Colombian Indigenous Synchronization with the Amazon Flooding Cycles
The Amazon basin is shared by Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, French Guiana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela, representing the equivalent of 4.9 percent of the world’s continental area. This biome is composed of the largest tropical rainforest on the planet, where ecosystem diversity and important water resources like lakes and wetlands are found. These territories are known because of their cultural and ecological importance.
Indigenous populations are distributed amongst 22 communities located on the banks of rivers or flood plains. Which requires communal cooperation for its environmental conservation, food security and socio-economic development. Fifteen indigenous groups out of the 22 practice aquaculture as a sustainable way of food production. Indeed, three indigenous groups are experts in what the scientific community calls “ Rotating Production” which is an ancestral food production system that syncs with the flood cycles of the region and guarantees resource security for the population.
This aquaculture practice is embedded in an agroforestry practice that includes horticulture, hunting, fruit harvesting and fishing in the territorial units called Chagras (2.5 Acres) whose environmental equilibrium relies on a cycle of planting, harvesting, abandonment, restitution and healing. In this way “The amount of rainfall determines four hydrometric periods in the aquatic environments” (FAO, 2021)
The flooding cycles determine the food production calendar since water levels of bodies of water change the landscape, and migration of animal species, especially fish. Flooding season starts from February to April, lakes connect to the rivers creating new feeding grounds for fish and giving rise to fishing areas within the forest. Then, from May to July the water and species flow to the river and water levels start to decrease, so the communities start fishing; from August until October sandy beaches are exposed and land mammals appear to be hunted. Since the flooding fertilized the soils with nutrients the forest is ready for planting during the summer fruit trees and vegetables. Finally the cycle starts again when rains come back from november to january.
This cycle has helped the community to learn about sustainable ways to feed the people, adapt to the seasonal food and to cooperate with each other so the system can work. However, modern technologies, climate change, overpopulation and the regional economic development plans are affecting this ancestral practice.
Indigenous peoples in Colombia are autonomous per the 1991 Constitution, however they get help from the central government and ONGs; even though most of this help looks for the improvement of their quality of life, it has posed a dilemma related to the community ancestral knowledge, since young generations prefer to consume processed food that is not produced by their own hands. Additionally, they are losing interest in the chagras activities.
Climate change and the extractive industry have also affected the preservation of certain animals that were part of these communities' diet, and overpopulation has pushed them to trade and supply species that were enough for the community but not enough for the population around the region.
As a conclusion, indigenous peoples ancestral aquaculture practice looks like one of the most advanced and natural ways to use and give the nature resources, nevertheless, it has shown it is not scalable and works only if the community keeps the social organization and manage to maintain the human knowledge of species even if they are not longer present in the ecosystem.
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If you want to learn more about this topic:
https://guyanachronicle.com/2021/08/10/following-the-rhythm-of-mother-earth/