The Riches of Talamanca, Costa Rica
Association of Small Producers of Talamanca Newsletter
Issue #1, March/April 2002
Talamanca is an area rich in biodiversity. It contains 9 of the 12 life zones of Costa Rica (Holdridge 1967) and within its forests we find 60% of the diversity of Costa Rican fauna including between 35,000 and 100,000 species of insects, as many as 84 species of mammals, 141 of reptiles, 361 of birds, 220 of butterflies and 227 of fish and marine organisms. There is also a great variety of plants, many of which are found only in this zone.
This richness, combined with the ethnic and cultural richness, has developed forms of production in which ancestral culture is combined with the natural riches. For years the Bribri and the Cabcar tribes have planted diverse crops together. Crops such as corn, yam, yucca, tiquisque and beans are grown together with bananas and plantains under the shade of fruit trees, pejibaye palms and lumber trees. Crops are often combined with the care of domestic animals. This form of production, for someone looking from outside, perhaps does not have the “order” of a traditional monoculture system, but this difference is precisely its richness: it is an integrated system that permits living and producing sustainably. In this system the family achieves production of a variety of fresh foods for its own consumption, at the same time producing bananas, plantains, and cacao for sale. At the end of the year, the family receives income from these, as well as wood and other products for its own use.
This form of production, recovered, and fortified now by training, organization and commercialization, is more and more recognized as a system of production rich in diversity and sustainablility for its similarity to the natural forest. It is a system rich in diversity of wild animals, such as migratory birds, mammals, insects and plants, many of which are found only in Talamanca.
These agro-ecological systems also prevent soil erosion, help preserve water, and incorporate organic material into the soil, enriching it and permitting completely organic production. Moreover, the families maintain a productive relationship of respect and well-being with nature and feel and are a part of its conservation.
There is no doubt that with their traditions, their respect for nature and their new education, the producers of Talamanca will move forward in the productive conservation of the natural resources. They are an example for Costa Rica and for the world.
In the next bulletin we will discuss the threats to this system of production (mining, petroleum, dams, etc.) and the fight to protect it.
Translated by Noble Baker
Posted by: noble on October 26, 2002 at 12:37:21