"Farming and wildlife are not easy bedfellows," says the Economist. There's plenty of evidence for this, as you read in a recent post. But we also know that farming systems can encourage rather than destroy biodiversity, like the magazine reports.

Findings by Stanford University researchers, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, provide insight into a mountain range in south-west India that has been farmed for 2,000 years yet remains a biologically diverse "hotspot."

Looking at birds, they found that local plantations of areca palms retained 90% of the area forest's native birds. Areca palms? That's what I said. The fruit, referred to (apparently incorrectly) as "betel nuts," are used in medicines and also chewed with betel leaves as a "mild, coffee-like stimulant." The practice, which will stain your teeth red, is common in India and other parts of Southeast Asia and Melanesia.

Here's why birds stick around these plantations, which are better referred to as ecologically diverse, forest-friendly farms:

Because the fruits...come from tall stands of lush trees, farming them provides habitat for the forest birds in the region. In addition, areca-palm plantations are usually intercropped with species such as vanilla, pepper, bananas and coconuts. All this makes those plantations structurally complex. And structural complexity is something that makes forests hospitable to lots of species. The plantations also rely on mulches made from leaf litter deposited in nearby forests. This form of agriculture therefore depends on having reasonably intact local forests to provide the mulch. That, too, is biodiversity-friendly.

The multiple cropping system means areca plantations are profitable, so the benefits are both environmental and economical.

Source: The Economist

Comments (1)

Subscribe to this comment's feed

Tasty too ;)
written by Coffee Vending Machines, December 04, 2008

mild, coffee-like stimulant... erm... yam yam :) sounds good Kiki ;)

• 
• +1
• 
• 

Name

Email

Website

Title

Comment

smaller | bigger

Subscribe via email (Registered users only)

Write the displayed characters

Add Comment