Sustainable agriculture and the environment in the humid tropics

This report presents the committee"s findings on the problem of tropical deforestation and outlines a variety of approaches to tropical land use and conservation, each designed to fit a specific environmental, social, and market context. The report is presented in two sections. Section I examines land use in the humid tropics, the consequences of deforestation, technical research needs, and policy needs. In general, the committee concludes that (1) many degraded tropical lands have the potential to be restored; (2) the land use systems employed in the humid tropics range from those only mildly disruptive to the environment to those that are severely degrading (e.g., forest clearing); and (3) some locales are successfully shifting their economic growth base from activities based on forest harvesting to a more diversified economy that includes substantial nonfarm employment. Section I includes a land use options scheme, which defines twelve categories ranging from highly managed intensive cultivation to forest reserves, and an accompanying table to help decisionmakers (from the local to the national level) identify appropriate options for their regions. A discussion of greenhouse gas emissions associated with land use change is appended. Section II contains profiles of agricultural practices and environmental issues in Brazil, Cote d"Ivoire, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, the Philippines, and Zaire.