The Non-Sustainability of Monocultures And From Bio-Imperialism to Bio-Diversity

 In forests and in agriculture  Not tolerant of other systems  Do not grow sustainably  Local knowledge vs. scientific knowledge  Ecologically based vs. economically based

 Decides what a “normal forest” should look like  Non-marketable components of a forest are seen as abnormal and destroyed in favor of marketable components  Ignores the food, fodder and water production capacities of the forest

 Allows sun to heat the soil of the forest  More erosion  Less humidity  Fire  Flooding and drought

 Formed in 1952 between the American firm, International Paper Company and the world’s largest paper producer, AndreSoriano Corporation.  Sustainable yields-purely economic term  Short term  First run  Takes 10% of the wood from per acre  Allowed to take trees with a diameter of 32 in. or more  Gets about 73 cubic yards  Second run  Allowed to take trees with a diameter of 24 in. or more  Get about 32 cubic yards from same acre

 This is supposed to be a sustainable system. But here, although they use the term selective logging, there is only one harvest. A big one. After that, no more.  Angel Ancala, Biology Professor, Siliman University, Philippines

 14% of logging area cleared for roads  27% cleared for skid loaders  In an acre averaging 58 trees, 10 will be taken. However, 13 more trees will be damaged in the process  Other studies suggest that these averages are very conservative

 Facility of Forestry Science funded project  Greater knowledge of modern science and economics led decisions  Biodiversity replaced by monoculture  People working with trees replaced by machines  20 years later  Afforestation has dropped from 40% to 8%  Population gone

 People began to protest the planting of eucalyptus due to its destruction of water, soil and habitat  peasants in Karnataka  Took out seedlings and replanted mango and tamarind trees  peasants in Thailand  Burned down the plantation

 Introduction of “miracle seeds” during the Green Revolution  Aren’t adapted to local habitat  Not resistant to pests leads to more pesticides  Takes nurturance from the soil  Demands intensive irrigation, which leads to desertification  Nurturance cycle of soil turned into a linear line, fueled by chemical factories  Nitrogen based fertilizers lead to nitrous oxide to be released into the atmosphere

 Inherently fragmented and colonizing  Wedded to the economy  Political implications that ruin local communities  Exclusively for a few elite  It is the monoculture of the mind

 Precondition for human liberalization  Shift from global knowledge to local

 To conserve biodiversity, we need to stop and reverse its primary threats  Stop aid and incentives for large scale destruction  Therefore, stop funding on a global level, such as international aid and financing  Stop the dominant pattern of development that has no regard for nature

 All forms of life have an intrinsic right to live  Cultural value  Recognize that money has a very limited scope and value  Farmer and indigenous knowledge of biodiversity should be highly valued, not seen as primitive

 Currently, economics drives our decisions  A framework of biodiversity needs to drive our economic thinking, not the other way around  Only consider economic outputs

 These three qualities meet in biodiversity and cannot be found in monocultures  Diversity ensures ecological stability, multi- dimensional efficiency, multiple livelihoods, social justice, and efficiency  Biodiversity system  ½ calorie produces 1 calorie  Industrial monoculture  10 calories produce 1 calorie

 Ecological instability  External control leads to displacement of livelihoods  Efficiency on a one dimensional scale instead of multi-dimensional

 Historically, local communities maintained biodiversity  Now, the Global North patents, repackages and sells biodiversity that once belonged communally to the Global South  This system is perpetuated by GATT, The World Bank and US Trade Act

 This bio-imperialism needs to be replaced by biodemocracy  Recognizes the inherent right of all living things to live  Recognizes rights of local communities to the biodiversity they have evolved with  Entails that nation states have a duty to protect these rights from corporations and globalization

 The Global South can only be strong if it supports the democratic rights of its biodiversity and the diverse cultures that co- exist with them.