Cultivations

Since the time of our ancestors, we have been planting crops, hunting and doing gathering. We have always relied on the forest for everyt When we do subsistence farming, we s Let me tell you how we farm our crops. First, using our ancestral knowledge, we look at the surrounding trees and plants to tell us that the soil is fertile and ready for growing our crop. Then, we perform rituals to see if powerful spirits live in the area. If they do, then we farm somewhere else. We don't want to upset the spirits. Once we've chosen a small plot, we'll clear it all together with machetes. In March, we burn the dead plants. The nutrients in the ashes make the soil naturally fertile and help the harvest to be good. After the harvest, we leave the area for several years so the soil regenerates. The fields attract all kinds of birds and animals who benefit from the clearing. The forest that grows back will be as strong and healthy and will protect the land from erosion. Look at the forest around us. To you it looks But t And it's One day, governmental officials came and told us, your fires are polluting the air. You are destroying the forest and causing erosion. But t Our farming method is sustainable and less intrusive. They forced us to use the same plot of land permanently. But when we plant on the same piece of land over and over again, the soil gets exhausted and ultimately the forest will never grow back. The following years, our harvest became poorer and poorer till it was not enough to feed our families. The only way to survive now is to harvest more and more honey, rattan and resin and put more and more pressure on our forest. The ban on s All of t But in fact, we, indigenous people, are the best conservationists. Please help us lift the ban and save our forest, our knowledge and culture.