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GATHERING NORMS
Plant sustainability and
gathering sustainability appear to be inseparable goals of the norms, or rules,
articulated by UP gatherers. Their descriptions of gathering norms have seven
general emphases:
Minimize
Harvest and impacts, taking only what is needed and will be used,
leaving no damage or visible sign of gathering activity.
Gather
Selectively at nesting scales from individual plants to
landscape, never take everything.
Protect
Sites from over-harvesting by closely guarding knowledge of their
locations.
Maximize
Utilization, creating or leaving no waste.
Rotate
Gathering over multiple years on the same area and/or individual
plants.
Time
Gathering in accordance with plant
biology.
Promote
Growth through harvest technique or other intentional
propagation.
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