Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
and land brought by modernisation has resulted in rapid changes in the traditional
land use practices, and analogously the concept of Feng-shui is gradually van-
ishing. It is indeed difficult today to find those characteristic cultural landscapes
surrounded by breathtaking lakes and mountains, which were once painted on silk.
As a contribution to TEX, the conservation of agricultural heritage systems and
practices worldwide has been pursued through the global Initiative 'Conservation
and adaptive management of Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems'
(GIAHS) initiated by FAO in 2002. GIAHS aims to establish the basis for the
international recognition, dynamic conservation and sustainable management of
such systems, agricultural biodiversity and their associated biodiversity knowledge
systems, food and livelihood security, landscapes and cultures. Worldwide agri-
cultural systems, with their natural resources and landscapes, have been shaped and
conserved by generations of farmers using locally adapted management practices.
These systems, built on local knowledge and experience, express their landscape
and cultural evolution through the diversity of ecosystems and knowledge, as well as
the close relationship of man with nature. As pointed out at the previously men-
tioned Symposium of the IALE 8th World Congress, agricultural heritage systems
have resulted not only in outstanding landscape maintenance and adaptation of
resilient ecosystems, together with globally significant agricultural biodiversity
systems based on indigenous knowledge, but above all in the sustained provision of
multiple goods and services, food and livelihood security, and quality of life. Par-
allel to this, the need to investigate further the concept of landscape services has
been addressed by previous research (Termorshuizen and Opdam
2009
).
China, which was one of the first pilot countries of GIAHS, is rich in agri-
cultural history and heritage systems. Therefore three pilot systems were selected
by FAO: Qingtian Traditional Rice-fish System in Zhejiang province, Hani Rice
Terraces System in Yunnan province, and Wannian Rice Culture System in
Jiangxi province. These systems were studied for their agro-biodiversity charac-
teristics and multi-values, searching for dynamic conservation approaches to be
practiced in loco. The experiences and lessons could certainly be applied in
modern agricultural practices, and to other agricultural heritage systems.
Another example of TEK is the lemon gardens in the Sorrentino-Amalfitana
Peninsula, Italy. A candidate to be listed on the GIAHS systems, this agricultural
landscape gives character to the entire peninsula. Lemon pergolas, chestnut wind-
breaks, wall terraces and narrow footpaths have been built and preserved over cen-
turies to guarantee the conservation of the local lemon varieties (Citrus limonum).
These varieties were exchanged for gold on Mediterranean ships in the sixteenth
century for their healing properties against scurvy. Due to their economic value, local
communities had to find alternative ways of cultivation on a land with particularly
steep terrain and environmental constraints. This resulted in the construction of stone
terraces on very steep slopes. In this way the local communities have succeeded in
protecting their territory and have contributed to preserving the soil from hydro-
geological instability. What is more, they have shaped the land to create an out-
standing coastal landscape of incredible natural and cultural value.
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