EAPSI: Capturing traditional ecological knowledge in Korean acorn production

Overstreet Shawn, San Jose CA

Investigators

Abstract

Commercial production of the oak acorn as an animal feed crop offers the potential to help mitigate global climate change. Oak tree plantations could remove large quantities of carbon dioxide (a greenhouse gas) from the atmosphere and store it for many decades as part of their biomass where it will not contribute to climate change. Also, such plantings would provide additional benefits in the form of windbreaks, watershed protection, and soil conservation. Little is known, however, about how to successfully cultivate acorns as a modern commercial crop, and it is therefore important to understand and document the knowledge in traditional systems of acorn production. Although acorns were once widely used in cultures throughout the northern hemisphere, the Korean Peninsula is one of the only remaining regions where acorns are still harvested in large quantities on a regular basis. In collaboration with Dr. Dowon Lee a noted expert on traditional Korean village groves at Seoul National University, this project aims to understand and document the traditional ecological knowledge associated with acorn production in the Republic of Korea. Oak groves were traditionally managed in rural villages to provide food in years when the rice harvest was poor, but now these groves are in danger of disappearing within the next hundred years due to urbanization and over-use. To document this traditional knowledge, in-depth field interviews of villagers, farmers, and others still involved in acorn production/processing will be conducted in the Republic of Korea. A lengthy questionnaire will be prepared used to guide the structured field interviews. Groves, techniques, tools, and materials will also be documented photographically. Sites will be chosen in conjunction with Dr. Lee to encompass a cross-section of the South Korean regions historically containing protected groves. This NSF EAPSI award is funded in collaboration with the National Research Foundation of Korea.