F.a: Towards understanding local implications of shifting cultivation "The climate change policy as well as the general policy of environmental protection and management of natural resources increasingly treats deforestation consequent to shifting cultivation as an environmental challenge. In view of vast bauxite reserves ly
ing underneath the shifting cultivation areas, the aluminium cartel having mining interest in eastern India has been lobbying for problematizing shifting cultivation to create opinion in favour of displacing the cultivators. Indigenous people practising sh
ifting cultivation have been defending their ancestral domain against mining interests.In this backdrop, the study will bring together the work of many institutions and scholars in various disciplines on shifting cultivation. It will document the technique
s of shifting cultivation and its impacts on the environment apart from detailing the social, institutional and cultural aspects of the communities depending for their subsistence on this form of cultivation. The inquiry will look at state’s attempts to 
eradicate/phase out the practice through pressure/ incentives, peoples resistance and why shifting cultivation continues even today. The study will map the changing trend in shifting cultivation in study areas and would examine the impact of attempts to re
place shifting cultivation with sedentary agriculture.The proposed study will highlight the experiences of shifting cultivation with a focus on positive and negative impacts in terms of environment, economy and health aspects. It will be based on review of
 studies done so far and its synthesis, primary observations from field and perceptions of communities engaged in the practice, understanding of researchers, officials and social workers will complement the study. Society for Promotion of Wastelands Develo
pment (SPWD) is a national NGO set up in 1982. SPWD's mission is ""to prevent, arrest and reverse degradation of life support systems, particularly land and water, so as to expand livelihood opportunities in a sustainable and equitable manner through peopl
e's participation"". SPWD's focus is on obtaining knowledge from the grassroots level and influencing the larger systems, policies and programmes of the government as well as other concerned agencies. SPWD has worked in collaborative projects across 17 Sta
tes in India. Recently the focus has been on improving capacities of and governance by local institutions for more productive and sustainable management of natural resources. www.spwd.org"