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| Ecosystem Type: | Agriculture: non-mechanised agricultural land uses incl. unimproved pasture
| | General Ecotype: | Agricultural uses
| | UNESCO Code: | SPA(1)
| | Description: | Shifting cultivation called "milpa" in Belize is a system by which a parcel of forest is cut, burned and manually farmed for one or rarely more seasons. The following season another piece of forest is cut. Milpa farmers prefer old-growth forest for this activity for the ease of felling and the lack of weed seeds stored in the soil. Technically, the farmers would move on through the forest and allow the old cleared fields to regenerate, leaving the ecological functions of the area more or less intact. But due to increasing population pressure, most farmers are now forced to return to the original field (which is now in dense secondary growth or "guamil") within 6 years or even less. As a result, areas with shifting cultivation are seeing an intensivation of felling and burning and large areas now exist with barely any older growth forest left. Such areas quickly become ecologically degraded although their ecological value remains higher than in mechanized agriculture systems. The main disadvantage of the shifting cultivation system is the use of fire, which is typically ill-contained and tends to unintentionally burn large areas of old-growth forest, especially in hilly areas. Unimproved pasture is technically a shifting cultivation system by which land is cleared for pasture. Usually the pasture degrades after a few years and is then abandoned. Due to the longer period of use and the compacting activity of the livestock, the resulting secondary forest is usually slower to regenerate and poorer in species composition.
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.:. SPA(1) .:.
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| Altitude: | 0 - 700m
| | Geology & Soil: | Variable. Shifting cultivation is concentrated on better drained hillslopes.
| | Water Regime: | Mostly where natural drainage is good.
| | Rainfall: | n/a
| | Fire Risk: | Frequent. Fire is an integral part of the agricultural practice in smallholder
| | Frequent Plant Species: | .jpg) Typical components of extensively used pastures include fire-resistant species such as Guazuma ulmifolia, Thevetia ahouai and the palm Acrocomia aculeata.
| | Faunistic Comments: | None.
| | References: | SOURCE: Central American Ecosystems Map. Vol. II.
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| Associated Resources: | | People | | Profile | | Name | |  | | Wicks, Nick | |  |
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