Agro-cultural Landscapes in China: Types and Significances

Abstract

In many countries, specific agricultural systems and landscapes have been created, shaped and maintained by generations of farmers and herders based on diverse species and their interactions and using locally adapted, distinctive and often ingenious combinations of management practices and techniques. These Agro-cultural landscapes are all integrated bio-cultural systems with plenty of biodiversity and cultural diversity. Many traditional agro-cultural landscapes, liking rice terraces and vineyards, were listed in the World Heritage List. FAO launched an initiative in 2002 and defined Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) as “Remarkable land use systems and landscapes which are rich in globally significant biological diversity evolving from the co-adaptation of a community with its environment and its needs and aspirations for sustainable development.” In this paper, the authors summarized main agro-cultural landscapes, such as (rice and dry crop) terraces, integrated farming systems (rice-fish system, dike-pond system, agro-forestry), soil and water management, multi-layered home gardens, nomadic pastoral systems, inter-cropping, and so on. Their significances were analyzed viewing from biodiversity conservation, cultural heritage, food and livelihood security, adaptation to climate change, and aesthetic value.