Newsletter no 24 - Forests, Foraging and the Commons

Editorial : Forests, Foraging and the Commons
About 75 percent of the world’s poor live in rural areas in developing countries. Most survive on subsistence farming, artisanal fisheries and/or nomadic herding and many are landless, working as seasonal labour on farms, plantations, in fisheries and industry. Their daily food needs are met primarily through local production, foraging, hunting and fishing — often by women — on small farms, common grazing lands and in woods, forests, streams, (...)

The importance of forests, wild plants and the commons to people’s and communities’ food sovereignty
Indigenous peoples have lived in harmony with Mother Earth for thousands of years – depending on her for our food, shelter and medicines – making us part of her and not her master. The earth is populated by trees of every type which give life and strength. The earth is root and source of our culture; it is our guardian mother who looks after all which exists. For this reason caring for (...)

Māori food sovereignty
The role that the seas, fish, marine life and coasts play for Māori of Aotearoa/New Zealand is inter-related and essential to our culture, economy and identity, which cannot be separated. Like many Indigenous Peoples across the world Māori feel strong historical and contemporary connections to all our surroundings. Our histories have been handed down by our ancestors and maintained through an oral tradition of storytelling. Tangaroa is our god of the ocean who we (...)

Box 1 - Why are the commons important for food sovereignty?
The commons refer to forms of wealth, capacities, spaces and resources that are used, managed and governed collectively for the benefit of many. These can include farmlands, wetlands, forests, pastures, hill slopes, streams, rivers, lakes, seas, coastlines and associated resources.
Farming and grazing lands can be communally governed, although the rights of families to cultivate specific parcels of land are recognised and (...)

Voices from the field 1 - Collection practices reflect the community’s strategy of sustainable land use
Mr. Somneuk Buddwarn, Ban-Thap-Heua-Parak-Moo Community, Nayok District, Trang Province, Thailand
Ban-Thap-Heua-Parak-Moo Community is located in Southern Thailand and majority of the local residents are small-scale family farmers. The practice of collecting local forest products is an important source of livelihood for food and supplemental income. Depending on the season, forest (...)