On-farm conservation and teamwork crucial for reaching global agricultural biodiversity targets

22 October 2012   |   Permalink   [1]

Toby Hodgkin, Honorary Fellow, Bioversity International and co-founder of the Platform for Agricultural Biodiversity. Photo: Bioversity/K.Brown

Toby Hodgkin, Honorary Fellow, Bioversity International and co-founder of the Platform for Agricultural Biodiversity. Photo: Bioversity/K.Brown

A report from the side event ‘Strategic Plan 2011-2020 – Sustainable Use of Agricultural Biodiversity’ at the UN Convention on Agricultural Biodiversity.

The event was facilitated by Toby Hodgkin, Honorary Fellow, Bioversity International and co-founder of the Platform for Agricultural Biodiversity  [2] who in his opening speech said: “If the Aichi targets  [3] are to be achieved, it will be the communities, farmers, pastoralists, and fisher folk around the world who reach those goals.”

The event was specifically focused on the contribution of Global Environment Facility (GEF  [4]) projects implemented by United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP  [5]) and UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO  [6]) to Aichi targets 7 and 13.

The targets are part of the CBD Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020  [7] which sets goals to reduce direct pressures on biodiversity by promoting its sustainable use and safeguarding ecosystems, species and genetic diversity. Meeting these targets will ensure the conservation of biodiversity through agriculture, aquaculture, forestry and the genetic diversity of cultivated plants, wild relatives and other culturally valuable species. How to approach this was an area of keen discussion among the participants.

Suggestions included a common platform for collaboration and knowledge sharing on agricultural biodiversity for use across the international research community. One such framework, the Platform for Agrobiodiversity Research  [2], is already in place but needs further strengthening and development.

Marieta Sakalian, UNEP, and Linda Collette, Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, FAO, introduced eleven on-going and two new agricultural biodiversity projects across thirty four countries, stressing the importance of raising the profile of agricultural biodiversity in this UN decade of biodiversity  [8].

Fruit trees in Central Asia. Photo: ©F. van Oudenhoven

Fruit trees in Central Asia. Photo: ©F. van Oudenhoven

Bhuwon Sthapit and Muhabbat Turdieva, Regional Project Coordinators, Bioversity International,  expanded on the need for improved conservation and sustainable use of agricultural biodiversity within their differing cultural contexts in South and Central Asia.

Both spoke of fruit tree diversity as a lifeline for poor smallholder farming communities in rural regions, and the multi-functionary quality of these species as a source of food, timber, fuel, medicine, natural dyes, and as an export commodity. Fruit tree diversity is under serious threat from a variety of environmental factors, such as climate change.

Sthapit championed the community-based management approach (CBM) as one solution to decline in agricultural biodiversity. Custodian farmers in developing countries maintain rich diversity and hold centuries’ worth of knowledge on local landscapes, describing community empowerment as “the driving force in maintaining dynamic relations between plants, animals and environments.”

Turdieva spoke of the importance of on-farm conservation and the use of fruit crops and wild fruit species in Central Asia for sustainable agricultural development, food security and environmental stability. She shared the success of a project   [9]to train over 500 men and women, who became farmers after the collapse of the Soviet Union, to better manage fruit trees in their orchards. Turdieva also recognised the need for stronger national legal frameworks, a broader knowledge base, increased stakeholder capacities, and more collaboration between regional and national level actors in this area.

Ranbeer Raval, G.B. Plant Institute of Himalayan Environment & Development, India, ended the session by drawing attention to the importance of farmers using pollinator-friendly agricultural practices - more than 80% of crops worldwide benefit from animal pollination. “Pollination is an essential ecosystem service, vital to maintaining both wild plant communities and agricultural productivity” he said, using the success of introducing beehives to apple plots in India, as an example.

For more Bioversity International reports from the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, click here   [10]

By guest blogger Kara Brown.

Similar posts:

Filed under: Announcements  [16], Conferences & Events  [17]See also: Agricultural Biodiversity  [18], Aichi targets  [19], Asia  [20], Bhuwon Sthapit  [21], Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)  [22], FAO  [23], Fruit trees  [24], Hyderabad, India  [25], In situ Conservation  [26], Muhabbat Turdieva  [27], On farm conservation  [28], Platform for Agrobiodiversity Research PAR  [29], Toby Hodgkin  [30], UNEP/GEF  [31]

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