Making Forest Life viable!

Post date: Jan 4, 2012 9:55:49 AM

Vanastree

Vanastree is a small collective dedicated to promoting forest garden biodiversity andfood security through the conservation of traditional seeds.

Our main objectives:

§ promote cultivated and wild biodiversity in farms and forest home gardens

§ encourage seed saving and conservation of traditional crop varieties

§ provide networking and extension services

Beginnings

The Malnad Forest Garden and Seed Keepers’ collective was born in 2001 as a network of seed exchange groups focused on celebrating and endorsing biodiversity. From 2003, the collective began promoting sustainable livelihoods through conservation-oriented enterprises. The seed collective officially registered as a trust in 2008.

What is a forest home garden?

Forest home gardens vary in size and structure; from a tiny patch of vegetables outside a house to an acre or more of mixed crops. In any form, they share in common a great diversity of plants in addition to domesticated and wild tree species as space allows. The vegetables grown include varieties of amaranth, spinach, cucumbers, gourds and pumpkins, lady’s finger, brinjal, tubers, beans, chillies and others.

Our philosophy

Vanastree’s objectives arose out of concerns for the economic stability of the region and the danger of losing its small-scale, traditional food production system to the forces of globalization. We recognize the importance of forest home gardens as refuges of biodiversity, providers of nutritional food, extra sources of income, and educational tools.

Vanastree, which translates as “Women of the Forest” in Kannada, also emphasizes the traditional role of women in conservation. We believe that any biodiversity conservation plan aimed at arresting genetic erosion must recognize the role of women as gardeners, seed savers, and sources of knowledge.