Motivation of Agroecology for Biodiversity Conservation : A Juxtaposition of Traditional Knowledge and Modern Ecology in Tea Farmers' Practice

In the agroecology of tea, motivations of farmers’ participation are usually documented with a background of converting conventional management, direct biodiversity conservation is less concerned. This research addressed this gap through a mixed analytical approach for a traditional tea-growing region that is subject to protected area management for decades. Results showed that land use history intertwined with conservation policies shaped farmers' understanding of agroecology and set the baseline for their decision-making of agroecology. Agroecology is perceived as based on both traditional knowledge and modern ecology and the two practices answer to biodiversity conservation and restoration at the landscape scale under national park management objectives, respectively. Results also illustrated both internal and external factors facilitated positive feedback after the initiation of agroecology. The impacting paths were rather heterogeneous for a seemingly homogenous rural community, but can be scaled up to an analytical framework that denotes the role of knowledge co-production and institutional support to further disentangle the puzzle of farmers' operational decision-making. For policy implementation, there should be more economic incentives to nudge the farmers into the continuation of agroecology, and tea agroecosystems should widen its scope from monocultures to cultural values at the landscape scale for more valorisation opportunities