Changes in agricultural practice and landscape over a 60-year period in North Lampung, Sumatra
1999
Imbernon, J.
Agricultural practices can have a marked effect on land cover and landscape over time. The objective of this research was to identify changes in agricultural practice and landscape in Lampung area in southern Sumatra as this area has undergone the largest changes in land cover of all the provinces of Indonesia over the last 60 years. These changes were characterized using maps from 1930, 1969 and 1985, and a 1996 satellite image to understand the dynamic of the slash-and-burn agriculture over time. In 1930, shifting cultivation was practised along rivers and forest cover was high (77.5%). Between 1969 and 1985 major changes occurred and most of the forest area was reduced to 10%. A massive front of clearing moved from the southwest with the transmigration programme and the development of the agro-industrial plantations. Finally in 1996 there was no more forest and the landscape was shaped by cleared land for small farms in transmigration areas and by large industrial plantations. Settlements have also changed from indigeneous river settlements first to transmigrant street villages and then to marked-out square villages. The present spatial distribution of agro-industrial estates and transmigration areas shows a well organized division called a 'burger landscape', as the links between the two areas are strong in both space and time. These changes seen over 60 years in the province of Lampung could prove fruitful when looking at actual agricultural frontiers around the world.
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