EFFECTS OF SWIDDEN CULTIVATION, STATE POLICIES, AND CUSTOMARY INSTITUTIONS ON LAND COVER IN A HANI VILLAGE, YUNNAN, CHINA

A study of air photographs and satellite imagery of a Hani village (Mengsong) in southwestern Yunnan between 1965 and 1993 showed that swidden cultivation did not lead to permanent conversion of forest land to agriculture but rather a conversion of a fairly homogeneous secondary closed-canopy forest into a highly heterogeneous land cover of different stages of forest succession. An analysis showed a direct correlation between government policies on producing food from hilly lands and the destruction of forest cover. This analysis also showed that since the Household Responsibility System was introduced in late 1979, allowing farmers the right to decide where, what, and how much to plant, farmers have decreased the amount of land farmed and intensified their farming methods.

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