[MPWG] Question of the month: Invasives removal amidstharvestable medici...

[Center for Sustainable Resources]

Jennifer, You make some good points. The worse part is that these knee jerk 
actions tend to take a simple problem issue and create huge problems in the 
future. Reductionist thinking has been the downfall of every civilization in 
the past. The Sahara desert was created by the Romans who used it as a grain 
production area (monoculture) after removing the animals and plants that 
were common.
All problems dealing with ecosystems can be traced back to biodiversity loss 
with almost all of that being brought about by humans who make decisions in 
only one way.
They like to call some species "invasive" but as I was once asked when did 
ginseng get it's green card? and who gets to grant these green cards? What 
about roses? Should not we go into all of the city parks and spray them with 
Monsantos latest poison? If you want to see where these chemicals hit home 
just take a look at the bottoms of the rivers here where the factorys are. 
We have health warnings on the fish. It works it's way all the way through 
the food chain.
What we have are people who can not manage land because they no longer do 
simple things like weeding or thinking. We find ourselves in a nation of 
people who are not willing to work.
Stilt grass is a very weak plant with shallow roots easy to pull out from 
around other plants. It is there for a reason . The soil is trying to repair 
itself whether the result of overrest, removal of trees , or erosion, fire, 
machanical disturbances, etc. ,All human actions yet the cause is the last 
thing to be considered so the list keeps growing. Fred Hays


>From: Cafesombra at aol.com
>To: mpwg at lists.plantconservation.org
>Subject: Re: [MPWG] Question of the month: Invasives removal 
>amidstharvestable medici...
>Date: Thu, 1 Jul 2004 18:22:33 EDT
>
>I'd like to make a few comments about this just as food for thought, not
>having exact scientific answers to offer.
>
>Is it best to seek answers about how to make monocultural agriculture work
>well?
>(I'm asking this because it seems to me that use of Round-up would 
>encourage
>monoculture.  I do understand that the Round-up suggestion is just one
>possibility, but frankly it is the possibility of choice these days...)
>
>How do we balance the value of cash crops against the value of natural
>diversity?
>
>Is the work of conservation truly possible without prioritizing natural
>diversity?
>
>Should use of Round-up pass organic certification?
>(This question uses the word "organic" in its holistic sense.  i.e., that 
>the
>desired end of organic agriculture is not merely a lack of chemical 
>residues
>but rather, a full range of best practices that enhance soil producivity, 
>soil
>vitality, natural balance and biodiversity, that prevent soil erosion,
>protect watersheds, in addition to worker's health, while providing a 
>high-quality
>product, and a livelihood for farmers).
>
>Is there an alternative to Round-up?  (or more to the point, does Monsanto
>corporation have to benefit from all aspects and sectors of farming?)
>
>One point I'd like to find out more about is, how reliable is the research
>about the safety of Round-up?  My understanding is that the research tends 
>to be
>in-house, generated by or funded by Monsanto.  I'm wondering because it's 
>use
>in Columbia (where it is literally "raining Round-up" as drug control 
>agents
>spray it from airplanes on the jungles to eradicate coca production) has
>generated some controversy in that some villagers claim to suffer from 
>stomach and
>head aches which they attribute to the Roundup in their environment, but
>there's no science to prove it, and so the spraying continues.
>
>Invasives can be viewed as serving a specific role in the environment.  For
>example, I used to live on an apple farm which was abandoned (and therefore
>went un-sprayed) for 8 years.  Over the course of that 8 years, poison ivy 
>had
>taken over so badly that some of the trees were literally blanketted in the 
>ivy.
>
>Poison ivy is an indicator species for a lack of nitrogen in the soil.  
>Some
>would say also that poison ivy likes to grow prolifically in places where 
>the
>Earth "wants" human beings to stay away for a while!  (I know, a bit of a
>spacey reach -- but many people can actually rsonate with the idea that the 
>land
>was enjoying a rest from the huge chemical applications of conventional
>orcharding... interesting that other animals do not suffer from poison ivy 
>the way
>humans do.)   Additionally, where red clover grew (a nitrogen fixer), there 
>was
>zero poison ivy.  So, red clover might be an answer to invasion by poison 
>ivy,
>reversing the depletion of nitrogen in the soil while offering the farmer a
>potential cash crop, as feed for animals or as a medicinal herb cash crop 
>--
>also offering an on-farm medicine for use at home.
>At any rate, I tell this story just to suggest that there may be ways of
>looking at the presence of invasives which answer the question of what to 
>do about
>them, of how to restore the balance, perhaps requiring no agrichemicals at
>all.  This means rather than asking "how can we get rid of this plant" as a
>starting plant, we ask "why is this plant so prolific in this environment?" 
>as a
>starting point.
>
>I look forward to other comments,
>best regards, Jennifer Chesworth
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>substitute for professional medical advice relative to your specific 
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