ABSTRACT
The farming systems in the northern highlands are based on shifting cultivation, with historically three types of swiddening based on the relationship between cultivation and fallow periods. The northern highlands are therefore a prime example of a conflicting situation arising when a centralized government system with contradictory priorities of forest preservation and social integration of ethnic minorities extends its control to the remote areas, where traditional shifting cultivation practices clash with centralized planning. Government political and administrative policy affecting tribal populations changes continually. In terms of land and forest policy, effects on hill tribes were first felt indirectly from the Royal Forest Department established in 1896. Irrespective of government priorities, hill tribes face problems like inadequate nutrition, low income, production below self-sufficiency level, shortage of land, and lack of land security. The notion of common land still persists and includes swidden land, animal grazing grounds, watershed areas and forest areas for hunting and gathering of forest products.
