Among all the high biodiversity resources developing countries applying
land planning and allocation for development and conservation
programs, Laos was selected as one of Landscape Mosaics project sites.
Three villages at Viengkham District, Luang Prabang Province were
appointed as the project sites where this research was undertaken.
Considering the complex association between the land use patterns and
agricultural production systems with all the incorporated factors, the
research was carried out by analyzing spatial, time-scale dimensions and
the system. Data collection was conducted with multiple dimension
study of the affecting factors that were adapted to the actual conditions,
combined data collection, and group discussions.
The research outcomes show that the major changes in land use are
incorporated with land privatization, as well as the transition from
annual to perennial plantation and food to cash crop. The alterations’
main triggers are market demand and government policies with varies
intensity from one place to another based on its biophysical and human
condition. At all the research fields, the combination of the demographic
state and the applied regulation had declined the agricultural land, land
access and shortened the fallow cycle of the shifting cultivation. There
are four classified agricultural systems based on the rice production
dependence, off-farm activities, and capitalization. Along all the
research fields, the inhabitants are predominantly classified into shifting
cultivation depended system.