Department of Anthropology
|
Department of Anthropology
|
|
|
People, Land Management and Ecosystem Conservation (PLEC) PLEC News and Views - New Series
 PLECservPLECserv [http://c3.unu.edu/plec] is a free electronic list managed by Harold Brookfield and Helen Parsons. Its objective is to inform the scientific and professional community concerned with rural development and conservation in smallholder farming regions of the developing world, by calling attention to recent publications, new research methodology, and developments in agrobiodiversity, in the study of farmer innovation and farmers' technical knowledge, and in development practice and thinking generally. About PLECPLEC is a global network, set up by the United Nations University in 1992. From 1998 until 2002 it was funded by the GEF through UNEP. It brings together over 200 professionals, including more than 130 scientists and researchers, together with 190 skilled expert farmers, and 180 undergraduate and graduate students. PLEC members work out of 65 institutions in Brazil, China, Ghana, Guinea, Jamaica, Kenya, Mexico, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Thailand, Tanzania, Uganda, Britain, the United States and Australia. From 1992 until 2002 it was coordinated scientifically by Em. Prof. Harold Brookfield, who is now Senior Adviser. Conservation through agriculture underpins PLEC's approach to conserving and utilising biological diversity. Most biodiversity projects relate to protected areas or crop plants alone. PLEC is unique still in its strong and pervading management approach to biodiversity in the context of the livelihoods and social organization of smallholder farmers. Through generations of innovation and experiment, they have nurtured a great diversity of plants and animals, both wild or domesticated, and accumulated rich knowledge of the managed biodiversity. Much has been written on the loss of managed biodiversity under threat from commercial and intensified production, but before PLEC only limited work had been done, mainly by individual researchers publishing through academic channels, on how farmers manage their resources to sustain and enhance their conservation. "The many ways in which farmers use the natural diversity of the environment for production, including not only their choice of crops but also their management of land, water, and biota as a whole" are described by PLEC as "agrodiversity". [The role and ability of local people in conserving biodiversity is stressed, especially their knowledge of the management of fragile environments, the local genotypes of food crops, and coping mechanisms to address external pressures and opportunities]. PLEC has set up a network of demonstration sites located in priority ecosystems managed by farmers in 12 developing countries. These are chosen by project scientists in collaboration with farmers. About 25 are fully developed, and more limited work has been done in a number of others. PLEC has an enviable reputation of working with farmers, in their fields, using the farmers' own ideas and evaluation criteria. PLEC looks for the exceptional, or expert, farmers who manage resources better than others, and encourages these farmers to demonstrate their successful methods to others. Farmer-to-farmer training has been successful at many demonstration sites, where the farm becomes a chalkboard, the expert farmer a teacher, the scientists and technicians become facilitators and participating farmers the adopters, modifiers or improvers of the technology. PLEC deliberately dwells on positive experiences drawing lessons to support "agrodiversity" as a developmental approach with policy-relevance to reverse trends in biodiversity loss and land degradation as well as to improve smallholders' livelihoods. The Canberra office of PLEC has published 20 issues of the half-yearly PLEC News and Views since 1993. Varying in length from 28 to 48 pages, they have carried articles by project members, and some others, in addition to news about the project. Production has been by Muriel Brookfield and Harold Brookfield as editors, and Ann Howarth as administrator. PLEC News and Views will continue as an electronic publication, issued from Tokyo, and edited by Helen Parsons and Harold Brookfield. Harold and Helen will also be commencing a Listserv for professionals and academics in rural development and conservation. Details will be posted here. PLEC publications have included: Brookfield, H. and C. Padoch 1994. Appreciating agrodiversity: a look at the dynamism and diversity of indigenous farming practices. Environment 36 (5): 6-11; 37-43. Brookfield, H. and M. Stocking 1999. Agrodiversity: definition, description and design. Global Environmental Change 9 (2): 77-80. Brookfield, H. 2001. Exploring Agrodiversity. Columbia University Press, New York. Brookfield, H., C. Padoch, H. Parsons and M. Stocking eds 2002. Cultivating Biodiversity: Understanding, Analysing and Using Agricultural Diversity. London, ITDG Publications. More information on PLEC, including all issues of PLEC News and Views, can be found on the main project homepage at http://www.unu.edu/env/plec |
|
|
Page last updated: June 12 2009 10:37:35.
Please direct all enquiries to: web.cap@anu.edu.au Page authorised by: Director, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies |
| The Australian National University — CRICOS Provider Number 00120C |
