Zsolt Molnár and his research team have produced several attractive scientific books focusing on traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) among local communities in the Carpathian Basin in Central Europe. Complementing each other like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, the publications are slowly turning into a full series. After the 2012 and 2014 monographs on the ethnobotanical and ethnoecological knowledge of the grassland herders of Hortobágy and the mountain farmers of Gyimes, the year 2023 saw the publication of a sequel entitled “Pigs in the Forest and Marsh. Traditional ecological knowledge of svinjars.” This new publication presents the multifaceted knowledge of the svinjars, pig farmers who reside in the Bosut Forest on the Sava floodplain. In his reccomenndation, Fikret Berkes, Professor Emeritus at the University of Manitoba in Canada, emphasized how the new book was an example of collaborative knowledge creation, with ethnoecologists and local pig farmers coming together as co-authors to provide useful information about this unique cultural landscape and its human inhabitants based on thorough primary research as well as the material published in scientific journals.
An illustrative example of extensive animal husbandry systems is the practice – now extremely rare in Europe – whereby local farmers raise domestic pigs in forests and marshes as free-range livestock. Historical ethnographic research has shown that, until as late as the 19th century, the value of a forest was determined by the number of pigs that could be fattened there, in addition to the value of its timber. Ethnographers, historians, and scholars in related fields have also documented in considerable detail this phenomenon, which constitutes a cultural, historical, and ecological value and can be interpreted as a biocultural heritage or, more accurately, as one aspect thereof, namely landscape usage (e.g., pannage, pig grazing practices, etc.). At the same time, however, there has been a failure to record pig farmers' traditional ecological knowledge of the forests and marshes, of their domestic pigs, and of local flora and fauna (including the various folk names and potential uses). This was clearly a missed opportunity, for pig farmers have now disappeared for good from most landscapes. They remain, however, in the Bosut Forest in Syrmia region (Serbia), where about forty (mostly older) people retain invaluable knowledge of this traditional way of life. Their presence in the forest offered a final opportunity for the research group to document the multi-generational ecological knowledge of pig farmers, their knowledge needs, and the impact of pig-keeping on the forest and wetland habitats. The research was also justified by recent declines in the number of pigs and swineherds (svinjars) and in the total area used by them in Serbia. Tellingly, in the mid-1970s, approximately 300 families were still living in the Bosut Forest, with roughly 30,000–50,000 livestock (pigs, cattle, and sheep).
In addition to the above factors, the strength of the book lies in the fact that the authors, who include botanists, ecologists, zoologists, and ethologists, monitored the interactions of the pigs with fauna and flora as well as their feeding habits. Several novel conclusions could then be drawn from the findings of these scientists and from the statements of the svinjars made during the interviews and field trips. In my view, therefore, the publication provides more than just a mere “case study.” Indeed, the monograph offers a multifaceted and exhaustive analysis of a sustainable form of landscape management. Filling in many gaps in our knowledge, it shows how the ecological knowledge and land-use practices of the local farming community contribute to human well-being, uphold biological diversity, and facilitate a better understanding of ecological patterns. This is a huge step forward compared to the customary (and erroneous) view often expressed in the literature, according to which human activities are always “detrimental” to nature, invariably seeking unilateral benefits from it.
In the introduction to their book, the authors emphasize how the swineherds of the Bosut Forest do not keep their livestock in pigsties or sheds. Rather, they graze the animals (sows, piglets, and in the past also the fattener pigs) at the resting places near the villages of Morović, Višnjićevo and Jamena. During the fieldwork in the forest and marshes, which began in 2014 and lasted several years, members of the research team made efforts to observe the phenomena of interest to them in all four seasons. The methods that had previously brought recognition to Zsolt Molnár and his team among ethnoecologists, ethnobiologists, and ethnographers around the world (i.e., participant observations, long-term field presence, alongside with constant and close monitoring) succeeded once again in providing data demonstrating the depth of the research. Such a rich data would not have been obtained through a single visit or using methods like questionnaires, surveys, structured interviews, or others. In my view, few people would bother to describe – and even fewer to record and publish – such data as how the svinjars protect their pigs from jackals by hanging up a T-shirt smelling of sweat. Elsewhere, we learn that the farmers left a hewn field elm log in place so that edible mushrooms would grow on it. The observation of such “special” data and their inclusion in the book demonstrate the knowledge of the researchers and a commitment to the topic and ethnoecological research in general.
In the initial years of the fieldwork, it soon became evident that the svinjars were excellent observers. They were cooperative and showed considerable mutual understanding with their pigs. The latter statement may seem a bit odd, but it reflects the fact that the locals usually had several decades of experience with pig farming and with the behavior of the traditional (Sremska Lasa and Mangulica) and newly introduced pig breeds and their hybrids. A beautiful manifestation of the close relationship between man and animal is the fact that the swineherds sometimes name their sows, with each name expressing the nature, behavior, striking features or tastes of an individual animal. Even more interestingly, the names evoked the humorous or sometimes sorrowful stories concerning the animals and the relationships between animals and humans.
The contents of the book soon reveal that although profitability is a primary goal of forest pig farming, this is coupled with efforts to improve the quality of the meat and – by no means incidentally – to ensure the well-being of the animals. Pigs raised in the forest and marshes have access to natural food sources. Consequently, they need far less corn, alfalfa hay, barley, turnips, carrots, apples, or other supplementary “feed” (scalded nettles, weeds picked from crops, etc.). Instead, they can eat many natural foods: acorns, forest and marsh grasses, earthworms, velvet mites, waterweeds, roots and rhizomes, mollusks, snails, fish, frogs, turtles, grass snakes, the eggs and chicks of wild birds, forest fruits, mushrooms, carrion, etc. It is a veritable “heaven for pigs,” but this does not mean that the herd will indiscriminately eat anything placed in front of them. Accordingly, the book serves to refute the misconception that the domestic pig will eat any foodstuff. Even lay readers may be interested to learn, for instance, that pigs do not consume leeches, Canidae carcasses or some species of mushrooms. Moreover, they are quite choosy even when it comes to the plants, mushrooms and animals comprising their standard diet. Indeed, they are true gourmets, with the range of foods consumed varying from one season to the next and from region to region. This also shows that the keeping of pigs in the Bosut Forest or in the oak forests of Europe in general has always meant more than pannage; it goes well beyond that.
