The cultural context of biodiversity conservation - Oapen

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148 5.1.1 Land use systems The cultural context of biodiversity conservation The agri- and silvicultural practices of the farmers we worked with are based on a system that involves a specific range of vegetation zones in succeeding growth stages. Examining this spatial distribution, we distinguished seven principal types of land use, from permanently cultivated fields to swidden land at different levels of recovery and areas of mature forest. The first most obviously managed unit applies to farmland under current cultivation (Fig. 5.1). As aforementioned, shifting cultivation is the predominant farming system traditionally practised by agriculturists on smallholdings throughout Alta Verapaz. The system for reclaiming deforested land implies the rotational cultivation of small plots for two or three years in succession until the soil nutrients are exhausted. Then the terrain is abandoned and lies fallow until litterproducing trees have regrown and restored the soil's fertility for the next cultivation cycle. After clearing the land for cultivation, the remaining vegetation is burned to provide nutrients for the new crops. The farmers inter-crop numerous varieties of secondary plants amongst the major staple crop maize. As a result, the plots can contain up to 40 different crop plants including vegetables, root crops and spices. 1 Fig. 5.1 A milpa in San Benito 1 Shifting cultivation is one of the most widespread tropical soil management techniques. Following a rotational principle, land is periodically fallowed and often planted with species that help to restore the soil fertility. As a subsistence strategy, it has been disapproved by many governments and international agencies as it was regarded as a waste of land and human resources as well as being a major cause of soil erosion and deterioration (Warner 1991: 9). After a lengthy controversy over the purported environmental destruction and economic inefficiency of this traditional land use system, which commonly involves burning practices, awareness has grown that swidden agriculture practised by many indigenous peoples is not only sustainable but also contributes to maintain and conserve crop and wild plant diversity (Nakashima & Roué 2002: 320). Slash and burn systems in the tropics do, however, have limitations; population pressure can quickly bring about impoverishment of the poorer soils and result in erosion.
Local expressions of indigenous knowledge The second type of land use system is referred to as guamil. 2 The term applies to terrain that has been left fallow to regrow as secondary forest. After cultivation, fallow periods are adjusted to sustain the productive potential of the ground, increasing biomass production and nutrient recycling that raise crop yields. These zones of transition are not entirely abandoned to a natural regrowth, but used and maintained by the farmers. By collecting seeds in the forest, genetic material is transferred actively to the guamil to foster the regrowth of secondary forest (Fig. 5.9). This local technique of restoration depends upon planting and transplanting of species for multiple uses. Due to this method of selection, even more varieties for human use may be found on the fallow land than in the forest itself. 3 In this way, the farmers ensure long-term supplies of food, constructing materials, fuelwood, medicines and other commodities extracted from the site. The fallow land is divided into three different stages of recovery. The guamil of first order (*kalemb'il, kok' pim) refers to terrain that has been recently harvested and includes areas of up to three years of fallow. The secondary successional vegetation is characterised by herbs and shrubs that have grown up to three metres. The guamil of the second order (*alk'al) is land that has been fallow for three to six years. Larger trees are found here, such as the guarumo (Cecropia sp.) or plumajillo (Schyzollobium parahybum) and shrubs that can have grown up to six metres. Land that has not been cleared for six to fifteen years is referred to as guamil of the third order (*alk'al k'iche'). This terrain is characterised by abundant undergrowth and is dominated by trees that have reached a height of up to seven metres (Fig. 5.2). Fig. 5.2 Guamil 2 According to Carter (1969), guamil is a Spanish derivative used to designate ›low secondary growth‹. In order to distinguish Spanish and Q'eqchi' terms in the following, the latter are marked with *. 3 Field notes based on interviews held with biologists of the Escuela de Biología on different land use systems, 2002. 149
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Göttinger Beiträge zur Ethnologie
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Published in 2008 by Universitätsv
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Bibliographische Information der De
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CONTENTS Acknowledgements Prologue
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Contents 5.2 The context of meaning
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Acknowledgements Many other friends
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ABBREVIATIONS ADICI Asociación de
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2 The cultural context of biodivers
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10 The cultural context of biodiver
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3 THE DISCURSIVE CONTEXT - conceptu
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The discursive context paradigms ar
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The discursive context environmenta
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The discursive context of pluralist
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The discursive context mental chang
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The discursive context and the ›s
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The discursive context More critica
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The discursive context 3.1.3 Concep
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The discursive context ristic power
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The discursive context Given the hi
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The discursive context frame that g
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The discursive context agencies eng
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The discursive context In the end,
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The discursive context entific cred
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The discursive context in a protect
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The discursive context Wells and Br
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The discursive context accelerated
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The discursive context Beyond its s
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The discursive context tivity that
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The discursive context a religious
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The discursive context The sense of
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The discursive context to us as adu
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The discursive context In this way,
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The discursive context concurrence.
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The discursive context In discussin
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The discursive context In the same
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The discursive context efforts payi
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The discursive context 3.4.1 The co
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The discursive context In order to
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The discursive context Apart from t
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The discursive context and organisi
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Page 125 and 126: 4 THE LOCAL CONTEXT - national poli
Page 127 and 128: The local context 4.1.1 Biological
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Local expressions of indigenous kno
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250 The cultural context of biodive
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252 The cultural context of biodive
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EPILOGUE At the end of my last stay
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REFERENCES
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References Atran, Scott et al. (200
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References Brush, Stephen B. & Dore
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References Dove, Michael (1996). Ce
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References Gari, Josep-Antoni (2000
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References Hajer, Maarten & Frank F
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References Kockelman, Paul (2003).
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References Messer, Ellen (2001). Th
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References Oviedo, Gonzalo/Luisa Ma
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References Redford, Kent/Katrina Br
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References — (2002a). Participant
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References UNEP-WCMC (2003). Tradit
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APPENDIX
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Appendix Map 4.3 Alta Verapaz and m
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Göttinger Studien zur Ethnologie h
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