ABSTRACT
On the densely populated island of Java in Indonesia, the area of severely eroded upland is increasing at the rate of 1–2 % per annum and now covers a total of over 2 million hectares (ha), approximately one third of Java's cultivated uplands. The population of the uplands is roughly 12 million. Population densities in these areas average 600–700 people per km2, and holdings averaging 0.4 ha or less. In some areas, up to 20–25 % of the population are landless. Yields for upland rice and corn average 0.9 to 2.5 tonnes per hectare. The general pattern is one of poor, predominantly subsistence households struggling to feed themselves and to meet other basic needs by using inappropriate cropping patterns that result in high levels of soil erosion on their rainfed lands. Significant erosion is also caused by absentee and better-off farm owners who cultivate highly profitable but erosive crops such as vegetables. An additional cause is the failure to police state-owned tree plantations properly, particularly in preventing illegal fuelwood collection and agricultural conversion. 2
