"Imagine a forest where giant mosquitoes abound, Briche Gonzalez, now 53, recalls of her childhood on her family's ancestral farm. Her grandfather, uncle and grandmother would cut each cacao fruit open, and Briche Gonzalez would join her grandmother in removing the pulp and seeds from the shell, which would then be used as fertiliser. The agricultural landscape where their farm lies, nestled in southern Colombia, had been maintained by Afro-descendant communities since colonial times."
"Afro-descendant communities in Latin America have long cultivated edible landscapes, which grow in the midst of natural forests and mimic the surrounding flora. Across the region, Afro-descendant peoples manage about 200m hectares (2m sq km or 494m acres) of these agroforestry systems in biodiversity hotspots, of which only 5% are legally recognised as collectively titled territories. For decades, those communities have argued that they play a critical role in protecting biodiversity and therefore need legal protection over their lands."
Dilmer Briche Gonzalez grew up harvesting cacao and learning agroforestry practices on her family's ancestral farm in southern Colombia, accompanied by elders who cultivated cacao, timber, medicinal plants, coffee, spices and cooking herbs. Afro-descendant communities across Latin America have long managed edible landscapes that coexist with natural forests and mimic surrounding flora. These communities manage roughly 200 million hectares of agroforestry systems in biodiversity hotspots, but only about 5% of those lands have collective legal recognition. Communities assert that their management protects biodiversity and therefore requires legal protection, although until recently there was little scientific data to document these claims. Briche Gonzalez is active in Proceso de Comunidades Negras (PCN).
Read at www.theguardian.com
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