As well as presenting the svinjars and their pigs, the book includes a separate chapter on the resting places (salaš), farmsteads and yards (stan), huts (koliba), as well as the “pointed huts” (siljkara), with descriptions of the vernacular architectural characteristics (materials, forms, technical solutions, etc.) and how they have changed over time. An account is also given of the various habitats (the ponds, pigsties, shelters, etc.). These descriptions and the carefully selected photographs demonstrate how almost everything here is primarily for the well-being of the pigs rather than for the benefit of the farmers who keep them.
Similarly, a separate chapter is devoted to the ‘Bázaköz’ (a floodplain landscape bordered by the rivers Sava and Bosut) and the forest and marsh communities found there. The dense wetlands of the Bosut Forest have always made the area ideal for pig keeping, which, it seems, has contributed to the livelihoods of local people ever since the Neolithic Age. Having worked through the relevant historical, ethnographic, and ecological literature, the authors offer insights on a landscape that, over time, has seen major changes due to river regulation, timber extraction, hunting practices, the introduction of a grazing ban, forestry and animal health regulations, and other developments. Although the floodplain hardwood forests constitute an important part of the biocultural heritage and are among the most valuable and endangered forest habitats in Europe, only 1% of the surveyed area is currently protected.
Reflecting the amount of time they spend outdoors in nature, members of the subject group, the svinjars, are well acquainted with many species of wild plants, mushrooms, and animals. The book also includes a list of local taxa (with both folk and scientific names). The research revealed that the svinjars knew and understood forest and marsh species through “the mouth of their pigs.” For instance, of the 181 wild-growing plant species they mentioned (129 of which are commonly known), the pigs consume 98 of them while shunning 56 species. Further, the svinjars are knowledgeable about the ecological needs of the various species and their human uses (in folk food culture, folk human medicine, pest control, folk beliefs, etc.). Owing to a lack of space, however, further details are not given in the book. The ethnozoological section of the publication focuses on those animal species that are sources of food for the pigs or are important in some other way for pigs (the pig farmers revealed knowledge of at least 200 animal folk taxa), which is understandable, in view of the thematic and scope limitations of the book. With nearly two hundred entries, the representative and selected bibliography covers extensive animal husbandry, historical pig farming, pig grazing, floodplain management, pannage, historical forest use, forest clearance by local inhabitants, various forms of forest use, and collecting farming. In doing so, it deepens our knowledge of the subject-matter, while also offering further insights.
Putting aside my enthusiasm and partiality for the book and pushing the boundaries of a simple book review, I now come to a necessary element in the genre, namely the listing of the book's “weaknesses.” Here, it should be mentioned that, compared to the previous publications (on the Hortobágy and Gyimes regions), this book contains considerably less verbatim information from the local sources or lengthy narrative quotes. In a few instances, however, it would have been beneficial to distinguish more clearly between what was actually documented as part of the traditional and living ecological knowledge of local inhabitants and the “mere” observations of the researchers in the field, their subsequent explanations and interpretations, or conclusions based solely on the literary and historical data. At the same time, when reading the book, one notices that the swineherds and the researchers were agreed on most things (in several places in the book, one can read, for instance, the following: “according to the svinjars and our own observations”). Sometimes the use of certain ethnographic terms seems a little uncertain and inconsistent (e.g., folk beliefs versus superstition). The cultural anthropologist receives less than the anticipated amount of information about local ideas on the reproduction of pigs (folk farming knowledge), their healing (folk veterinary knowledge), and other ethnographic subtopics. It must be emphasized, however, that all this does not detract from the overall value of the book. With their focus lying elsewhere, the authors could not be expected to present all aspects of the topic in detail. Moreover, their publication was not intended solely for cultural researchers.
The research in Serbia was carried out jointly with the Institute for Nature Conservation of Vojvodina Province. The multi-author and trilingual (English, Hungarian, and Serbian) booklet was made possible by support from several projects. This in itself exemplifies the dialogue and cooperation among local people, researchers, and a wide range of interest groups (foresters, politicians, environmental activists, etc.). The book can – and certainly will – help to consolidate these processes and deepen relationships. While the authors argue in the conclusion to the volume that ecologists are principally responsible for documenting the traditional ecological knowledge and its practical applications promptly and exhaustively, in my view ethnographic researchers bear a similar responsibility in this field; it is in part their task to address and rectify many of the listed “weaknesses.”
To sum up, the book evidently achieved its most important goal: Zsolt Molnár and his team proved that the traditional knowledge of svinjars and their swineherding practices in the forest and marshes impact positively on the various habitats and their maintenance. As “natural forest tractors,” the pigs not only transform and uphold the forests and marshes through their grazing, rooting, and digging but also in the marshes recreate the high-value wetlands and ecosystems. It is to be feared that a prohibition on this well-documented traditional practice would result in the rapid erosion of the organically integrated and invaluable traditional ecological knowledge in the region under investigation. Recently, the traditional pig farmers of the Bosut Forest were temporarily expelled from the forest in order to prevent the spread of African swine fever. We can only hope that this or other similar measures will not lead to the disappearance of their traditional way of life. May the words spoken by the svinjar Milutin Ajvazović remain in the present tense: “This is our way of life.”
