Category: Indigenous knowledge systems

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Agrobiodiversity tourism alive and well in South of France

I’ve been in Montpellier for the past few days attending what is actually quite an interesting conference, which is just as well because we’re out in a pretty uninteresting suburb. We did get a day off on Saturday, but otherwise we haven’t had much free time. A pity, because perusing the little pamphlets describing different local tourist attractions that one finds scattered around the hotel reveals at least three with interesting agricultural biodiversity angles.

One is a boat tour around the Isles de Stel in the Camargue: salt works, horses, bulls, rice fields, local food, the lot. Plus it starts from the fascinating medieval town of Aigues-Mortes. ((Which was the destination of our field trip on Saturday, and the subject of my autostitched photo. Well worth a visit.))


Or you can visit a buffalo reserve near Sainte-Eulalie. This seems to refer to the wisent, saved from extinction by captive breeding in Poland.

And, finally, there’s La Bambouseraie, near Anduze. It’s a botanic garden, resource centre and nursery dedicated to bamboos that was established in 1856 by Eugène Mazel.

Mazel had made a fortune in trading with spices he directly imported from Asia. This activity allowed him to have plants, practically unknown in Europe at that time, sent to him from these distant countries.

Too bad I’m stuck in this hotel. Although, what with the Air France strike and all, I might get the chance for some sightseeing after all.

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Who Owns Nature?

There is a new report, “Who Owns Nature? Corporate Power and the Final Frontier in the Commodification of Life” from the ETC group.

It talks of corporate concentration in:

  • farm input (from thousands of seed companies and public breeding institutions three decades ago, 10 companies now control more than two-thirds of global proprietary seed sales);
  • food output (supermarkets);
  • pharmaceuticals; and
  • the New Post-Petroleum sugar industry (“the so-called ‘sugar economy’ will be the catalyst for a corporate grab on all plant matter –- and destruction of biodiversity on a massive scale”).

Their (not so new) bottom line on seeds:

So-called climate-ready genes are a false solution to climate change. Patented gene technologies will not help small farmers survive climate change, but they will concentrate corporate power, drive up costs, inhibit public sector research and further undermine the rights of farmers to save and exchange seeds.

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Climate Change Gabfest

Our colleagues at the Agrobiodiversity Platform will next week launch an intense debate on how communities make use of agricultural biodiversity to deal with changing climates. But, mindful of their duty not to exacerbate the problem, they’re doing the whole thing online, with a moderated discussion forum. The discussions will take place over about three weeks, with an initial focus on sharing knowledge about what communities are doing, followed by ideas on awareness raising and finally some wrap-up and the preparation of a first-draft position paper.

I know I don’t have time to participate, but I’m sure we’d be willing to host summary reports from the group here.

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Big cheer for the terraces

People work the Ifugao rice terraces. Photo PPDO Ifugao.Is this old news or not? The Global Environment Facility (GEF) in concert with FAO’s Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems, is funding the restoration and maintenance of the Ifugao rice terraces in the Philippines. My confusion arises because when I last nibbled Ifugao, ((And of course I never did do that longer post, mea culpa.)) I don’t recall seeing anything about FAO’s involvement, and yet it seems to have been going since 2002. The “news” is announcing a second phase, which I think started in 2007. So perhaps my confusion is justified. In any case, it does seem important that these astonishing human impacts on the environment are used, rather than pickled, and that seems to be the goal of the project.

I’m rather hoping that someone in the Philippines, or who knows more about the project, will be along soon to enlighten me further.