Description:
"Our food and agricultural systems depend in countless ways on the plants,
animals and micro-organisms that comprise and surround them. Biodiversity,
at every level from genetic, through species to ecosystem, underpins the
capacity of farmers, livestock keepers, forest dwellers, fishers and fish farmers to
produce food and a range of other goods and services in a vast variety of different
biophysical and socio-economic environments. It increases resilience to shocks and
stresses, provides opportunities to adapt production systems to emerging challenges
and is a key resource in efforts to increase output in a sustainable way. It is vital to
efforts to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda.
Over the last two decades, FAO has prepared country-driven global assessments of
the genetic resources of crop plants, livestock and forest trees. An assessment covering
aquatic genetic resources will shortly be published. What has been missing to date has
been an assessment of how biodiversity as a whole contributes to food and agriculture,
including “associated biodiversity”, the myriad components of biodiversity that support
food and agricultural production by providing services such as pollination, pest control,
soil formation and maintenance, carbon sequestration, purification and regulation of
water supplies, reduction of disasters threats, and the provision of habitat for other
beneficial species. The urgency of closing knowledge gaps in this field is underlined
by the mounting evidence that the world’s biodiversity is under severe threat and by
the ever-growing challenges facing food and agriculture, including particularly those
related to the impacts of climate change. The publication of The State of the World’s
Biodiversity for Food and Agriculture is therefore a significant and timely milestone.
Like all the global assessments prepared under the auspices of FAO’s Commission
on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, a key characteristic of this report is
its country-driven nature. Ninety-one countries prepared and submitted reports on
the state of their biodiversity for food and agriculture and its management, focusing
particularly on associated biodiversity and its role in the supply of supporting and
regulating ecosystem services and on wild species that are sources of food. The
reporting process provided an opportunity for countries to identify needs and priorities
in terms of promoting the sustainable use and conservation of these resources, both at
national level and internationally.
Parts of the global report make sombre reading. It is deeply concerning that in so
many production systems in so many countries biodiversity for food and agriculture and
the ecosystem services it provides are reported to be in decline. The foundations of our
food systems are being undermined, often, at least in part, because of the impact of
management practices and land-use changes associated with food and agriculture. It is
also abundantly clear that the state of knowledge of many components of biodiversity,
including in particular invertebrates and micro-organisms, is very inadequate and that
this contributes to their neglect. The good news is that many management practices
and approaches that rely on the maintenance of abundant and diverse biological
communities, or that can otherwise be considered biodiversity friendly, are attracting
growing interest and in many cases are becoming more widely adopted. The importance of biodiversity and its roles in the food and agriculture sector is
increasingly being acknowledged in international policy agendas. This recognition
needs to be translated into action. Key tasks include addressing the drivers of
biodiversity loss within the food and agriculture sector and beyond, strengthening
in situ and ex situ conservation measures, and increasing the uptake of management
practices that promote the contributions of biodiversity to sustainable production.
Coordinated and collaborative action on the part of the international community is
essential. This report will make a valuable contribution to these efforts and to raising
awareness of the vital importance of biodiversity to food and agriculture...."
Source/publisher:
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Date of Publication:
2019-05-01
Date of entry:
2019-05-01
Grouping:
- Individual Documents
Category:
Language:
English
Local URL:
Format:
pdf
Size:
12.82 MB
Resource Type:
text
Text quality:
- Good