TWN INFO SERVICE ON SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE, BIODIVERSITY AND TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE
Dear Friends and Colleagues
Agroecology Essential for a Robust Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework
Agriculture is the most extensive form of land use, occupying more than one-third of the global landmass, and imperilling 62% of all threatened species globally. Habitat conversion and conventional farming practices — including heavy use of agrochemicals — have negative effects on biodiversity, even spilling into protected areas. However, if designed appropriately, agricultural landscapes can provide habitats for biodiversity, promote connectivity between protected areas, and increase the capacity of species to respond to environmental threats.
The post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) is a global framework aiming for transformative action to help address biodiversity loss. A correspondence in Nature Ecology and Evolution argues that the GBF must include conservation actions in agricultural landscapes based on agroecological principles, as agroecology is widely recognized as a necessary transformation in order to achieve food system sustainability.
A global transition from conventional to agroecological production will be critical to achieve the GBF targets and meet its goals. Diversification at the field, farm and landscape scale holds large promises to make food systems more sustainable; however, farmers alone cannot achieve this major transformation. Action is required across the entire supply chain, from the processing industry to distributors to consumers. The authors also set out a future research agenda for agroecology that reduces the threats to biodiversity, addresses peoples’ needs and benefit sharing, and provides tools and solutions for implementation and mainstreaming.
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INTEGRATING AGROECOLOGICAL PRODUCTION IN A ROBUST POST-2020 GLOBAL BIODIVERSITY FRAMEWORK
Wanger, T.C., DeClerck, F., Garibaldi, L.A. et al.
Nat Ecol Evol 4, 1150–1152 (2020)
20 July 2020
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-020-1262-y
Full article at: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-020-1262-y
Note to the Editor — The 15th Conference of the Parties (COP) meeting to the Convention on Biological Diversity in China — now to be held in 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic — will provide new opportunities for biodiversity conservation (https://go.nature.com/31YAVNF) through the decision on the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF). In short, the GBF is a global and solution-oriented framework aiming for transformative action by governments, civil society and businesses, to help biodiversity recover for the benefit of people and planet. Agriculture is the most extensive form of land use, occupying more than one-third of the global landmass, and imperilling 62% of all threatened species globally. Habitat conversion and conventional farming practices — including heavy use of agrochemicals — have negative effects on biodiversity, even spilling into protected areas. However, if designed appropriately, agricultural landscapes can provide habitats for biodiversity, promote connectivity between protected areas, and increase the capacity of species to respond to environmental threats. While halting the loss of protected and intact nature is essential to halt species loss, bending the curve on biodiversity will require sustainable agriculture. We argue that the GBF must include conservation actions in agricultural landscapes based on agroecological principles (sensu High Level Panel of Experts) in the three ‘2030 Action Targets’ (hereafter ‘Targets’) to reach its goals of biodiversity recovery. Agroecology is widely recognized as a necessary transformation in order to achieve food system sustainability.