Nature's Matrix : Linking Agriculture, Biodiversity Conservation and Food Sovereignty

When first published in 2009, Nature’s Matrix set out a radical new approach to the conservation of biodiversity. This new edition pushes the frontier of the biodiversity/agriculture debate further, making an even stronger case for the need to transform agriculture and support small- and medium-scale agroecology and food sovereignty. In the first edition, the authors set out a radical new approach to the conservation of biodiversity. This is based on the concept of a landscape as a matrix of diverse, small-scale agricultural ecosystems, providing opportunities to enhance conservation under the stewardship of local farmers. This contrasts with the alternative view of industrial-scale farms and large protected areas which exclude local people. However, since then the debate around conservation and agriculture has developed significantly and this is reflected in this updated second edition. The text is thoroughly revised, including: a reorganization of chapters with new and timely topics introduced, updates to the discussion of agroecology and food sovereignty, bringing it in line with the current debates, greater coverage of the role of agroecology, in particular agroforestry, as an important component of climate change adaptation and mitigation, highlighting recent studies on the role of intensive agriculture in climate change and loss of biodiversity, and more attention given to the discussion of land sparing versus land sharing. By integrating the ecological aspects of agriculture and conservation biology, with a political and social analysis as well as historical perspective, the book continues to set a progressive agenda and appeals to a wide range of students and professionals. Cover Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Table of Contents List of Figures List of Boxes Foreword: To be or not to be? Rethinking the conservation question through inhabited environments Notes Preface Acknowledgements Chapter 1: Matrix matters: An overview The birds of New York and the coffee of Mesoamerica The argument The ecological argument The agroecological argument The rural grass-roots argument Critical perspective on interim experience since first edition Towards a new paradigm Notes Chapter 2: The ecological background The fundamental patterns of biodiversity Evolutionary pattern: diversity through time Geographic pattern: biodiversity changes with latitude and altitude Insular pattern: biodiversity on islands Intensification pattern: changes in biodiversity with management Why the biodiversity patterns matter The ecological background to biodiversity studies From the paradox of the plankton to metapopulations The importance of extinctions The landscape mosaic Notes Chapter 3: Ecological theory and political realities A fragmented landscape, extinctions and migrations Early conceptual models: SLOSS, Forest Transition Theory, and Integrated Conservation Units Land sparing versus land sharing: the imperial mind confronts biodiversity conservation historical view of conservation efforts Awe versus biodiversity in US-protected areas Contemporary sharing and sparing in the tropics The model forest example Notes Chapter 4: Historical patterns in agriculture The development of agriculture Pre-industrial agriculture The evolution and domination of European agriculture Confronting declining soil fertility Plant breeding emerges to serve ideology Control of pests The Green Revolution The industrial model From peanuts to peanut butter The industrial system in crisis Notes Chapter 5: Alternatives to the industrial model Alternative agriculture movements A long tradition A wealth of models A conservation agenda for New England Natural systems agriculture Agroforestry as a machine to absorb carbon Biodiversity as it relates to agroecology Biodiversity in agroecosystems Agroecosystems as migration routes Notes Chapter 6: The broad social context: Theoretical considerations The importance of the deep historical context European colonialism The Bretton Woods institutions After the Cold War Malthusianism rearing its ugly head again Difficult socio-political issues in practical conservation work Sources of systematic bias in conservation practice Notes Chapter 7: The broad social context: Practice The Brazilian Amazon: a case study in conservation, livelihood, and social movements The variety of human activities Emergence of the ribeirinhos The idea of ‘extractive reserves’ Direct action land reform Agrarian reform: a transcendent issue The dependency trap in biodiversity conservation Conservation by dispossession An example from Mexico Grass-roots social movements Conservationists working with social movements Social movements versus the traditional conservationist agenda Notes Chapter 8: Coffee production and biodiversity conservation Coffee and the technical side of biodiversity Coffee agroforests as habitats for biodiversity Intensification and the loss of biodiversity Coffee agroforests as a high-quality matrix in the landscape The ‘function’ of biodiversity in the coffee agroecosystem Notes Chapter 9: Cacao and biodiversity: The historical development of a biodiversity landscape Early history Brazilian cacao in world markets: the 20th century The technification of cacao The conservation agenda faces the reality of land tenure The conservation agenda faces a cry for social justice Notes Chapter 10: The production of food and the biodiversity connection Rice production and biodiversity Wetland rice ecology and biodiversity Biodiversity in rice production, and the livelihood of farmers Loss of biodiversity and the legacy of the Green Revolution’s High-Yielding Varieties (HYVs) Maize production and the landscape mosaic Response from the social movements: where biodiversity conservation meets food sovereignty Agricultural potential in the matrix Notes Chapter 11: The new paradigm Recapping the ecological argument The theory of biodiversity High extinction rates in isolated fragments Recapping the agricultural argument Increasing agricultural production for conservation Intensification, food production, and biodiversity conservation The matrix as repository for biodiversity Fragment-to-fragment migration Agriculture as a temporary activity Recapping the social movement argument Putting the three arguments together Notes References Index