Agricultural biodiversity on the world stage
The United Nations has declared 2010 to be the International Year of Biodiversity. A global campaign launched by Bioversity seeks to ensure that agricultural biodiversity is not forgotten.
- Prof. Gian Tommaso Scarascia Mugnozza (left) spoke of Bioversity's long-standing role as champion of international efforts to conserve and use agricultural biodiversity. Credit: Francesco Demichelis/Bioversity International
Rainforests and coral reefs will get lots of attention in 2010, as will blue whales and pandas, but Bioversity is seizing this opportunity to make sure the world gains a better appreciation of the importance of biodiversity in agriculture. To that end, on 22 May 2008—the International Day of Biodiversity—Bioversity launched a global campaign called 'Diversity for Life'.
The launch took place at the Teatro Eliseo in Rome, Italy, before an invited audience of policy-makers and opinion-shapers, with a round-table discussion that included notable contributions from Emile Frison, Bioversity Director General, and Professor Gian Tommaso Scarascia-Mugnozza, President of the Italian Academy of Sciences and a long-time supporter of Bioversity. The discussion was moderated by Italian television and radio journalist, Emanuela Falcetti.
To complete the launch the world-renowned Orchestra di Piazza Vittorio gave a special performance. "The orchestra features about 20 musicians from as many countries and embodies the importance of cultural diversity," said Ruth Raymond, campaign organizer and Head of the Public Awareness Unit at Bioversity. The performance began with a short film in which the members of the orchestra talked about the foods they grew up with and how important their diverse food traditions were to each of them.
Diversity for Life has targeted several countries around the world that will be running coordinated campaigns in the run-up to 2010. In Kenya, for example, Japhet Kareke Mbiuki, an Assistant Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, launched the campaign at a conference organized with the National Museums of Kenya. Later, the Kenyan President, Mwai Kibaki, and Agriculture Minister, William Ruto, spent time admiring a Bioversity display of traditional African leafy vegetables.
In Italy, plans are already well advanced for an initiative called 'Teaching the Teachers,' supported by the National Academy of Science Teachers, the Italian Academy of Sciences and the National Research Council. Teachers are working with Bioversity scientists to develop lesson plans that showcase agricultural biodiversity. "We hope to launch those on the International Day of Biodiversity 2009," Raymond said, "and then to extend the lesson plans into other subjects, like literature, history and geography, and to other countries."
The campaign is also looking for backing for an oral history project, in which schoolchildren would document the food and culture recollections of their parents and grandparents. The records they gather will form a valuable corpus for further study, and will also enable children from different cultures to connect with one another using modern communications tools, thus helping to spread an awareness of the importance of agricultural diversity and its strong links to cultural diversity and well-being.
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