Traditional Tree Initiative
This effort to enhance the ecological and economic viability of land use systems in the South Pacific centres around a series of fact sheets. Shared on CD-ROM and the Internet, these documents are designed to record indigenous knowledge of native tree species and to promote the re-adoption of traditional agroforestry systems among local farmers, ranchers, landscapers, and landowners. Agroforestry Net, Inc., a Hawaii (USA)-based non-profit educational organisation, launched the 2-year effort in 2003 based on a conviction that technology could support traditional cultures by communicating practical information, to the end of encouraging the planting and conserving of traditional trees across the landscape. Specifically, the Traditional Tree Initiative works to:
- Perpetuate ecologically and culturally vital tree species
- Promote sustainable economic development by providing information on underutilised species and their potential crops
- Empower readers by enhancing knowledge of how to re-establish local tree favorites and use tree resources sustainably
- Support sustainable agriculture through the promotion of locally appropriate trees for windbreaks, soil conservation, crop shade, etc.
- Enhance the diversity of products and species on agricultural land
- Protect and expand wildlife habitat in agricultural and residential zones and counter risks of bioinvasions from introduced exotics by promoting local species
- Conserve the genetic wealth and species diversity of the region by integrating native trees with production.
Communication Strategies
This project involves creation of an educational resource for sustainable development that provides information about the uses, products, and planting of traditional trees. Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are the key medium for communicating this information - and, it is hoped, inspiring sustainable, culturally appropriate local actions.
Specifically, the Traditional Tree Initiative is working to produce a series of 6- to 12-page fact sheets covering 50 central tree species in the region. Organisers claim that each fact sheet provides detailed, practical information on products, uses, interplanting applications, environmental requirements, and propagation methods. The fact sheets will be freely available in electronic format via the Internet, both in HTML and PDF formats. (click here to view a list of the species profiles available; as of this writing, many are in "preview" format.) The fact sheets will also be disseminated in reproducible form and as a searchable CD-ROM (with live Internet links to 200 agricultural offices, libraries, and schools in the region).
Decisions about which information was crucial to local residents, and how to communicate it, were based on a email survey of agricultural professionals throughout the region. Based on that input, 31 experts in Pacific Island agroforestry are authoring the species fact sheets. A panel of over 60 extension agents, producers and other professionals are reviewing the species profiles. Many others were expected to provide feedback through an e-mail review process.
Specifically, the Traditional Tree Initiative is working to produce a series of 6- to 12-page fact sheets covering 50 central tree species in the region. Organisers claim that each fact sheet provides detailed, practical information on products, uses, interplanting applications, environmental requirements, and propagation methods. The fact sheets will be freely available in electronic format via the Internet, both in HTML and PDF formats. (click here to view a list of the species profiles available; as of this writing, many are in "preview" format.) The fact sheets will also be disseminated in reproducible form and as a searchable CD-ROM (with live Internet links to 200 agricultural offices, libraries, and schools in the region).
Decisions about which information was crucial to local residents, and how to communicate it, were based on a email survey of agricultural professionals throughout the region. Based on that input, 31 experts in Pacific Island agroforestry are authoring the species fact sheets. A panel of over 60 extension agents, producers and other professionals are reviewing the species profiles. Many others were expected to provide feedback through an e-mail review process.
Development Issues
Environment/Biodiversity, Agriculture, Economic Development, Indigenous Knowledge.
Key Points
Organisers explain that, as traditional tree-based agroforestry systems were replaced with cash crops from colonial times onward, much of Pacific Islanders' knowledge of local tree species and their products and uses has been lost. Furthermore, "most of the professional literature neglects traditional agroforestry trees, focusing instead on a narrow range of exotic species, many of which are untested in the region, and are difficult to acquire. They could also pose serious threats to island ecosystems in that
they are potentially invasive. Nonetheless, farmers have turned away from reliable, 'time-tested' native species in favour of exotics, perhaps because information about them is more widely available." According to Agroforestry Net, missed economic development opportunities related to traditional trees may also be traced to lack of information about their potential benefits.
The demand for information about traditional trees is indicated by the fact that, when a pre-release version of one species profile (Morinda citrifolia) was posted on the Agroforestry.net website in October 2003, it was downloaded by more than 14,000 visitors in 6 months. During 2005, this profile has received over 100 hits per day, on average. (Click here to download this fact sheet in PDF format).
The demand for information about traditional trees is indicated by the fact that, when a pre-release version of one species profile (Morinda citrifolia) was posted on the Agroforestry.net website in October 2003, it was downloaded by more than 14,000 visitors in 6 months. During 2005, this profile has received over 100 hits per day, on average. (Click here to download this fact sheet in PDF format).
Partners
Agroforestry Net receives support from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Western Region Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (WSARE) Program; SPC/GTZ Pacific-German Regional Forestry Project; USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service; Kaulunani, an Urban Forestry Program of the (Hawaii) Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) Division of
Forestry and Wildlife and the USDA Forest Service; and Muriel and Kent Lighter.
Sources
"Traditional Tree Initiative: promoting Pacific agroforestry" by Craig Elevitch, ICT Update, Issue 19, July 2004; Traditional Tree Initiative page on the Agroforestry.net website; and email from Craig Elevitch to The Communication Initiative on August 21 2005.