Distribution of Agrobiodiversity in Home Gardens Along the Corrientes River, Peruvian Amazon1
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Distribution of Agrobiodiversity in Home Gardens along the Corrientes River, Peruvian Amazon1 2 ,3 MATHILDE PERRAULT-ARCHAMBAULT AND OLIVER T. COOMES* 212, rue Thibouméry, 75015, Paris, France; email: [email protected] 3Department of Geography, McGill University, Burnside Rm. 705, 805 Sherbrooke St. West, Montreal, PQ, Canada H3A 2K6 *Corresponding author; e-mail: [email protected] Distribution of Agrobiodiversity in Home Gardens along the Corrientes River, Peruvian Amazon. This paper examines crop species diversity in home gardens of traditional communities along a remote tributary in northeastern Peru. A large-scale survey was conducted of 300 gardens in 15 villages along a 150 km reach of the Corrientes River. Study villages vary notably in community size, ethnicity of residents (Achuar, Urarina, mestizo), and proximity to the regional town (Trompeteros) as well as to oil wells. Gardens were inventoried and interviews conducted with garden tenders to provide data on socioeconomic characteristics of the household and contextual conditions. Multiple regression analyses identified the determinants of species diversity. Results indicate high crop diversity—the highest yet reported for sites in the Amazon basin—particularly among the Achuar people. Garden species dive- rsity is greatest in larger villages and, surprisingly, in those villages located nearer to the oil company. Within villages, households with larger land holdings (and gardens), more in-house labor, and garden tenders who are older and female tend to have more diverse gardens. A small number of households (15/300) were found to hold exceptional diversity, often older and land-wealthier households located on the outskirts of villages. These farmers held, on average, three times the number of species as a typical village garden and 60% of all species encountered in the study. Key Words: Cultivated plant diversity, home gardens, huertos, indigenous peoples, Peru, Amazonia. Introduction and, if so, how did they become so and what are Tropical home gardens are increasingly recog- the implications for conservation? Among the agricultural sites worked in traditional communities nized as loci for in situ conservation of agro- — fi — biodiversity. The conservation of cultivated plants from swiddens or fallows to permanent elds in home gardens not only preserves a vital home gardens are often sites of the greatest agro- resource for humankind but also provides signif- biodiversity, particularly in the humid tropics, and icant economic and nutritional benefits for the the focus of increasing investigation (e.g., Trinh et al. rural poor (Thrupp 2000; Eyzaguirre and Linares 2003; Kehlenbeck and Maass 2004;Sunwaretal. 2004; Kumar and Nair 2006). Central to efforts 2006;Milleretal.2006;Pandeyetal.2007). aimed at promoting agrobiodiversity conservation This paper reports on a large-scale survey of agro- is the issue of how crop species are distributed— biodiversity in home gardens along the Corrientes both geographically and socially—and which River in northeastern Peru. Researchers working in factors shape patterns of species diversity (Bellon the Americas are increasingly recognizing how 1996, 2004; Zimmerer 1996; Brush 1998). Of unevenly agrobiodiversity is distributed, even among particular interest are locales of exceptional agro- nearby communities (e.g., Padoch and de Jong biodiversity and individual farmers who hold such 1991;PeroniandHanazaki2002; Ban and diversity—are there indeed “hotspots” of diversity, Coomes 2004; Major et al. 2005; Willemen et al. 2007; Emperaire and Peroni 2007), and that a 1 Received 1 June 2007; accepted 4 February 2008; variety of cultural, social, and economic factors published online 13 June 2008. influence crop diversity and composition (Bellon Economic Botany, 62(2), 2008, pp. 109–126 © 2008, by The New York Botanical Garden Press, Bronx, NY 10458-5126 U.S.A. 110 ECONOMIC BOTANY [VOL 62 and Brush 1994; Zimmerer 2003; Perreault 2005; The paper is structured as follows. The study Perales et al. 2005). Previous studies of home area is described, followed by an account of how gardens from Amazonia typically are based on small the home garden survey was conducted and samples from communities along the Amazon or its household data collected. Our findings on species major tributaries that are easily accessible from major diversity and garden composition are reported for towns or cities, describing crop species diversity and both regional and garden-level scales. The paper agricultural practices in gardens by one (quasi) concludes with a discussion of our principal ethnic group (e.g., Guillaumet et al. 1990;Works findings. 