PBR’s bamboo agroforestry program aims to revitalize damaged landscapes, create new employment and economic opportunities, and seasonal supplies food and resources for sustainable communities.
Utilizing intensive agroforestry best-practices, the BAG program designs, implements and manages the integrated production of a 20-element guild of “crops” across seasonal, 12-month schedules of cultivation, harvesting and market fulfillment.
PBR engages lands and nearby communities that have been adversely affected by previous land-use activities to collaboratively revitalize sustainable social, economic and ecological activity. In this way, PBR pays equal attention to the health and welfare of local communities and economies, and ecosystems to which they are interdependent.
In short, the BAG program is designed for replicable 25-acre lots and comprised of elements representing five sectors of seasonally-appropriate agroforestry activity:
- Foods: vegetables and herbs, orchard fruits & nuts, berries, mushrooms, seasonal greens
- Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFP): bamboo, honey, ginseng, flowers, seeds
- Non-edible Resources: compost products, mulches, figured wood
- Livestock: aquaculture, sheep, goats, pigs, ducks, chickens, worms
- Education: tours and training programs, appropriate technology demonstrations
Avoiding the social, economic and ecological pitfalls of plantation-style “cash crop” forestry and agriculture, the BAG program demonstrates a robust, integrated, poly-crop design which honors and enlists ecosystems and biodiversity services. By doing so, new employment and rich educational opportunities are formed to meet regional community and economic trends and provide quality resources for sustainable living.
PBR is framing a partnership with Antioch University Seattle, for undergraduate and graduate students to complete course work and field internships via BAG farmstead programs. Groups will work closely and enjoy support from BAG staff, AUS faculty and community partners across seasonal cultivation, harvest, distribution and market fulfillment activities.
For more information about the BAG program, or related volunteer and internship opportunities, contact Rachel Lazar.
