Integrating wild and agricultural biodiversity

The Canada warbler (Wilsonia canadensis) is a natural pest predator of the destructive coffee borer beetle. Its numbers are in decline as the trees it depends on for nest building are disappearing. Credit: PMA

In a recent article in The Guardian by Bioversity International's Director General M. Ann Tutwiler raised a really important issue – it’s not just charismatic wild fauna that are threatened with extinction, but a wide range of plant and animal species, varieties and breeds that are also declining and imperiled.

There is potential to better integrate and align efforts and activities to achieve outcomes for both agricultural and wild biodiversity, yet most agricultural and wild conservation strategies continue to be pursued separately.

Why integrate wild and agricultural biodiversity conservation?

Integrating wild and agrobiodiversity conservation — Click to enlarge

Areas of the world that are high in wild biodiversity are often high in agricultural biodiversity
When we lose biodiversity in our agricultural systems, we lose options to make our diets healthier and our food systems more resilient and sustainable
At the same time, 38% of the world's land is farmed, so agricultural land management is increasingly important for wild biodiversity conservation.
Both wild and agricultural biodiversity face similar threats (e.g. landscape simplification, agricultural intensification based on high levels of external inputs)

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