Wild Food Voices and Stories

Wild food voices and stories

Film festival

Watch on-demand films on forests and food starting March 8, 2021.

What are Wild Foods

A short animated explainer of the definition of wild foods and its vital role to play in the present issues on food security.

NTFP-EP, SIANI (2020) 2:43m

Covid 19 Narratives, Vietnam & Philippines

Narratives from communities relying on, collecting, harvesting food from the forest in the time of the Covid 19 pandemic.

NTFP-EP, PanNature, CSDM, Ayta Magbukon, BUKLURAN Philippine ICCA Consortium. (2020)

Covid 19 Narratives, Cambodia

Narratives from communities relying on, collecting and harvesting food from the forest in the time of the Covid 19 pandemic.

NTFP-EP, Conserve Indigenous Peoples Language (CIPL) Organization Cambodia (2020)

In a Different Light: The Karen Rotational Farming Story

Rotational farming, also called shifting cultivation or swidden agriculture by some, is one of the most misunderstood systems of land use. Many ASEAN countries have laws criminalizing or banning the practice, but for indigenous peoples, rotational farming is a sustainable practice closely interlinked into their lives and culture. NTFP-EP and PASD Thailand present a short film on how the Karen indigenous peoples in northern Thailand practice rotational farming. It explores how rotational farming has helped them provide for their food security, while also contributing to the sustainable management of their forest ecosystems.

NTFP-EP, PASD (2021), 11:40m

Forest Food Field School in Addukam: Resource Centre and Wild Food Gardens

Up in the small village of Adukkam in the Palni Hills of the Western Ghats in India, lies a resource centre created to revive and rejuvenate the local knowledge on wild foods. Madhu Ramnath takes us on a journey in identifying a number of edible plants in the area - from tubers to leafy vegetables, and much more. Along the way, he highlights the work of the resource centre on the field of wild foods and related matters of community conservation.

NTFP-EP India (2020), 5:50m

The Punan Adiu: Learning From the Aren River, Malinau, North Kalimantan

In this video, we will see a series of activities of the young generation of the Punan Adiu tribe in Malinau, North Kalimantan, Indonesia, in recognizing local food sources that are available for free in their traditional forests. Accompanied by a field teacher who is experienced in identifying food sources available in their traditional forests, it is seen that the cheerfulness of these young people absorbs the knowledge explained by their field teacher.

NTFP-EP Indonesia

Available in Bahasa Indonesia and English

In English, an abridged version (4:53m)

Bahasa Indonesia, full-length (6:45m)

Keeping it Flowing: The Pala’wan Almaciga Story

Many indigenous communities inhabit and care for the last high biodiversity forests on Earth. Palawan island, known as the Philippines’s last frontier, is home to the Palaw’an indigenous group. The Palaw’an residing in Amas village in the municipality of Brooke’s Point, Palawan exemplify the inextricable link between culture and ecology.

NTFP-EP, Samahan ng mga Palawano sa Amas Brooke’s Point Multipurpose Cooperative (SPABP)

2018, 8:27m

People & Forests Slideshow

Humanity is nurtured by nature. In turn, humans have the responsibility to use nature sustainably. Here are some of the faces of the people at the frontlines, whose lives are interlocked with the forests rhythm. Faces and scenes in harmony with and benefiting from the bounty of the forest.

NTFP-EP (2015) 4:02m

Salween Peace Park and Food Sovereignty during Covid 19

In the Salween Peace Park, strong Indigenous governance and food sovereignty has been imperative in communities’ effective response to the current pandemic. Practicing traditional knowledge about the ‘use’ of natural resources through diverse agricultural systems and the ‘care’, through ecological conservation, is key to the Karen peoples’ food systems. Having biodiversity in their diverse agricultural systems helps them mitigate, adapt and survive natural disasters. Diversity is strength.

Salween Peace Park, Karen Environmental and Social Action Network (KESAN) (2020) 8:15m

Living with Forest and Having Healthy Food

Local Karen communities live together with nature as their livelihoods rely on resources obtained from the natural environment. To maintain and protect the sustainability of these natural resources, local Karen people use customary knowledge and practices passed down from their ancestors.

The local people from Yaw Meh Klo Area, Karen State, held a Traditional Cooking Event on August 25th 2020. The cooking event focused on utilizing resources obtained from the local environment such as vegetables, fish, shrimp and livestock reared at home to strengthen the connection between their livelihoods, culture and the environment. This event will play an important role in reminding and teaching the youth about Karen traditional cooking techniques so they are prepared to pass these practices on to future generations.

We all know that the forest provides basic food needs, so that it is vital for us to protect and conserve it. However, some people still think that protecting and conserving natural resources and the forest is not our job – it is someone else’s job. Actually, it is everyone’s responsibility to do this.

Karen Environmental and Social Action Network (KESAN) (2020) 5:32m

Strengthening Livelihoods and Protecting the Environment

Rice is a staple food for Indigenous Karen people in Mutraw District, Karen State, Kawthoolei. Living in a mountainous region, the majority of people practice upland rotational farming. The impacts of climate change on regional weather have caused rice production to decline in some years. To overcome these challenges and increase food security, KESAN worked with communities to establish rice bank projects to strengthen community livelihoods alongside with nature conservation.

Karen Environmental and Social Action Network (KESAN) (2021) 7:59m