The Republic of Korea's traditional bamboo farming system in Damyang has been recognized as one of the Important World Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS), a designation managed by the United Nations Food Organization and Agriculture (FAO). It is the fifth time that a site in the Republic of Korea has achieved SIPAM recognition.

Based on traditional agroecological practices, the site is a prime example of a sustainable agriculture approach linking nature and ancestral farming practices while respecting the environment.

Started over a thousand years ago, the system is organized around the cultivation of bamboo on several levels, in which tea trees and mushrooms are interspersed with bamboo. Landscape management also includes agricultural land, orchards, rice fields, and water tanks.

Bamboo groves - which normally grow in lower mountainous areas, such as in the hill areas of a valley - provide natural channels around the fields. In this way, the system ensures the dynamic circulation of water, nutrients and biodiversity, providing essential ecosystem services to local communities.

In addition, the tangle of bamboo rhizomes prevents soil loss due to torrential rains or floods, thus avoiding natural disasters. Thanks to their density, bamboo fields form a barrier that also protects villages from the cold winter winds and the stifling heat of summer. Thus, the cultivation of bamboo in Damyang plays an important role in preserving the landscape against soil erosion and sudden variations in temperature.

Food security, livelihoods, agrobiodiversity and traditional knowledge

The multi-tiered structure of the Damyang bamboo fields enables farmers to earn healthy income not only from collecting bamboo shoots, but also from jukro tea (a special green tea), from medicinal plants such as broad-leaved liriope and goji berries, as well as special crops such as mushrooms, all of which are compatible with growing bamboo. Furthermore, bamboo crafts have long been the main source of livelihood for farmers.

The agricultural system of the Damyang bamboo fields provides rich agrobiodiversity. Bamboo trees are selected and grown according to the needs of each producer and are genetically different.

Farmers continue to rely on traditional ecological knowledge and techniques for the correct management of bamboo trees at different stages of growth, including site selection, planting, fertilizing, thinning, pruning, and harvesting.