1990;Smith1996;WinklerPrins2002). Two recent studies from Peru suggest that distance to urban markets or “remoteness” and ethnicity are key Study Area determinants of crop diversity in home gardens The area of study lies along a 150 km reach of (Lamont et al. 1999; Wezel and Ohl 2005). In this the Corrientes River in the northeastern Peruvian study, we undertook the most extensive survey to Amazon, approximately 200 km due west of the date of crop diversity in Amazonian home gardens, city of Iquitos (Fig. 1). The Corrientes is a clear along a 150 km transect of a 3rd-order tributary of water river (pH: 5.5–6.5) that flows from the the Amazon River, populated by two Amerindian Andean highlands of Ecuador through lowland groups (Achuar and Urarina) as well as mestizos tropical moist forests of Peru, draining the eastern (ribereños), which is subject to oil extraction. As margin of the Pastaza fan and joining the Tigre such, the survey permits a synoptic as well as a River, which in turn is a tributary of the Marañón microanalysis of agrobiodiversity in home gardens in River (Räsänen et al. 1992). The region lies at a remote area, between indigenous groups and 140 m asl, receives approximately 2,800 mm of among those with greater/less interaction with the rainfall annually, and has soils that are derived from market and the oil industry. alluvium of volcanic origin. Fig. 1. Map of study area, Corrientes River, Peru. Notes: Base map used by permission. All rights reserved. Location of Villa Tompeteros: 3° 48′ 20″ South, 75° 03′ 34″ West. 2008] PERRAULT-ARCHAMBAULT ET AL.: AMAZONIAN AGROBIODIVERSITY TABLE 1. CHARACTERISTICS OF STUDY VILLAGES AND HOME GARDENS IN CORRIENTES RIVER,PERU. Distance from No. of Gardens Villa Trompeteros Mean No. of Species/ Inventoried VILLAGE Ethnic Groupa No. of Houses (min.)b Total No. of Species per Garden (Range) (% of Total) San Juan campesino A/ m 36 2 114 21.4 (9–75) 35 (97%) San Juan nativo A 23 5 108 24.2 (14–58) 22 (100%) Santa Elena A 33 5 141 30.5 (11–78) 30 (97%) Porvenir U 25 40 83 13.7 (3–49) 22 (96%) San José de Porvenir U 20 55 84 20.9 (2–38) 18 (100%) Paraíso U 12 130 83 19.1 (9–64) 11 (100%) Copal A 21 170 108 26.1 (9–57) 19 (91%) Nueva Vida A 5 240 85 39.4 (34–48) 5 (100%) Peruanito A 17 280 88 20.8 (8–66) 15 (94%) Pucacuro A/ m 68 330 161 29.8 (5–72) 54 (88%) Dos de Mayo A 8 370 48 18.0 (12–21) 6 (100%) San Ramón A 6 400 45 23.0 (14–32) 4 (100%) San José de Nueva Esperanza A 30 480 136 28.9 (4–70) 24 (93%) Santa Rosa A 17 510 122 38.8 (19–62) 14 (93%) Valencia A 25 540 146 29.7 (6–65) 21 (91%) TOTAL SPECIES = 309 aA=Achuar; m=mestizo; U=Urarina. bTime measured by 25-hp motorized rowboat going upriver. 111 112 ECONOMIC BOTANY [VOL 62 Human settlement is limited to Amerindian Indeed, for the Achuar, ethnic identity is a flexible, and mestizo communities along the banks of the contextual notion (Seymour-Smith 1988). As such, Corrientes. The main native population of the upper a clear-cut distinction between mestizos and the Corrientes is the Achuar, members of the Jivaro Achuar is difficult to make. The Urarina villages, in ethnolinguistic group, who also occupy land along contrast, are much more homogenous, with only the neighboring Pastaza and Huasaga rivers. Achuar 13% of families referring to themselves as Achuar villages on the lower Corrientes are interspersed with or mestizos. communities of Urarina, who in-migrated from the The distance to market (Villa Trompeteros) may Chambira River in the mid-20th century. Residents take up to nine hours by small riverboat (upriver). live primarily from swidden-fallow agriculture on The influence of the oil company is strongest around the upland, complemented by hunting, fishing, the oil well stations, i.e., San Juan campesino and and gathering of edible forest products, medicinal nativo, and Santa Elena (Percy Rozas station), plants, and construction material. The primary Pucacuro (Pavayacu station inland from the market and service center is the district town of village), and San José de Nueva Esperanza (Nueva Villa Trompeteros, with about 1,200 inhabitants, a Esperanza station, just downriver of the village). In secondary school, and a clinic. The Corrientes these villages, many inhabitants rely on the oil region (including the upper Pastaza and upper company for employment (with the exception of Tigre) is the source of 65% of Peru’s oil, extracted San José), for income from sales of plantain and by the oil company, Pluspetrol. The company’s manioc, and for electricity and medical assistance. regional headquarters are located in Percy Rozas, The degree of reliance on the company varies in the across the river from Villa Trompeteros, from which other villages, from periodic visits by the medical four well stations and a pipeline to the coast are team to daily assistance with river transport and maintained. Although no roads join the region to the occasional short-term employment. rest of Peru, there is a private landing strip for the oil company’s small aircraft.