Community-based management: a recipe for enhancing conservation

Bhuwon Sthapit is a Regional Project Coordinator based in Bioversity International’s New Delhi Office, and one of seven scientists representing Bioversity International at the UN Convention on Biodiversity (CBD) in Hyderabad, India last week. We caught up with him over a cup of masala chai to chat about the status of agricultural biodiversity and his strong faith in community-based management as a solution.

Q: How is your work connected to biodiversity and what are you currently working on?

A: My area of expertise is on plant breeding, on-farm conservation methods, participatory community-based management (CBM) approaches, and plant genetic diversity. Biodiversity lies at the heart of everything I do.

I am the coordinator for the UNEP  [2]-GEF   [3]project on wild tropical fruit diversity. The four project partner countries, India, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia, are home to the tropical tree species: citrus, mango, rambutan and mangosteen. These species are valued for their nutritional and health benefits and are important in Asian culture and cuisine, yet their genetic diversity is threatened by commercialization, change in land use, habitat loss and climate change impacts. Tropical fruit tree seed storage is difficult and expensive, as they cannot be dried and frozen and stored in genebanks, and so we believe the best way to save these trees is by strengthening the capacities of local farmers and institutions to implement CBM approaches on the ground.

Q: What is community-based management (CBM)?

A: Community-based management of local fruit tree diversity means planting and cultivating threatened varieties in home gardens and orchards, and enhancing the in situ conservation of their wild relatives in forests. It involves research organizations like Bioversity International working with local implementation partners and NGOs, to provide farmers and their communities with tools and methods to protect and use these species.
One example of CBM is a social learning platform: a series of informal forums, that Bioversity International created to empower communities in setting their own development and conservation agenda. Using this platform, farmers can identify and document common, endangered and rare tree species and their various uses. The platform gives farmers ownership of agricultural biodiversity and also means that diversity can be better monitored over time. Enhanced documentation of farmers’ knowledge and practices on in situ and on-farm management of tropical fruit tree genetic resources also leads to the development of new strategies for conservation and use.

Q: What do you feel is the best way to address the conservation goals of the CBD?

A: Empowering farmers and local institutions is the answer. Helplessness and lack of adequate information, knowledge and skills often stand in the way of smallholder farmers improving current systems, not only for their own benefit but also for the greater good of the CBD goals. This means providing the support, advice and practical tools needed to get the most out of local landscapes and crops, not only without causing damage to nature, but by maximising ecosystem functions. It also means reaching out to young people, for example educating them on biodiversity via school gardens and home gardens. They are the future custodians of biodiversity and should be included in the conservation and development agenda.