Tag: Agriculture

In A Forest Of Gods

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In this beautiful short film by The Source project, we learn about the profound importance that forests have on India’s indigenous people, the Adivasi (first people).

Dokri shares the meaning the forests have to her Kondh community. The Kondh tribe is from Niyamgiri in the state of Odisha in eastern India, an area of densely forested hills, deep gorges, and cascading streams.

The forests mean everything to Dokri and her Kondh community. Everything they need to live comes from the forests. The forest gives them green leaves, mushrooms, plants, and foods to harvest so they can eat. It offers wood to provide shelter.

The Kondh community are gatekeepers to these remote, resource-rich fragile ecosystems. Their lands and lives are under threat from those seeking to exploit these lands.

https://youtu.be/6qBdGeeYvmQ

Globally, around 1.6 billion people depend on forests for their survival. Yet, every year 130,000 square kilometers of forest, face destruction.

Indigenous Communities Using Technology to Monitor Illegal Logging in the Amazon

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A growing number of Indigenous communities in Central and South America are harnessing the power of high-resolution satellite imagery, sophisticated drone equipment, and the latest smart-phone technology to precisely document and act on threats to their lands such as fires, gold-mining, logging, and deforestation for agriculture.

But it’s not without its risks: community forest monitors have had their lives threatened.

Rainforest Alert explores the groundbreaking research linking community-based monitoring and forest protection from the Eden de la Frontera community in the Peruvian Amazon.

Early results show a “measurable reduction of deforestation”. Find out more about the study: https://rainforestfoundation.org.

Project run by Rainforest Foundation US, The Indigenous Organization of the Eastern Peruvian Amazon (ORPIO-AIDESEP) and World Resources Institute.

The Eco-Rebels of the Himalayas

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvuFTNO9wNQ&feature=youtu.be
An Indian state in the Himalayas has completely transformed its agriculture and switched to organic farming. Sikkim has become a model for the rest of the world, because its farmers only cultivate their fields and plantations in a sustainable way.

In 2010, the Prime Minister of Sikkim launched the so-called “Organic Mission,” developing the state into a model of sustainable farming. To protect its own organic farmers and consumers, the Sikkim government has even imposed an import ban on conventionally produced fruit and vegetables. This means that the authorities have the power to bury or destroy vegetables and fruit contaminated with pesticides and agrochemical giants such as Bayer or BASF are not welcome in Sikkim.

Would that approach also work in Germany? The growing demand for organic food in this country offers farmers an opportunity to switch to sustainable farming. But in Germany the percentage of land under plough conforming to sustainable methods remains very low. Although the government has set a target of 20 percent organic by 2030, this figure had already been proposed by Gerhard Schröder’s red-green coalition back in 1998. Germany is still far from meeting its demand for organic food. That means fruit, vegetables and cereals have to be imported from Spain, Italy, Turkey or even further afield. Critics accuse the government of a lack of commitment and an excessive dependence on lobbyists from the agrochemical industry and farmers’ associations. The incentives for organic farming are extremely poor. Can Germany now learn from far-off Sikkim?