Bribri women's agroforestry maintains forests and Indigenous culture in Costa Rica

In Costa Rica’s Talamanca region, Indigenous Bribri women are championing sustainable agroforestry practices in a tradition that stretches back for millennia. Known as fincas integrales, it’s a system that mimics the diversity and productivity of the forest: timber trees provide shade for fruit trees, which in turn shelter medicinal plants, amid all of which livestock and even wildlife thrive. One of the few matrilineal societies in the world, the Bribri women are taking back their leadership after decades of decline and social problems in the community. Talamanca is also home to vast monoculture plantations of crops like bananas, a completely different farming system that relies on the heavy use of pesticides — a practice that the Bribri women say destroys the land. Read the full story here: https://news.mongabay.com/2021/09/for... #mongabay #forests #Indigenous #CostaRica #agroforestry ---- Mongabay is a nonprofit environmental science and conservation news platform that produces original reporting in English, Indonesian, Spanish, French, Hindi, and Brazilian Portuguese. Check out https://www.mongabay.com/ Watch more of our videos:    / mongabaytv   Subscribe to Mongabay’s newsletter: https://mongabay.us14.list-manage.com... Follow Mongabay on Facebook:   / mongabay   Follow Mongabay on Twitter:   / mongabay   Follow Mongabay on Instagram:   / mongabay