How has slash-and-burn cultivation created a patchwork of habitats in the Ituri Forest?

In the Ituri Forest, the practice of shifting cultivation—often referred to as slash-and-burn—creates a patchwork of habitats through the cyclical clearing and abandonment of land.12

Farmers traditionally clear small plots of forest to plant crops like cassava and bananas. When soil fertility declines after several years of cultivation, the farmers move to a new plot, allowing the original site to lie fallow. As these abandoned sites revert to secondary forest or bush, they create a mosaic of different successional stages—ranging from active clearings to regenerating vegetation—interspersed within the primary forest.123

While this traditional, small-scale rotation can be sustainable, the resulting landscape is a dynamic patchwork of varying plant communities. However, it is important to note that modern shifts toward permanent deforestation in some regions have moved away from this traditional cycle, leading to habitat fragmentation and biodiversity loss rather than the natural regeneration characteristic of historical shifting cultivation.3