Subsistence Farming
The residents of Yap practice subsistence farming on small plots of land that is worked for an owner. The most cultivated crop on the island is the giant swamp taro. (Michio, 91-93) The giant swamp taro is suited for the climate of Yap and is very easy to plant. Its drawback is that it take four to seven years to mature and harvest. Other crops grown on the island are oranges, papayas, yams, bananas, beans and an assortment of other plants. (Federated States of Micronesia Agricultural Policy). Table 1 list the names of the kinds of crops one would most likely see on Yap. The demand on the island for land has in turn displaced much of the natural vegetation that is native to the island. The northern areas of Maap and Gagil-Tomil on Yap clearly demonstrate small plots of land that have been cleared for harvesting. Imaging clearly shows how this clearing has reduced the amount of forest on the island. Using the Google Earth imaging program it is possible to see exact plots of land that have been cleared of natural vegetation in order to put them to use as farmland. (Image 7). Clearing on the island could continue get even worse if economic incentives drive people to clear more land in order to plant cash crops such as pineapple. While efforts towards preservation of the remaining forests are being hampered by tradition.
Caste system
Historical practices and a caste system has made it difficult to make any changes towards bringing much of the original forest that covered the island. All land on Yap is private property that changes hands from one generation to the other. Sale of land, in order to establish a preserve, is not likely as people on the island do not wish to part with land that owners have inherited and hope to pass on to their offspring. This is the biggest problem towards conservation and preservation of the remaining forest on the island. Simple be it that the remaining tropical forests are in private hands that are unwilling to part ways with it.
The residents of Yap practice subsistence farming on small plots of land that is worked for an owner. The most cultivated crop on the island is the giant swamp taro. (Michio, 91-93) The giant swamp taro is suited for the climate of Yap and is very easy to plant. Its drawback is that it take four to seven years to mature and harvest. Other crops grown on the island are oranges, papayas, yams, bananas, beans and an assortment of other plants. (Federated States of Micronesia Agricultural Policy). Table 1 list the names of the kinds of crops one would most likely see on Yap. The demand on the island for land has in turn displaced much of the natural vegetation that is native to the island. The northern areas of Maap and Gagil-Tomil on Yap clearly demonstrate small plots of land that have been cleared for harvesting. Imaging clearly shows how this clearing has reduced the amount of forest on the island. Using the Google Earth imaging program it is possible to see exact plots of land that have been cleared of natural vegetation in order to put them to use as farmland. (Image 7). Clearing on the island could continue get even worse if economic incentives drive people to clear more land in order to plant cash crops such as pineapple. While efforts towards preservation of the remaining forests are being hampered by tradition.
Caste system
Historical practices and a caste system has made it difficult to make any changes towards bringing much of the original forest that covered the island. All land on Yap is private property that changes hands from one generation to the other. Sale of land, in order to establish a preserve, is not likely as people on the island do not wish to part with land that owners have inherited and hope to pass on to their offspring. This is the biggest problem towards conservation and preservation of the remaining forest on the island. Simple be it that the remaining tropical forests are in private hands that are unwilling to part ways with it.
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| Source: Michio. Onjo, Satoru. Taura, and Yoshitaka, Sakamaki. The Present Situation on Agriculture on Yap. Kagoshima University Research Center for the Pacific Islands, Occasional Papers. No. 34, 93. 2003. Online |
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| Image 7. Google Earth Imagery |
Bombing
Yap became occupied by Japanese forces during the Second World War as it was a part of a defense network that protected the resource rich Dutch East Indies. The presence of a large airfield used by the Japanese to attack American naval and air assets led to the island becoming a target for the U.S. Army Air Corp. (Missing Air Crew). Repeated attacks on the airfield and the surrounding area left behind a muddy, moon like surface pockmarked by bomb craters. Trees were leveled and the ground was bare as all forms of vegetation had been cleared. (Images 8,9). One could compare these images to the results one sees when a logging clear-cuts through a patch of forest and leaves behind a bare terrain. Today, the area around the airport of Yap has no remaining native tropical forest. It closely resembles more a grassland than any type of forest.
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| Image 8. Source: http://www.missingaircrew.com/images/tim/28August1945.JPG |
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| Image 9. Source: http://www.missingaircrew.com/images/micr/NA02007.jpg |
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