Bioversity International

• What is biological diversity?
• What is agricultural biodiversity?
• What are genetic resources?
• Biodiversity matters to the hungry and malnourished
• Biodiversity matters to the impoverished
• Biodiversity matters to the victims of wars and natural disasters
• Biodiversity matters to us all

Biological diversity is the variety of life on Earth, from the simplest bacterial gene to the vast, complex rainforests of the Amazon.

Biological diversity exists at three main levels:

• the combinations of species that make up different ecosystems,
• the number of different species and
• the different combinations of genes in species.

Genetic diversity provides species with the ability to adapt to their environment and evolve. Evolution, and therefore our survival, depends on it.

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Agricultural biodiversity includes all components of biological diversity of relevance to food and agriculture.

Agricultural biodiversity includes:

• crop plants, wild plants harvested and managed for food, trees on farms and pasture and rangeland species;
• domesticated animals, wild animals hunted for food and other uses and wild and farmed fish;
• useful animals, insects and macro-organisms that act as pollinators or rejuvenate the soil, as well as agricultural pests; and
• soil micro-organisms, such as rhizobia, fungi and disease-causing pathogens.

Agricultural biodiversity is not just a result of natural selection, it is the result of thousands of years of human activity. It has been created through the careful selection of useful traits by farmers, plant breeders and researchers.

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Genetic resources are the genetic material of plants, animals and other organisms that contains characteristics of actual or potential value. A resource is something that is used.

Genetic resources are disappearing at unprecedented rates. More than 15 million hectares of tropical forest are lost each year and experts estimate that as much as 8 percent of all plant species could disappear in the next 25 years. Over the past 50 years, new uniform crop varieties have replaced many thousands of local varieties over huge areas of production.

Currently more than 20 percent of the breeds documented with population figures are at risk of extinction. During the last five years 60 breeds were lost-an average of one breed per month. Many others have yet to be formally identified and may disappear before anything is known about them.

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Currently, there are well over 800 million people who do not have enough to eat. What's more, population growth is not expected to level out until the 9 billion mark is reached. To end hunger and provide enough food to meet the global demand, FAO estimates that agricultural production must increase by more than 75 percent in the next 50 years.

Harnessing biodiversity will be the key. Farmers will require new varieties capable of producing under diverse conditions, without large amounts of fertilizers and other agrochemicals. The genetic diversity contained in different varieties provides farmers and professional plant breeders with options to develop, through selection and breeding, new and more productive crops, crops that are nutritious and resistant to pests and diseases.

Livestock keepers need a broad gene pool to draw upon if they are to improve the characteristics of their animals under changing conditions. Traditional breeds, suited to local conditions, survive times of drought and distress better than exotic breeds and, therefore, frequently offer poor farmers better protection against hunger.

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Around 1300 million people live on less than US$1 a day. Poverty affects both rural and urban areas, and is associated with a wide range of social problems, such as malnutrition, disease, violence and drug abuse.

Agriculture, forestry, livestock and fisheries can help to alleviate poverty in developing countries by providing cheaper food and raw materials, raising incomes and diversifying sources of income.

The improved use of genetic resources is essential if this scenario to be realized. Broadening both the range of species grown and animals raised and the uses made of them will be particularly important in diversifying income-earning opportunities.

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In the aftermath of war or natural disasters, the only resources rural people have are the local varieties of plants and animals.

Even during the titanic tsunami of 26 December 2004, landraces of rice were found in coastal Tamil Nadu, India, that could survive seawater inundation. Many life-saving crops were cultivated in the past and we urgently need to rekindle this wisdom and take steps to save vanishing crops. In this way we can help to heal the wounds inflicted by natural or human-induced calamities and give local communities the tools they need to re-establish themselves.

Biodiversity is best conserved in the context of the social networks, local institutions and indigenous knowledge in which it originated. After a crisis, all of these are vital for rebuilding devastated communities.

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As the world's human population rises, environmental problems are intensifying. Climate change may bring about drastic changes in the world's ecosystems and threatens to destabilize weather patterns, leading to an increase in the incidence of severe storms and droughts. Other widespread environmental problems include desertification, deforestation, erosion and the overuse of pesticides and other chemical inputs.

Genetic resources provide the raw material for breeding new varieties of crops and trees and new breeds of animals that can adapt to climate change. They can also provide the basis for new, more resilient and sustainable production systems that are better able to cope with such stresses as drought or overgrazing and can reduce the potential for soil erosion. Genetic solutions to the challenges posed by pests and diseases can also help reduce the use of dangerous and environmentally damaging chemicals.

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