Sustainability of the Jeju Haenyeo Fisheries System in the Context of Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System (GIAHS)

According to the Brundtland Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED), the concept of sustainability emerges from the expectation of development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. This notion of sustainability is highly related to the implication of the Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System (GIAHS) of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The haenyeo (women divers) fisheries system of Jeju Island, South Korea, serves as an empirical case that illustrates that the core meaning of GIAHS is placed on the concept of sustainability. The most important objective of this case study is to explore how the five main values of GIAHS—(i) food and livelihood security, (ii) agro-biodiversity, (iii) local and traditional knowledge systems, (iv) cultures, value systems, and social organizations, and (v) landscape and seascape features—can be interlocked, and how the concept of sustainability can emerge through this interlocked relationship. In doing this, the value of both GIAHS and the Jeju haenyeo fisheries system is illuminated.