Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS)

Rice Fish "Agri-Culture" Heritage: enduring farms, ensuring livelihoods

Qingtian, China, 29 July 2014

Rice Fish Culture (RFC) of China is a pilot system supported by the FAO-GEF global Initiative on “Conservation and Adaptive Management of Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System (GIAHS)” with the participation of Algeria, China, Chile, Peru, Philippines, and Tunisia. The Project seeks to promote the international and national recognition of agricultural heritage systems and their dynamic conservation in-situ through policy support, capacity building and concrete support to local communities and their livelihood to conserve and manage GIAHS, generate income and add economic value to goods and services of such systems.

China’s agriculture is centred on rice. The rice production has had a strong influence on the countries social, economic, political and ideological development. Being tagged as a “rice culture country”, it is not surprising to find many rice-related agricultural systems that merit recognition due to their multiple goods and services. The rice fish culture is practiced in the Longxian, Qingtian county in mountainous area of the southern Zhejiang province.

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