thoughts and examples exciting for scientists. -- Manfred Denich Environmental Conservation Vol. 33 (3) Forest scientists of all disciplines... would benefit by reading this book. -- John Klock Economic Botany Vol 60, No 2

Alternatives to slash and burn : challenge and approaches of an international consortium	p. 3
Carbon losses and sequestration after land use change in the humid tropics	p. 41
Greenhouse gas fluxes in slash and burn and alternative land use practices in Sumatra, Indonesia	p. 64
The potential role of above-ground biodiversity indicators in assessing best-bet alternatives to slash and burn	p. 83
Below-ground biodiversity assessment : developing a key functional group approach in best-bet alternatives to slash and burn	p. 119
Sustainability of tropical land use systems after forest conversion	p. 143
The forest for the trees : the effects of macroeconomic factors on deforestation in Brazil and Indonesia	p. 170
Sustainable forest management for smallholder farmers in the Brazilian Amazon	p. 199
Permanent smallholder rubber agroforestry systems in Sumatra, Indonesia	p. 222
Coffee, pastures, and deforestation in the Western Brazilian Amazon : a farm-level bioeconomic model	p. 233
Smallholder options for reclaiming and using Imperata cylindrica L. (alang-alang) grasslands in Indonesia	p. 248
The Western Brazilian Amazon	p. 265
The forest margins of Sumatra, Indonesia	p. 291
The forest margins of Cameroon	p. 305
The Peruvian Amazon : development imperatives and challenges	p. 332
Northern Thailand : changing smallholder land use patterns	p. 355
Land use systems at the margins of tropical moist forest : addressing smallholder concerns in Cameroon, Indonesia, and Brazil	p. 387
Table of Contents provided by Blackwell. All Rights Reserved.

ISBN: 9780231134507
ISBN-10: 0231134509
Audience: Professional
For Ages: 22+ years old
Format: Hardcover
Language: English
Number Of Pages: 480
Published: 27th September 2005
Dimensions (cm): 25.6 x 17.9  x 4.297
Weight (kg): 1.024