The use of swidden-fallows in the tropics is an ecologically and economically viable means of both reducing the destruction of mature forests and providing a source of useful products and income to small farmers. These managed agroforestry systems, sometimes incorrectly labeled as "abandoned fields," involve the planting, protection, and exploitation of useful plants that appear at various stages of fallow succession. This pioneering study describes and analyzes the traditional agroforestry systems of the Bora Indians in the village of Brillo Nuevo and other Peruvian communities.
