Exploring the State of Retention of Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) in a Hani Rice Terrace Village,  Southwest China

Self Cite

Abstract:Heritage conservation is an important recurring research theme on agricultural heritage systems. Improving the income of farmers from agriculture is regarded as an effective conservation approach. This study examined how the improved rice-fish-duck coculture (IRFDC) promotes the protection of the Honghe Hani Rice Terraced System (HHRTS) by keeping farmers farming in their hometowns. A semi-structural interview and a questionnaire survey were used to collect data on agricultural input-outputs and household employment in HHRTS. As a result, a fairly large proportion of HHRTS rice terraces were used for the hybrid rice monoculture (HRM) with chemical inputs, and most of these rice terraces were wasted for half a year on account of being left unused; the IRFDC requires considerable time input for farming and breeding, but barely needs any chemical inputs. IRFDC entails a higher cost than HRM, but also has a higher return than HRM. Driving a family to do full-time farming requires extra more than 0.71 ha rice terraces for IRFDC. In conclusion, Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHSs) can be used for protecting terraces from abandonment and destruction by improving agricultural economic benefits for farmers. At present, a shortage of laborers in HHRTS sites is false. Agricultural heritage sites do not actual need so many people if peasant households can do large-scale farming.

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Conservation Approach of Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS): Improving Traditional Agricultural Patterns and Promoting Scale-Production

Zhang

Min

et al. 2017

Self Cite

“…They have completely integrated this recognition into their daily life. During major festivals and worship ceremonies, Migu (the spiritual specialist, authority and core of the social organization) would organize all the villagers to worship the forest, water source and rice terraces to emphasize their importance and strengthen the spatial recognition of the village [63,64]. When it came to planning festivals and worship activities among the kinship villages, the order of the villages to celebrate the festival is determined according to the separation process of the villages.…”

Section: The Human-environment System In Hhrtmentioning

confidence: 99%

Human-Environment System Boundaries: A Case Study of the Honghe Hani Rice Terraces as a World Heritage Cultural Landscape

Hua

Zhou

2015

Any World Heritage Cultural Landscape requires a clear boundary for administration. One of the administrative goals is sustainability. There is no widely identified way to demarcate the boundary of a World Heritage Cultural Landscape. This paper aims to explore a methodology framework to provide a holistic perspective for demarcating boundaries for a World Heritage Cultural Landscape. Honghe Hani Rice Terraces (HHRT) in Yunnan Province is a new World Heritage Cultural Landscape in China. We use it as a research area to illustrate the methodology framework. The framework of methodology is constructed based on four scales of a human-environment system identified by Anne Buttimer. It is used to describe the level of the sustainability of local economy, social organization, natural environment and people's understanding of the human-environment. Four types of boundaries were investigated in this area. They are the boundary of Malizhai River Basin, the boundary of local water-allocation organization, the boundary of the economic network and the perceptual boundary of the human-environment system. With a comprehensive perspective, we integrated the four types of boundaries to judge the boundary of the core area of HHRT by three criteria, they are: Environmental sustainability, social justice, and the ability to create a new human-environment system. We conclude that some parts of the boundary of the core area of HHRT do not fit the criteria of sustainable development. OPEN ACCESSSustainability 2015, 7 10734

“…They call for a transdisciplinary approach that encompasses a variety of stakeholders to help mainstream ecosystem service ideas into management. Finally, Zheng Yuan and colleagues [21] explore the state-of-play of what they call Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) in rice growing areas of Yunnan Province, China; the third paper in the special edition that has a focus on that country. The role of traditional environmental management systems based upon centuries of experience is often overlooked.…”

Section: Open Accessmentioning

confidence: 99%

Special Edition: Environment in Sustainable Development

Morse

Vogiatzakis

2014

When we were invited by the editors of Sustainability to put together a special edition on "Environment in Sustainable Development" our first reaction was to question whether this was really needed. After all, the environment has long been regarded as a central plank in sustainability and there are countless articles and books published on an annual basis that explore the impact of our economic and social activities on our environment. Just what is it that a special edition can achieve? What new angles could we hope to provide? Our initial thinking was to link the special edition to a particular, almost unique, location in time rather than space. We are in the process of recovering, albeit stuttering, from the deepest economic crash experienced by the European and North American economies. The crash has brought some national economies to their knees and, if economic commentators are to be believed, almost destroyed the Euro. Recovery from that crash has been slow and it is arguable whether at the time of writing this has developed much momentum. There is still the skewed perception that prosperity equals economic growth and that economic growth can take place without real (sustainable) development or by simply implementing austerity measures and surely without people's participation. An analogy from National Parks worldwide is when conservation agencies try to enforce protection without local people's support. All such attempts have either failed or resurrected only once people's involvement was secured and guaranteed. The unidirectional austerity measures imposed mainly in the countries of southern Europe have destroyed social cohesion leaving deeply wounded societies, while at the same time have also put up for grabs important assets (including natural capital) in each of these countries and therefore in jeopardy even their long term recovery. OPEN ACCESS