Grades 9-12, College, Adult
Produced by Hans-Ernst Weitzel
US Release Date: 1987
Copyright Date: 1983
VHS ISBN: 1-56029-015-3
Subjects
Agriculture
Central America and The Caribbean
Ecology
Food And Nutrition
Forests
Gardening
Indigenous Peoples
Rainforests
Solutions
Awards and Festivals
Editor's Choice, Science Books & Films
Mayan Rainforest Farming
Example of successful rainforest agriculture.
| "Looks at the values of sustaining the world's tropical rain forests." Science Books & Films |
The tropical rainforests are being destroyed at an alarming rate for timber harvesting and the creation of cropland and cattle pastures. In nearly all cases the result is massive erosion, and often desertification.
Here is a model of successful rainforest agriculture. On the Yucatan Peninsula, there still exist a few "solares," or orchards, where Mayan farmers continue a sustainable form of agriculture. Imitating the rainforest itself, they grow a variety of vegetables and non-food crops in the shade of their fruit trees.
Other titles in the series are:
Biogas from the Sea - Excess marine algae converted into biogas.
Flush Toilet, Goodbye - The design of a composting toilet.
Natural Waste Water Treatment - Marsh plants purify waste water.
Rammed Earth Construction - Beautiful samples of rammed earth construction.
Short Rotation Forestry - Coppicing for maximum yield wood lots.
Web Page: http://www.bullfrogfilms.com/catalog/mrf.html
Reviews
"Mayan Rainforest Farming is eminently useable in the classroom and would hold the attention of a popular audience. And despite the fact that it is almost 20 years old, it has held up well over time; its message is also as relevant today--if not more so--as when it was first made...With sustainability and environmental and cultural survival on the minds of anthropologists more than ever, I heartily recommend the video and the series."