The reintroduction of traditional agroforestry management systems is helping the Karuk and Yurok tribes of North America restore their forests and waterways.

An article on the blog of the US Department of Agriculture explains how the University of California – Berkeley, University of California-Davis, the US Forest Service and other agencies are supporting the tribes to “reestablish the once rich and bio-diverse ecology of their ancestral homeland”.

One of the actions being taken is to reintroduce fire into the landscape to open up the forest and encourage the reestablishment of a diverse and wildlife-rich forest.

The Karuk and Yurok tribes rely on forest foods, such as acorns, pine nuts, huckleberries, hazelnuts, raspberries, deer, elk and mushrooms, as well as salmon and eels from the waterways.

Their “traditional ecological knowledge comprises a much broader set of practices than agroforestry, but can improve and inform agroforestry practices and land management both on and off of tribal lands,” says the article.

They manage their forests as part of a cultural and spiritual responsibility that is intended to enhance wildlife for future generations rather than exploit these resources.

The article highlights a publication by the USDA National Agroforestry Center: Indigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledge in Agroforestry. It describes how some indigenous communities are applying traditional ecological knowledge in their agroforestry systems.

Read the full story: Re-establishing Tribal Biodiversity through Agroforestry