Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

permaculture - [permaculture] Fwd: [SANET-MG] Nature's Matrix: Linking Agriculture, Conservation and Food Sovereignty

permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: permaculture

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: "Lawrence F. London, Jr." <lflj@bellsouth.net>
  • To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [permaculture] Fwd: [SANET-MG] Nature's Matrix: Linking Agriculture, Conservation and Food Sovereignty
  • Date: Sun, 10 Oct 2010 22:43:40 -0400

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: [SANET-MG] Nature's Matrix: Linking Agriculture, Conservation and
Food Sovereignty
Date: Sun, 10 Oct 2010 22:33:54 -0400
From: Joel Gruver <jgruv@HOTMAIL.COM>
To: SANET-MG@LISTS.IFAS.UFL.EDU

Hello folks,

just ran across a new book that may be of interest:

Nature's Matrix: Linking Agriculture, Conservation and Food Sovereignty
Ivette Perfecto, John Vandermeer & Angus Wright
272 pages - Paperback
Publisher: Earthscan 2009
ISBN: 9781844077823
AU $ 59.95

Description:

Landscapes are frequently seen as fragments of natural habitat surrounded by a 'sea' of agriculture. But recent ecological theory shows that the nature of these fragments is not nearly as important for conservation as is the nature
of the matrix of agriculture that surrounds them. Local extinctions from conservation fragments are inevitable and must be balanced by migrations if massive extinction is to be avoided.

High migration rates only occur in what the authors refer to as 'high quality' matrices, which are created by alternative agroecological techniques, as opposed to the industrial monocultural model of agriculture. The authors argue that the only way to promote such high quality matrices is to work with rural social movements. Their ideas are at odds with the major trends of some of the large conservation organisations that emphasise targeted land purchases of protected areas. They argue that recent advances in ecological research make such a general approach anachronistic and call, rather, for solidarity with the small farmers around the world who are currently struggling to attain food sovereignty.

Nature's Matrix proposes a radically new approach to the conservation of biodiversity based on recent advances in the science of ecology plus political realities, particularly in the world's tropical regions.

"Nature's Matrix makes the powerful case that sustainable peasant agriculture
is a positive force
for biodiversity conservation, contrary to a lot of misrepresentation
in the literature. It is a must-read for anyone interested in
understanding the connections between food sovereignty and the
environment."

Peter Rosset, author of Food Is Different and Promised Land

****************************************************
Joel Gruver
School of Agriculture
Western Illinois University
jgruv@hotmail.com





  • [permaculture] Fwd: [SANET-MG] Nature's Matrix: Linking Agriculture, Conservation and Food Sovereignty, Lawrence F. London, Jr., 10/10/2010

Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page