Of Swiddens, snakes, and honey
This excerpt from The Archipelago of Hope: Wisdom and Resilience from the Edge of Climate Change (Pegasus Books, New York, 2017) explores the inextricable links between Indigenous peoples and their traditional territories as the foundation for climate change resilience around the world.
“In the dark, unfurnished room in a house on stilts, a sunbeam falls through the pane-less window and fills a glass jar with amber light. Chaiprasert Phokha, the head of the Karen village of HIn Lad Nai in northern Thailand, leans his wiry body into the light and pops the vacuum-sealed lid off the container. With an encouraging nod, he passes it to me. The sweet aroma of rainforest blossoms fills my nostrils. “We’ve harvested 3,000 jars (1,500 lbs) of wild honey this year,” Phokha says, “all of it came from wild bees living in the forest around our village…