The #Moroccan #FoodForest That Inspired an #AgriculturalRevolution
These ancient forest gardens may be more relevant than ever.
by Eric J. Wallace April 1, 2019
"It was 1975 and Geoff Lawton was wintering with friends in Morocco. Camping on beaches north of Agadir, they’d been surfing for weeks when locals told them about Paradise Valley. Located along the Tamraght River in the High Atlas Mountains, it promised 5,200-foot vistas, blue-green waterfalls, and lush, rainforest-like vegetation.
"Lawton, then 21, was on his first trip outside the U.K. 'Tourists had yet to ‘discover’ the area, so the culture was very much preserved,' he says. 'For me, it was like going back to Biblical times.'
"The dirt road to the Valley climbed through a barren, arid landscape into rural hills studded with mud brick homes. Twenty kilometers in, the group stopped at the tiny village of Inraren for directions. Lawton went to relieve himself in a roadside wood.
" 'I remember thinking it was odd that this lush, green forest should be bursting from the desert,' he says.
"Stepping inside, things got stranger. The air felt cool, almost misty. Growing in the shade of tall date palms were trees, vines, and shrubs bearing bananas, tamarinds, oranges, figs, guavas, pomegranates, lemons, limes, mulberries, carobs, quince, grapes, and other fruits and nuts. Following a footpath through the grassy understory past groves of olive and argan trees, Lawton discovered a cluster of fenced-in vegetable and herb gardens—most about a quarter-acre in size. Here and there, goats were tethered to posts. Chickens clucked through the underbrush and roosted in trees. Gazing down a leafy corridor, he spotted a man leading a donkey. Its saddlebags brimmed with produce.
" 'I felt like I’d wandered into some kind of ancient organism,' says Lawton. “I had goosebumps all over.'
"Totaling about 65 acres, the food forest was a remnant of one of the world’s oldest #sustainable systems of agriculture. While its origins have been lost to history, scientists agree it is at least many centuries old. Some, including Lawton, date its establishment to 2,000 years ago. When asked about the forest’s age, villagers shrug.
" 'I have no idea how old it is or when our ancestors first began gardening here,' says 45-year-old Abdelmajid Ziyani, a construction worker and member of a local argan and olive oil cooperative. 'But I know it has been here for centuries.' "
Related video: "The 2000 Year Old Food Forest in Morocco - Discover Permaculture with Geoff Lawton"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wd-b_C7a_es
Read more:
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/what-is-permaculture-food-forests
#SolarPunkSunday #ForestGardens #UndergroundSprings #Permaculture #AncientFoodForests #SustainableAgriculture #History #AgricultureHistory #Histodon #TraditionalAgriculture
