"If managed well, swidden farming in Borneo can provide vital ecosystem services and protect biodiversity, study (see alternate URL) says....It?s long been stigmatized, blamed for destroying forests and releasing greenhouse gases. But, when done properly, shifting cultivation can create natural ecosystems with high biodiversity, rich carbon stocks and low soil erosion. The catch? It needs to be practiced over a large area to allow different plots of land to go through the cycle from crop to fallow, to young forest, to secondary forest. And it takes time. This is what researchers discovered in a recent study that compared the level of biodiversity and ecosystem services in the traditional forest?swidden agriculture system of Northern Borneo with other land uses, such as natural forest and monoculture plantations..."