We are glad to inform our readers about an information circulated by IPOGEA (www.ipogea.org):

Held in Beijing, the FAO International Forum on Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) ended today in Beijing. 150 experts representing 120 organisms, including 70 member countries and 50 organizations, took part in the event. The Forum discussed issues concerning agriculture, the right to water and the right to food, in the pursuit of the MDGs and the forthcoming Rio + 20. On the final day world agricultural sites considered of universal interest to humanity were listed.
Among the landscapes acknowledged were the pastoral systems of the Masai in Tanzania and Kenya, which won special recognition for their common use of water and land resources and for the traditional respect they show toward nature and life. Among the Masai there is no concept of private ownership of resources and no animal is killed if not for defense or for ritual purposes.
Major acknowledgment went to the oasis model, recognized as the greatest achievement of humankind in the management of arid regions and the sound use of water. The oases of the High Atlas in Morocco, the oasis of El Oued in Algeria, and that of Gabs in Tunisia, in particular, were honored with recognition. China was included with the terraced landscape of Yunan in the Hani area of Honghe, the funnel–shaped vineyards of Xuanhua north of Beijing, and the terraced rice paddies in symbiosis with fishes and ducks in Qingtian and Congjiang.
Japanese entries on the list include the Soto and Sado landscapes of the northern peninsula of Noto, which display a particular way of integrating village and sea, village and land, and village and mountains traditionally called Satoyama and Satouni, a philosophy that has allowed the preservation of a rural, mountain and marine ecosystem of great complexity and beauty.
The criteria used in selecting rural landscapes for listing are:
. the contribution of the rural systems to food production;
. their capacity to host biodiversity;
. the presence of traditional knowledge and its ongoing use in their management;
. the richness and distinction of their culture;
. their integration, quality and scenic beauty;
Next Forum will be held in two years, during which time other candidates will be considered. The United States (University of California, Berkeley) and Morocco have offered to host the Forum.