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Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS)

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Photos

Flickr Album: Osaki Kôdo's Traditional Water Management System for Sustainable Paddy Agriculture, Japan
17/05/2015

The Osaki region has developed as a paddy agriculture region by using the lowland swamps and wetlands that extend across the basins of Eai River and Naruse River.

Flickr Album: The Cascaded Tank-Village System in the Dry Zone of Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka
13/04/2015

The Cascaded Tank-Village System (CTVS) is described as a connected series of tanks organized within a micro-catchment of the dry zone landscape, storing, conveying and utilizing water from an ephemeral rivulet.

Flickr Album: Takachihogo-Shiibayama Mountainous Agriculture and Forestry System, Japan
02/08/2014

The GIAHS site is a steep mountainous site enclosed by the peaks of the Kyushu-Mountains, ranging from 1,000 to 1,700 meters in elevation. Mentioned in ancient Japanese chronicles such as the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki, myths and traditions are cherished even today.

Flickr Album: Jiaxian Traditional Chinese Date Gardens, China
24/10/2013

The dynamic conservation of this vineyards and its grape varieties, is part of the Xuanxua farmers’ tradition, culture, promoting national heritage, but also serving as a platform and source of information for scientific research on ecology, economy, society and culture.

Flickr Album: Xinghua Duotian Agrosystem, China
24/10/2013

Xinghua Duotian agrosystem is a world-level wonder for its unique water-land utilization method in low-lying land and its splendid raised field landscape. In the past thousands of years, in order to fight against floods, the ancestors in Xinghua built wooden structure to support field, raised mud into small stacks, and formed the original raised field.

Flickr Album: Urban Agricultural Heritage – Xuanhua Grape Garden, China
24/10/2013

The dynamic conservation of this vineyards and its grape varieties, is part of the Xuanxua farmers’ tradition, culture, promoting national heritage, but also serving as a platform and source of information for scientific research on ecology, economy, society and culture.

Flickr Album: Shexian Dryland Stone Terraced System, China
30/07/2013

Shexian Dryland Stone Terraced System is a rain-fed agricultural system located on the mountains and developed thank to local communities’ adaptation with the harsh environment.

Flickr Album: Zhejiang Huzhou Mulberry-dyke & Fish-pond System, China
30/07/2013

Zhejiang Huzhou Mulberry-dyke & Fish-pond System originated more than 2500 years ago and includes many traditional and agroecological knowledge. It includes the cultivation of mulberry-dyke trees, silk rearing, fish cultivation and is based on a very complex irrigation and drainage system.

Flickr Album: Traditional Mulberry System in Xiajin’s Ancient Yellow River Course, China
30/07/2013

The heritage system has witnessed the development of China’s sericulture industry, and enjoys rich cultural connotations. It embodies the historic memories and spirits relating to the ancient course of the Yellow River and the mulberry trees.

Flickr Album: Jasmine and Tea Culture System of Fuzhou City, China
30/07/2013

Fuzhou, China. Fuzhou, the capital city of Fujian Province, is located in southeast coastal China. The city is built at a river basin and surrounded by mountains. The climate is mild, rainfall is abundant and the difference between day and night temperatures creates favorable conditions for jasmines to grow.

Flickr Album: Kuaijishan Ancient Chinese Torreya, China
15/07/2013

With more than 2000 years of history, the Kuaijishan Community developed the application of ancient grafting and artificial selection techniques in ancient China, making it a rare "living fossil". The ancient Chinese Torreya trees, some of which are more than 1000 years old, form a spectacular landscape merged with the traditional villages, abundant streams, and mountains.

Flickr Album: Olive Groves of the Slopes between Assisi and Spoleto, Italy
01/02/2013

This agricultural system in mainly based on a traditional terraces system management allowing to grow olive trees. In addition, several main tasks from planting to the harvest has allowed the farmers to produce high quality olive oil in a sustainable way for centuries.

Flickr Album: Barroso Agro-Sylvo-Pastoral System
01/02/2013

With human occupation for thousands of years, this area of Northern Portugal presents today a pattern of land occupation marked by human activity for agriculture, forestry and grazing, while a number of very significant and relatively intact environmental areas are still found.

Flickr Album: Pu’er Traditional Tea Agrosystem, China
04/11/2012

Yunnan province (China) is considered the world's provenance of tea trees. Located at the starting point of the Ancient Tea-Horse Route, it is an important node in tea culture dissemination. It’s also the province that boasts the largest area of wild tea tree communities and ancient tea plantations with the largest amount of old tea trees and wild tea trees.

Flickr Album: Aohan Dryland Farming System, China
30/08/2012

Foxtail millet and broomcorn millet are two of the most common crops found in the district. Foxtail millet is not only important to dryland farming, but has features that contribute to economic development of the system as a whole. These crops play a significant role, as they are the main crops for disaster relief in the dry farming area of Northern China.

Flickr Album: Ifugao Rice Terraces
01/10/2011

However, the rice terraces are now in a very critical stage of deterioration and do not allow the local communities to overcome the poverty line. The continued survival of the terraces is threatened by various factors such as environmental degradation, unregulated development and neglect brought about by urbanization and changing values.

Flickr Album: Republic of Korea - Traditional Hadong Tea Agrosystem in Hwagae-myeon
01/10/2011

Apr 2019. Hadong, Korea. According to traditional tea agriculture practices in Hadong, tea leaves must be handpicked. To carry out this job , the locals formed a “service exchange group”, a cooperative community of residents that ensures enough labour and maintains the traditional methods of tea farming.

Flickr Album: Geumsan Traditional Ginseng Agricultural System, Republic of Korea
01/10/2011

Geumsan traditional ginseng agricultural system is a very important agricultural heritage. It represents the culture, long history and traditions of Korea.

Flickr Album: Engaresero Maasai Pastoralist Heritage Area, Tanzania
08/09/2011

In Northern Tanzania, Maasai have developed an agro pastoral system for centuries. Despite the scarce water and grazing land availability, Maasai have succeeded in adapting their systems to this area satisfying their needs and evolving with the cities nearby. Strongly linked to wildlife this agro pastoral system is not competing with it but functioning in synergy.

Flickr Album: Gafsa Oases, Tunisia
08/09/2011

The Gafsa oasis is a green area situated in the dry lands of Tunisia. Growing plants has been made possible thanks to the ground water resources and the local communities’ knowledge. These landscapes have been shaped for centuries and have created the historical oasis.