4 sites named ‘Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems’

They are Bangladesh’s floating gardens, a unique hydroponics production system constructed with natural grasses and plants, which has been developed in flood areas; and a trio of sites in Japan: sustainable river fisheries utilising the Sato-kawa system in Gifu; the Minabe-Tanabe Ume approach to growing apricots on nutrient-poor slopes in Wakayama; and the Takachihogo-Shiibayama mountainous agriculture and forestry system in Miyazaki ,which allows agricultural and forestry production in a steep mountainous area.

The sites were officially recognised during a recent joint meeting of the GIAHS Steering and Scientific Committee at FAO headquarters in Rome.

These new designations bring the number of GIAHS systems to a total of 36 sites located in 15 countries in Africa, Latin America, the Near East and Asia.

"In the context of today’s environmental and economic challenges and climate change, small-scale and family farmers, and especially traditional agriculture, can offer real solutions for food security, the conservation of natural resources and sustainable rural development, if adequate policies and investment are directed to them," said the FAO’s deputy director-general, Maria Helena Semedo.

The GIAHS project, which was launched by the UN agency in 2002 during the "World Summit on Sustainable Development" in Johannesburg, has been recently endorsed by member countries as an FAO Corporate Programme.

In one of the newly designated Japanese sites, the Nagara River is one of the cleanest rivers in Japan and one that that provides a number of ecosystem services. Various components of the system – river, forests and farmlands – are closely linked to each other.

The sustainable inland fisheries of a specific type of fish – ayu – benefit from the clean waters of the Nagara River, which are maintained through upstream forest management.

Local communities live within this linked ecosystem and have developed their livelihoods and cultural practices.

Another Japanese location – the Minabe-Tanabe Ume System – allows for the production of high-quality ume (Japanese apricots) and various other kinds of fruit on nutrient-poor slopes.

Local communities have created a thriving ume fruit-production environment by maintaining upper-coppice forests for landslide prevention and maintenance of water, and Japanese honeybees for pollinators.

By permitting the production of a diverse range of products, the system ensures stable livelihoods and makes communities more resilient to disasters.

The third Japanese site – the Takachihogo-Shiibayama Mountainous Agriculture and Forestry System – is located in a steep mountainous area, where flat land is extremely scarce.

In this severe environment, local people have established a distinctive and sustainable system of agriculture and forestry, which balances timber production with diverse farming activities, such as terraced rice growing, shiitake mushroom cultivation, the raising of beef cattle, and tea cultivation.

The forest is maintained as a mosaic of conifers and broadleaf trees using traditional practices.

Floating gardens

Last but not least is Bangladesh’s Floating Garden Agricultural Practices.

Farmers in some parts of Bangladesh, where flood waters can remain for a prolonged period of time, have developed a unique hydroponics system in which plants can be grown on the water on a floating organic bed of water hyacinth, algae and other plant residues.

This environmentally friendly traditional cultivation technique utilises the natural resources of wetlands to grow vegetables and other crops almost all year round, providing numerous social, economic, agricultural and ecological benefits to the local population.