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障碍。在夏威夷群岛，关于湿地地区使用和管理的冲突达到了历史最高水平。虽然几十年来的农业、商业和住宅开发已经威胁到重要的湿地，但生物学家发现，濒临灭绝的水鸟被吸引到传统上种植芋头的湿地地区。来自华盛顿大学的环境人类学博士生将与夏威夷考艾岛的52名芋头农民合作，调查芋头种植与濒危水鸟之间的联系。该研究特别关注芋头种植的经济学、芋头种植作为一种湿地管理替代方案的价值，以及芋头农民几代人发展起来的环境知识的价值。研究将包括家庭访谈、每周收集农场统计数据和水鸟数量数据、传统的环境知识调查、焦点小组讨论和参与者观察。这些研究方法旨在记录用于流域管理和芋头种植经济效益的传统环境知识。这将提供芋农管理湿地以保护濒危水鸟的单位成本估计。如果芋头种植确实如所宣称的那样对环境有价值，它可能会为夏威夷州和其他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.