The purpose of this study was to explore the potential of agricultural heritage as a sustainable agricultural and rural paradigm with a focus on the “Argan-based agro-sylvo-pastoral system in the area of Ait Souab-Ait Mansour”, a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) site in Morocco. Based on the inscription criteria of the GIAHS, we analyzed the economic-industrial, sociocultural, and ecological-environmental perspectives and presented strategies for revitalizing agricultural and rural development cooperation through the Moroccan Argan GIAHS. The argan tree has been a source of economic, cultural, and environmental stability for the Berber people for centuries, but today it is exposed to many threats. In particular, the declining consumption of argan oil by Berbers, the lack of financial independence of women's cooperatives, and the over-exploitation of the tree suggest that it is time to balance the three pillars of environmental, economic, and social sustainability that development has sought to achieve. Agricultural heritage can be preserved when local people take ownership of their heritage and utilize it to generate economic activities. Only a symbiotic way of life between humans and agricultural heritage can overcome the possibilities and limitations of the ecological environment and generate local value through the accumulation of knowledge, technology, and culture. Only on these premises, can local self-sustaining development based on the pluralistic values and public functions of the world's important agricultural heritage be possible.

최근 세계중요농업유산과 국가농어업유산의 지정과 함께 농업유산에 대한 관심이 높아지고 있으나, 이들의 지속가능을 위한 관리 체계와 기술 적용은 제한적이다. 본 연구는 농업유산자원을 보전하고 관리하기 위한 체계와 모니터링을 위한 진보된 기술적 기반을 구축하는 데 목적이 있다. 이를 위해 농업유산을 체계적이고 효과적인 발굴, 조사, 관리, 모니터링 방안과 지형도, 지적도, 항공 영상, 위성 영상, LiDAR 등 지리정보데이터를 사용한 농업유산의 조사 및 관리 방안을 제안하였다. 본 연구를 통하여 구축된 농업유산 자료가 다양한 관련 분야의 연구자에게 제공한다면 농업을 유산자원으로 활용될 수 있으며, 제시된 방법론은 한국의 농업유산의 혁신과 보존을 위한 중요한 기반이 될 것이다.

최근 세계중요농업유산에 대한 관심이 고조되면서 농업에 관한 관심과 농촌의 가치에 대한 인식이 증대되고 있다. 이 연구는 농업유산을 보전·계승하고 지정과 개선에 있어서 체계적이고 효율적인 관리체계를 구축하기 위한 기록화 방안을 개발하는데 그 목적이 있다. 농업유산의 조사 및 기록 항목은 세계중요농업유산과 국가중요농업유산의 지정 기준과 신청서 등으로부터 도출하였다. 농업유산의 발굴에서부터 지정에서의 업무분석을 통해 각 단계에서 필요한 기록내용을 도출하였다. 또한 기록 항목 간의 관계와 중복 및 농업유산과 관련한 주체, 대상, 행위 등을 고려하여 DB를 설계하고 개발하였다. 농업유산 DB의 활용은 국가중요농업유산의 지정과 관리 단계를 준용하였다. 이 연구의 결과인 농업유산 DB는 농업유산자원의 발굴과 지정, 관리에 있어서 유용하게 활용될 것으로 기대한다.

Since FAO introduced the Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems(GIAHS) in 2002, 36 sites of 15 countries so far have been listed on GIAHS. This study aims to find the important agricultural heritages of Korea and to prepare the methods for them to be selected as GIAHS. We have analyzed the proposals of the 36 GIAHS listed in order to study the characteristics of their components of the agricultural heritage which worked for being selected. To analyze the components of the agricultural heritage first, agricultural heritage was classified into 13 types and 42 components in light of GIAHS criteria. Then central themes were set to analyze the relevant contents in the proposals. They were, the type of GIAHS Site, significant agricultural landscape, the agriculture-forestry-fisheries-livestock linkage systems, the multi-layered, inter-cropping, circulation cultivation systems, the soil and water management systems, the conservation of agrobiological diversity and genetic resources, the history of the agricultural heritage, the succession of traditional farming techniques, the cultural diversity and so on. Most GIAHS are located in mountains, grasslands, rivers and coasts, desert than in plains, through which GIAHS assure us that it is the heritage of human challenge to overcome the harsh geographic environment and maintain a livelihood. In these sites the traditional farming techniques are carried on, such as mountain clearings, terraced rice paddies, and burn fields, and the unique irrigation systems and agricultural landscapes are well maintained, and the eco-friendly traditional farming techniques utilizing abundant forest resources and agriculture are well handed down. The origin or home of crop growing, a variety of genetic crop storage, the world’s largest crop producer and preserving cultural diversity are also important factors for the selection.