Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Concerns about the need to develop new approaches towards conservation
of tropical forests and biodiversity. As a result of the high rates of
deforestation in tropical countries, increasingly not only the need for
conservation of natural forests, but also the need for conservation and
sustainable management of secondary forests derived from human inter-
action with forests is acknowledged. Forest gardens are increasingly
recognized as an important anthropogenic forest types. These land-use
systems do not only offer scope for in situ conservation of naturally evolved
biodiversity, but also for in domo conservation of anthropogenically derived
forms of biodiversity (Attah-Krah et al. , 2004; MacNeely, 2004; Wiersum,
2004).
Concerns about the need to stimulate multifunctional production systems.
In the past, fruit production was scientifically conceived of as a specialized
horticultural activity without connection to silvicultural practices aimed at
timber production. It is now recognized, however, that fruit trees often
provide important amounts of fuelwood from prunings, and increasingly,
fruit trees are also being used for timber production (Durst et al. , 2004).
Moreover, in response to environmental concerns, increased attention is
also given to the possibility of fruit tree production systems contributing to
carbon sequestration (Montagnini and Nair, 2004).
Within the context of forest conservation much attention is given to the
need to decentralize forest management and to stimulate greater community
involvement. Often, such community-level forest management will not be
based on the same degree of organizational specialization as was the case in
professional forest management. It can be expected that the development of
community forestry will bring with it new interests in the role of forests
within the local livelihood systems, including options for provision of non-
timber forest products. The forest gardens offer a good example of what
such integration could entail.
At present it is also increasingly appreciated that the approach of transfer of
scientifically developed technological innovations, which dominated agri-
cultural and forestry development in the past, has reached the limits of its
applicability, and that new approaches towards land-use development are
needed, based on endogenous instead of exogenous innovations. This has
brought with it increased attention to the scope for the application of
principles embedded in indigenous land-use management systems (MacNeely
and Scherr, 2003).
As illustrated by the case of durian (Box 4.1), forest gardens are excellent
demonstrations of fruit tree production systems which transcend the traditional
nature-culture dichotomy as well as the disciplinary distinction between
horticulture and forestry. Hence, they provide a valuable example that can be
used in the search for new production systems balancing productive, ecological
and social concerns. Moreover, they provide scope for identification of research
questions to be considered when developing new ways to achieve a more
integrated approach to domestication as an inclusive process. They also
suggest new research questions in respect of the ecological principles of plant
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