MODERN TICUNA SWIDDEN-FALLOW MANAGEMENT IN THE COLOMBIAN AMAZON - ECOLOGICALLY INTEGRATING MARKET STRATEGIES AND SUBSISTENCE-DRIVEN ECONOMIES

The past failure of large-scale, rural development in Amazonia has emp hasized the value of small-scale, swidden-fallow management practices. The management strategies used by indigenous cultivators are well-doc umented, but few studies have examined how absorption by market-based economies may affect the economic and ecological stability of the agri cultural system. In this study, we provide a detailed account of swidd en-fallow management as it is practiced at Las Palmeras, Amazonas, Col ombia; moreover, we assessed the effect of a shift from subsistence to market-directed production. A total of 68 species were selectively ma naged in the swidden/fallow system. Seventy-seven percent of species a t the site were managed for subsistence only, 22% were managed with a view to selling surplus at market. Only one species, Cedrela odorata, was managed solely for market production. A shift from subsistence-bas ed to market-directed production may lower the ecological and economic stability of the system at Las Palmeras. Nonperishable production str ategies, such as for timber production, appear to provide the most sec ure approach coward market integration.