Category: Forests & trees

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Participatory mapping in Africa

An organization called Udongo — which is new to me, although that signifies nothing — reports on a massive mapping exercise in the Mukogodo forest in Kenya. Four different clans of the Yiaku people (some people call them Yaaku) will work with scientists and others to create “a three dimensional model of part of their ancestral lands, showing the Yiaku conception of natural systems of water, forestry, forest products and wildlife. The map helps to create an inventory of indigenous knowledge, natural resources and the intangible heritage of the region.” Then what? “The Yiakku will explore how the 3 D model will be integrated into the future planning processes of the Yiakku and Mukogodo community.”

If you’re listening, Udongo, let us know how it works out, OK?

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News from the front: Belize

As far as I know, it has more species of trees, shrubs, bushes, herbs, and grasses than any domestic garden on Earth: 318 species of flowering plants, 250 of which are native to Belize. That’s about 15 percent of the indigenous floristic diversity of the whole country, more species of native plants than live in the forest that surrounds it. Every plant is here for a purpose, used as medicine, food, thatch, fiber, because it attracts butterflies, birds, and mammals, or just because of its beauty.

The garden is Masewal, in western Belize, and the words are from an article in Orion magazine that describes this astonishing place. The vision of one man, who sought to reclaim some of his Mayan heritage and has been doing so for 31 years, using the garden as store-house, teaching aid and demonstration plot. Fascinating.

Belize was my first experience of a tropical forest and I remember the giddiness of it. I wrote something about it back then; I wonder whether I can dig it out.

via Metafilter.

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Big coffee study on the Big Island

The Garden Island News reports on a US$120,000 comprehensive study of coffee agroforestry that has just begun. The point seems to be to quantify the costs and benefits of growing coffee under an upper story of diverse forest trees. The article says that Pacific islanders traditionally grew crops in agroforestry systems, and that many are returning to similar practices. Benefits range from cooler air to fewer pests and diseases to greater resilience, all of which will be investigated.

The study will look at 12 existing shade-grown coffee orchards and compare them with five open-grown coffee orchards based on five key indicators: soil organic matter, major insect pests, yield and bean quality, production costs and market values, and environmental conditions such as shade levels, tree density and plant species present.

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Quemada!

Jeremy asked recently whether shifting agriculture ((Also called slash-and-burn and swidden cultivation, and tavy in Malagasy.)) can really support growing populations. I’ve just come across (via the PLEC newsletter) a paper from Madagascar ((E. Styger, H.M. Rakotondramasy, M.J. Pfeffer, E.C.M. Fernandes and D.M. Bates 2007. Influence of slash-and-burn farming practices on fallow succession and land degradation in the rainforest region of Madagascar.  Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 119: 257-269.)) which says maybe.

Its objectives

were to analyze jointly with the Betsimisaraka farmers how slash-and-burn practices influence fallow species succession, and how current fallow/cropping regimes influence agricultural productivity and upland degradation dynamics.

The researchers conclude, from discussions with farmers and botanical surveys, that fallow periods have been cut by up to two thirds — to 3-5 years — in the past 30 years. This means that fallow land goes from having plentiful pigeon wood trees on it to bare, dry unproductive grassland in 5-6 rice cropping cycles, after which agriculture is no longer possible. After each cycle, the land needs to be left fallow for increasing lengths of time in order for the soil to recover fertility: “already with the third cycle after deforestation, vegetation starts to degrade quickly in parallel with agricultural productivity decline.”

The findings of this paper indicate that the tavy system with its currently short fallow periods is collapsing.

The main culprit is fire. As fallows become more herbaceous, fire is more difficult to control, and wildfires escape more easily, often “eliminating a productive plot of land for agriculture without getting any benefits of production.”

So what can be done? Try to take fire out of the equation, certainly. “The restoration of soil fertility should build on the biological potential of the system, by optimizing nutrient cycling (e.g. through residue and weed recycling, mulching) and by producing and recycling of high quality organic matter (e.g. through improved fallows and cover crops).” The key to the adoption and success of these practices will be engagement with the young, according to the authors:

The careful development of alternative agricultural practices should especially be done in collaboration with young farmers. If the young obtain a real interest in agricultural intensification, they may not feel the need anymore to leave their native villages and migrate to the forest border to undertake tavy.