Taro farming, cultural survival, and wetlands conservation

在世界范围内，围绕自然资源和土地分配问题的冲突正在加剧。这种冲突对环境保护努力和政治稳定都构成了障碍。在夏威夷群岛，围绕湿地区域使用和管理的冲突达到了历史最高水平。虽然几十年来农业、商业和住宅的发展威胁到了关键的湿地，但生物学家发现，濒临灭绝的水鸟被吸引到传统上用来饲养芋头的湿地地区。这位来自华盛顿大学的环境人类学博士生将与夏威夷考艾岛上的52名芋农合作，调查芋养殖与濒危水鸟之间的联系。这项研究特别关注芋头种植的经济学、作为湿地管理替代方案的芋头种植的价值，以及芋头种植者世代积累的环境知识的价值。研究将包括家庭访谈、每周收集农场统计数据和水鸟数量的数据、传统环境知识调查、焦点小组讨论和参与者观察。这些研究方法旨在记录流域管理中使用的传统环境知识和芋头种植的经济盈利能力。这将为芋农管理湿地以保护濒危水鸟提供单位成本的估计。如果芋头种植真的像声称的那样具有环境价值，它可能会为夏威夷州和整个潮湿的热带地区提供一种促进人类和环境福祉的手段。

RConflicts over natural resources and land allocation issues are intensifying worldwide. Such conflicts present obstacles to both environmental conservation efforts and to political stability. In the Hawaiian Archipelago, conflicts over the use and management of wetland areas have reached an all-time high. While decades of agricultural, commercial, and residential development have threatened critical wetlands, biologists have found that endangered waterbirds are attracted to wetland areas that have traditionally been farmed for taro. The co-investigator, an environmental anthropology doctoral student from the University of Washington, will work with 52 taro farmers on the Hawaiian Island of Kaua'i, investigating the connection between taro farming and endangered waterbirds. The research focuses specifically on the economics of taro farming, the value of taro farming as a wetlands management alternative, and the value of environmental knowledge developed over generations by taro farmers. The research will involve household interviews, weekly data collection on farm statistics and waterbird counts, a traditional environmental knowledge survey, focus group discussions, and participant observation. These research methods are designed to document traditional environmental knowledge employed in watershed management and the economic profitability of taro farming. This will provide an estimate of the per-unit cost for taro farmers managing wetlands for endangered waterbird protection. If taro farming is indeed as environmentally valuable as is claimed, it may provide the state of Hawaii, and other regions throughout the moist tropics, with a means of promoting both human and environmental well-being.