Sustainable Design Update

Areca Palm Plantation

A recent publication in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by a joint Indian and US team found that the traditional method for growing areca nuts in western India is able to sustain avian biodiversity.  In the farming method, which has been employed for 2,000 years in the area, the areca palms are planted next to large, contiguous areas of undisturbed forest and areas of forest where leaf litter is collected to use as fertilizer.  The canopy provided by the palms provides a suitable habitat for 90% of the bird species that are found in the undisturbed forest and allows the farmers to cultivate shade-loving crops, like pepper, vanilla and bananas, in the same areas.  The BBC has a good summary of the team’s findings:

The team said the combination of the height of the areca nut palms (Areca catechu) and the plantations’ close proximity to the intact forest created the necessary ecological conditions to support forest bird species. They added that data showed the distribution of species in the area had been relatively stable for more than 2,000 years, before the first farmers cultivated the area.

As well as having a high ecological value, the plantations were also economically productive. The areca nut is consumed by about 10% of the world’s population, predominantly Asian communities.

As global demand for food increases with our ever-growing population, it will become ever more important to employ agricultural methods that don’t negatively impact biodiversity.

-Ben Connor Barrie

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 12th, 2008 at 2:38 am and is filed under Appropriate Technology, Sustainability. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.