Background papers for the formulation of the GIAHS concept- GIAHS: extent, significance, and implications for development
GIAHS are found throughout the developing world, linked to centers of diversity. Agroecosystems cover more than one quarter of the global land area, reaching about 5 billion hectares. Agroecosystems are ecosystems in which people have deliberately selected crop plants and livestock animals to replace the natural flora and fauna. More... - GIAHS: Towards analizing the drivers of change in farming systems
The GIAHS project has the objective of documenting and fostering the viability and permanence of farming systems that are particularly remarkable due to the positive externalities that they generate and that benefit the environment and society at large. More.. - GIAHS – An examination of their context in existing multilateral instruments
The report analyses the international legal and policy matrix to assess the level of existing support for GIAHS and to ascertain the gaps in that support. This summary comprises a drastic paraphrase of the parent document. More..(summary / full report) . - Local Knowledge Systems and the Management of Dryland Agro-ecosystems: Some Principles for an Approach
Local agricultural knowledge in dry-land land-use systems is centred on the conservation, use and optimisation of soil moisture and soil organic matter. Additionally, biodiversity is carefully managed and nurtured to interface with hydrological and nutrient cycling to provide for ecosystem resilience, food security and diversity, and risk minimisation. More... - GIAHS: An Eco-Cultural Landscape Perspective
Human beings interact with ecosystem through concrete practices, these practices being determined by changing cultural perceptions, both in space and time. There is a wide recognition throughout the globe and across disciplines that regions of ecological prudence exhibit a symbiotic relationship between habitats and culture. More... - UNESCO World Heritage Centre: Background document on UNESCO World Heritage Cultural Landscape
This brief document provides a summarized chronology of the extensive background of previous cultural landscape meetings as well as decisions by the World Heritage Committee since the inclusion of the cultural landscape categories in the Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention in 1992. More... - Progress Report on the Development of a Network of In situ Conservation Areas; Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture 2002
Agricultural genetic resources are the result of co-adaptation among plants, animals and humans, under specific agro-ecological conditions. The conservation in situ of genetic resources for food and agriculture cannot be achieved outside dynamic farming systems and local human cultures in which these resources were developed. More... - Towards a methodological framework for implementing the GIAHS process in target sites: suggested guidelines and tips
The greatest challenge facing the implementers of the GIAHS process at each site will be to establish an enabling environment conducive to a dialogue between indigenous inhabitants and external actors about the local/global importance and relevance of each GIAHS site. More... - Agricultural Biodiversiy of Global Significance and GIAHS – logical steps
There are traditional and indigenous agricultural systems which contain Agricultural Biodiversity of Global Significance (ABGS). In the proposed project, we will apply the CBD definition of agricultural biodiversity. More... - GIAHS Strategic Framework
The Paper is intended to set out a strategic vision as an overarching guide for the future policies, plans, and programmes of GIAHS – a unique and innovative initiative to advance the goals of sustainable management of the ecosystems and enhancing human well-being. More....(summary / full text) - Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems: from a Social-Ecological Systems Perspective a Scientific Conceptual Framework and Strategic Principles (the full version will be uploaded soon)
- A case of Agricultural Heritage Systems
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations defines Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) as "remarkable land use systems and landscapes which are rich in globally significant biological diversity evolving from the co-adaptation of a community with its environment and its needs and aspirations for sustainable development". More... - Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems: Notes and guides in assessing Natural Resources Management
Natural resources management is a critical branch of sustainable rural development that requires thorough understanding of the land, the people who nurtures the land and how they govern land. They are historically, socially-ecologically constructed systems. While in today’s generation, natural resources management is intertwined with the problems of poverty, food and livelihood security and land degradation. This fact is recognized and there is no single sectorial approach that can successfully address this complex problem. More... - Apatani Wet Rice Cultivation: an example of a highly evolved traditional agroecosystem
The tribal societies of north-eastern India have wet rice cultivation as a land use activity, along with shifting agriculture (locally called `Jhum'), and the 'home gardens', which is an imitation of a forest but with economically important species. Wet rice cultivation is done at valley bottoms and sometimes on small terraces constructed at the base of the hill slopes all around; this results in a whole set of plots forming a sancer-shaped structure. More...
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