Seed and gene banks have made great strides in preserving the biological diversity of traditional agricultural plant species, but they have tended to ignore a serious component: the knowledge about those crops and methods of farming held by the people who have long raised them. Virginia Nazarea now makes a case for preserving cultural memory along with biodiversity. By exploring how indigenous people farm sweet potatoes in Bukidnon, Philippines, she discovers specific ways in which the conservation of genetic resources and ...
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Seed and gene banks have made great strides in preserving the biological diversity of traditional agricultural plant species, but they have tended to ignore a serious component: the knowledge about those crops and methods of farming held by the people who have long raised them. Virginia Nazarea now makes a case for preserving cultural memory along with biodiversity. By exploring how indigenous people farm sweet potatoes in Bukidnon, Philippines, she discovers specific ways in which the conservation of genetic resources and the conservation of culture can support each other. Interweaving a wealth of ecological and cognitive data with oral history, Nazarea details a "memory banking" protocol for collecting and conserving cultural information to complement the genetic, agronomic, and biochemical characterization of important crops. She shows that memory banking offers significant benefits for local populations--not only the preservation of traditional knowledge but also the maintenance of alternatives to large-scale agricultural development and commercialization. She also compares alternative forms of germplasm conservation conducted by a male-dominated hierarchy with those of an informal network of migrant women. Cultural Memory and Biodiversity establishes valuable guidelines for people who aspire to support community-based in situ conservation of local varieties. Perhaps more important, it shows that the traditional methods of local farmers are often as important as the "advanced" methods encouraged by advocates of modernization.
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Nazarea, Virginia D. Cultural Memory and Biodiversity. Tucson, Arizona: University of Arizona Press, 1998, 189 pp.
Before the days of Burpee, Monsanto, and highly commercialized agriculture, all seeds came from what was saved from the previous harvest or was traded across mountains, continents, and oceans.
As land grant universities, extension services, and USAID turned their attention to serving agribusiness, which was funding most of their research, others at the margins realized that an untold wealth of biodiversity was being lost. Formalized seed banks were established around the world to collect, protect, store, document, and eventually grow out millions of landraces and heirloom varieties in order to preserve germplasm and genetic diversity. But, collecting piles of seeds in jars is only a fraction of the task. Without cultural knowledge from those who planted and used them, the seeds become artifacts in a museum with extremely limited provenience and no her-stories/his-stories/plant stories to bring them to life.
Cultural Memory and Biodiversity eloquently reveals the intricate layers connecting genetic diversity and local knowledge. She goes beyond philosophy and the hypothetical to develop a system of memory banking that captures cultural dimensions of biodiversity through respecting and listening to local knowledge. The local agriculturalists maintain the songs and prayers, selection criteria and planting methodologies, and knowledge transmission strategies that recognize plants as co-beings with people.
In the case study, Nazarea works intensively with two communities, Intavas and Salvacion, in Bukidnon province, on the island of Mindanao in the Philippines. Intavas retained more subsistence agriculture characteristics while Salvacion became more stratified and commercialized, adding yet another comparative dimension to this study. The Memory Banking protocol recognizes and makes room for the complex, diverse interfaces between culture, gender, situation, and personal preference. Nazarea recognizes that what the people say is valid because it informs their actions and reflects a specific practice that makes sense in their contextual relationships to family, plants, community, and land. Western science does not equal superior knowledge.
The book provides clear examples such as a sample specimen data sheet for memory banking and a concentric agricultural calendar that can be used to track relationships between a variety of crops, agricultural activities, and time of year. Other techniques include asking informants to draw from memory the different varieties of sweet potatoes to observe what features they emphasize.
The Indigenous Technologies in this case study are organized as stages in the agricultural cycle. Each technology reflects a strategy, such as harvesting the large roots first with a long, sharp-pointed wooden stick, which results in less damage to the smaller roots so the plant will continue to grow and can be harvested later.
The diversity of varieties and practices documented in the book demonstrate why both genetic diversity and cultural practices are necessary for adaptation and survival in the face of the intense monocultures of land and mind that seem to be rapidly overtaking us by institutionalizing uniformity and conformity. The monoculture marches on, casting aside scientific and social proof that destroying a peoples? rich genetic and cultural heritage makes them more unstable and less able to cope with stress. Cultural knowledge is a key to group ownership, identity, and commitment.
Memory Banking can support biodiversity by retaining the viable options and alternatives in relationship to the cultures. Such documentation strengthens local control over and rights to this information and gives the community leverage to determine how this resource will be shared and exchanged. Memory Banking protocol is an important process to protect the community?s contributions to biodiversity through millennia of experimentation, subsistence, and persistence.
"Cultural Memory and Biodiversity" is an interesting and fascinating book that is definitely going on my shelf of important books. That usually means that I will give it away to someone ? ?you have to read this? ? and end up buying at least one or two more copies. Since I tend to read books from back to front, I spent a lot of time in the Appendices reading the expanded results of the author?s studies and summaries. These were so fascinating that I next went to all her excellent illustrations, tables and figures in the main part of the book.
It is truly humbling to realize that the knowledge we can gain through our Western system cannot begin to touch the wealth that is in these farmers? hearts, minds, spirits, and hands. When it all comes crashing down and our supermarkets close, will we be able to listen to the plants? Will they remember us and tell us their secrets? Or, will we be looking for those memory banks and genetic diversity pools that may still exist somewhere with farmers and gardeners?
