摘要
在过去数十年,中国西南山地生态系统的退化以空前的速度和尺度发展,由于人口迅速增长的压力,森林破坏、过牧、水土流失、土壤肥力丧失、作物产量降低或低下成为不可持续性的警示指标。在耕地短缺的情况下,更多的边缘土地和林地正被开垦为农用,这加剧了本来就脆弱的山地生态系统的退化。而且,山区的难达性和教育水平低下正阻碍着山地社区的发展。农林复合经营为解决生产力和保护双重目标提供了以资源为中心的技术前景。本文将讨论中国西南的乡土农林复合经营系统及其显著的经济和生态效益。中国西南人民积累了利用农林复合经营技术和恢复退化土地的丰富知识,并取得了这种乡土实践的多种效益。综合利用农林复合经营系统和现代农业技术可能是山地生态系统可持续发展的有效途径。
The degradation of the mountain ecosystems in southwestern China has been unprecedented in speed and scale over the past decades. Deforestation, overgrazing, water and soil erosion, loss of soil fertility and declining or poor crop yields are alarming indicators of unsustainability due to rapid population pressure. Under the conditions of shortage of arable land, more marginal and forest lands are being reclaimed for agricultural use, and this accelerates the degradation of the fragile mountain ecosystems. Moreover, inaccessibility and a low level of education are preventing development in mountain communities. Agroforestry provides a promising resource-centered technology to meet the twin goals of productivity and conservation. This paper discusses the indigenous agroforestry system practiced in southwestern China, and the promising economic and ecological benefits. People in southwestern China have accumulated abundant knowledge on the utilization of agroforestry technologies to rehabilitate degraded land and the multiple benefits that follow some indigenous practices. Integrating the agroforestry system and modem agricultural technologies can be an effective approach for the sustainable development of mountain ecosystems.
