Native or native?

We observe the following conventions with respect to our use of the words Native and native. "Native" refers to a person or persons from a specific indigenous cultural background, and is most often prefixed to a description or place, such as in Native American or Native Australian. The uncapitalized "native" refers to refers to a person of any cultural or ethnic background who is on a first-name basis with the natural world, a person who has the knowledge, a spiritual feeling for and therefore the mindset of being a part of the land, not separate from it.

Where has Native Intelligence Gone?

There are many studies indicating that the indigenous people from many natural areas around the world are capable of identifying, harvesting and using for medicine, food and craft, hundreds of species of wild plants over all four seasons. The knowledge possessed by these people, common average citizens of their societies, includes similar information about trees and their uses, bird and animal language and its significance, weather patterns indicated by clouds, and animal behavior indicated by track and sign.

If we were to walk in the Kalahari with a native of the land, and we asked them to identify the most common plants, animals, tracks, and trees we encountered, they would do so with 100% accuracy, men, women, and most of the children alike.

Introduction

Agroforestry is an approach to plant and animal production that intentionally integrates natural resources conservation objectives into the system. By strategically selecting combinations of woody and herbaceous plants and managing them to perform complementary agroecological roles, often with animals, the sustainability of producing multiple products with comparatively minimal external inputs can be enhanced. Environmental benefits that agroforestry systems generate often can be captured directly by the managing landowner through the creation of niches that over time favor the production of a variety of unique and profitable products.

This article explores the potential for producing nontimber forest products in agroforestry systems. By identifying options for this type of practice we aim to foster appreciation for the numerous opportunities that are present, and yet to be invented, for integrating specialty forest products into farms and rural enterprises. Expanding market demand for NTFPs provides an important incentive for landowners to invest in conservation farming practices through agroforestry. Such practices can serve also to limit the overexploitation of nontimber forest products from their native habitats.

Introduction

In hunter-gatherer and low-density agricultural societies, the natural environment provided all material needs, with human effort mainly required for harvesting. In preindustrial societies with high population densities, agricultural productivity depended on large and continuous input of human labour. Industrial society depends on large and continuous inputs of fossil fuel energy to provide its food and other goods and services. Permaculture designers use careful observation and thoughtful interaction to reduce the need for both repetitive manual labour and for non-renewable energy and high technology. Thus, traditional agriculture was labour intensive, industrial agriculture is energy intensive, and permaculture-designed systems are information and design intensive.

In a world where the quantity of secondary (mediated) observation and interpretation threatens to drown us, the imperative to renew and expand our observation skills in all forms is at least as important as the need to sift and make sense of the flood of mediated information. Improved skills of observation and thoughtful interaction are also more likely sources of creative solutions than brave conquests in new fields of specialised knowledge by the armies of science and technology.

Thank you for visiting The Overstory journal.

This page is merely a placeholder in the journal's numbered sequence for a previously published edition, informing subscribers of updated reference links and changes in the Agroforester's Library.

Please visit the Agroforester's Library consisting of recommended books, periodicals, species references and other links one may find useful in the agroforestry field.

Thank you for visiting The Overstory journal.

This page is merely a placeholder in the journal's numbered sequence for a previously published edition, informing subscribers of updated reference links and changes in the Agroforester's Library.

Please visit the Agroforester's Library consisting of recommended books, periodicals, species references and other links one may find useful in the agroforestry field.

Introduction

In seeking to apply ecosystem approaches to forest biodiversity, especially forests that are being influenced by increasing levels of use by people, it is helpful to focus on some key questions. First, are people part of forest ecosystems? Second, what are the impacts of human harvesting on forest ecosystems? Third, how can forest ecosystems be managed so that they provide both the goods and the services that are required by modern society? This article briefly explores these key issues, and indicates appropriate lines of action to be taken in future.

It is now widely accepted that biodiversity is the measure of biological variety at many scales, from the gene to the ecosystem. Much attention has been given to diversity of species within forests, especially trees that are being harvested. The challenge is to see the forest for the trees: How can the idea of biodiversity at the ecosystem level be translated into practical action for better management of forest ecosystems?