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Explore the pitfalls of monocultures in commercial forestry, how they disrupt ecosystems and economic systems, and the impact on communities and nature. Learn about failed ventures, selective logging issues, agricultural impacts, and the aftermath of the Green Revolution.
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The Non-Sustainability of Monocultures Vandana Shiva
Monocultures • Monocultures are neither tolerant of other systems, but are also not able to reproduce sustainably
Commercial forestry • Sustainability is a matter of supply to the market • Sustained yield management works to “the best financial results, or the greatest volume, or the most suitable class of produce • Non-marketable components of the forest are then destroyed in the working process of commercial forestry • Uniformity in the forest works for markets and industry, but against nature
PICOP • Was a joint venture between International Paper and ASC in the Philippines • Their forestry division wasn’t profitable • Their plantations also failed • All because they were not sustainable
Selective logging • The process of not destroying a whole forest at once • Cut some trees, let the rest grow • Selective loggers damage more trees than they harvest • According to UNESCO, not many forests are rich enough for selective logging
Brazil • An example was given of Brazil • A forestry project was created in Brazil • Economics led people to think in new ways • The transformation of the forest led to more flooding • The people who lived in those regions became impoverished and moved to the slums in the cities
Eucalyptus • The greening of the forest with eucalyptus works against nature • Guzzles water and nutrients • Inhibits growth of other plants and is toxic to organisms responsible for building soil culture • People everywhere have resisted the planting of eucalyptus
Agriculture • The destruction of diversity in agriculture is also a source of non-sustainability • “miracle” seeds replaced traditional agriculture • These seeds became mechanisms for breeding new pests and new diseases • The only miracle about these seeds are the need for more pesticides • Sustainable agriculture is based on the recycling of soil nutrients
Green Revolution • Was meant to free the Indian farmer from natural constraints • Instead, crated less diversity and destabilized water and soil systems • Leading to the problem of possible desertification • Created the perception that soil fertility is produced in chemical factories • What is considered wasteful and unproductive by Green Revolution standards are coming to be seen as useful by ecological standards