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The role of heritage territories in mountains

06.10.2016

A photofilm about three biocultural heritage territories and their role in conserving biodiversity and promoting locally-determined development is now available in a Spanish language version. The six-minute film uses stunning photographs to present the Quechua Potato Park in the mountains of Peru, the Naxi Seed Park in China, and the Lepcha/Limbu Bean Park in India. Biocultural heritage territories protect traditional land tenure, preserve fragile ecosystems and rare crops, and enable development that incorporates the knowledge and practices of indigenous peoples. The International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) is supporting the development of indigenous biocultural heritage territories as a valuable strategy to enhance food security in the face of climate change.

The film opens with a profile of Peru's Potato Park, which is located in the high Andes. Here, five indigenous Quechua communities protect traditional landscapes and conserve 1 460 types of potato, an important resource for food security and climate adaptation.

The second territory is the Naxi Seed Park, or Stone Village, in the Himalayan foothills of Southwest China. Here indigenous communities use water management systems that date back 1 300 years, and are setting up a collective farmers' organization to manage the biocultural territory and protect more than 180 crop varieties, medicinal plants and native wildlife.

In the Eastern Himalayas, India's Bean Park protects an area of exceptional biocultural diversity, with a rich mix of wildlife, flowering plants and food crops. The Bean Park is the ancestral home of some 5 000 ethnic people.

The film highlights the deep importance of traditional practices, spiritual values and collective custodianship in all three territories. The photofilm was first launched in 2014. It was produced in collaboration with Asociacion ANDES (Peru), the Centre for Chinese Agricultural Policy (China) and Lok Chetna Manch (India). 

During the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) World Conservation Congress in September 2016, IIED hosted a roundtable on 'Designing a biocultural heritage indication scheme' for labelling products from biocultural heritage territories and helping to generate revenue.

Read more 

Watch the film

Read the IIED report on the biocultural heritage indication scheme

Learn more about biocultural heritage

News and photo by IIED