Comoros - Cultural Landscape of the Perfume Plantations of the Moon Islands

The cultural landscape of the Moon Island Perfume Plantations is a living evolutionary cultural landscape that retains an active social role in contemporary society, and which remains closely associated with the traditional way of life of rural Comorian populations and in which the evolutionary process continues. . The cultivation of perfume plants is a major feature of the economic exploitation of the Comoros archipelago and in particular Anjouan. Established by the French colonists, the production of essential oils and odorous products is a cash crop that has strongly marked the agricultural structure of the island, forming a lasting part of its landscape. This concerns in particular the cultivation of ylang-ylang, a tree whose production cycle is very long, which marked the landscape of Anjouan and brought it an element of sustainable characterization. This activity, which occupies a lot of space and its natural resources, includes tree plantations (ylang-ylang, cloves, bigarradiers, bergamot trees, etc.) or scented plants (lemongrass, jasmine, geranium, basil, vanilla, etc.). ), but also the forest areas necessary for the production of wood for distillation, distillation (still) and storage (store, planter's house). The perfume plant production area occupies a large area of ​​the archipelago and particularly the island of Anjouan. It is still an essential activity for a large part of the population. It has contributed to the reputation of the Archipelago of the Comoros in the world and thus represents a combined work of nature (slopes, forest, water) and men (modes of culture, introduced species) resulting in an original cultural landscape exceptional and universal value.