Posted April 1999
| < 1. Introduction | 3. Workshop results > |
| Concept of agricultural biodiversity - 1970 to present
|
Evolution of thinking about agricultural biodiversity[5]
The understanding of agricultural biodiversity has developed during the last three decades (see figure at right) from the recognition of the importance of genetic diversity, particularly for crops, and an emphasis on the ex situ approach in the 1970s to the adoption of the in situ approach in the 1990s and now to the development of the agro-ecosystem approach.
The Integrated Rural Development (IRD) concept of the 1970s, with its emphasis on providing complete input packages for seeds, agro-chemicals, irrigation, mechanization, credit, extension, etc., did not recognize that genetic resources and the wider agricultural biodiversity were also relevant at the production system and the agro-ecosystem levels. However, with the establishment of the Commission on Plant Genetic Resources (CPGR) in 1983, an important milestone, it was recognized for the first time that genetic resources were a concern for humankind, requiring concerted intergovernmental action. This coincided with the introduction of the Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development (SARD) concept, which recognized the need to integrate environmental and production goals. Several other organizations, such as the World Conservation Union (IUCN), had been developing policies and programmes for integrating nature conservation with agriculture, especially in Western Europe, since the early 1970s. This development of ideas culminated in the Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in 1992, in preparation for which the 1991 Den Bosch Conference, organized by FAO and the Government of the Netherlands, played a very significant role.
After UNCED, the CPGR was renamed the Commission for Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (CGRFA) in order to reflect its expanded mandate to include forest, animal, fish and other genetic resources, including bacteria and soil biota essential for food and agriculture. Even though the scope was still on a genetic and species level, this was the first step towards developing the ecosystem approach. Subsequently the Leipzig Conference in 1996[6] helped to translate some of these concepts, such as the in situ approach, into priority activities specifically for the conservation and sustainable use of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture.
Today, the focus is on developing the ecosystem approach. There is a need to consider which elements are an appropriate unit of analysis for agricultural biodiversity in agro-ecosystems, what is an appropriate scale and what is an appropriate set of indicators. There is need for an integrated and holistic approach, linking the genetic level, the species level and farm and agro-ecosystem level.
In May 2000 the eighth session of the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD-8) will be convened in New York. This will be the first time that ministers of agriculture and ministers of environment will be invited jointly to discuss issues of land and agriculture.
Owing to the theme and its former role as a task manager for the relevant chapters in Agenda 21, FAO, with help from the Government of the Netherlands, is taking a lead in preparing for CSD-8. In this regard, the FAO/Netherlands Conference on the Multifunctional Character of Agriculture and Land will be held in September 1999 in the Netherlands.
The workshop in relation to COP Decisions III/11 and IV/6[7]
Decision III/11 of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)[8] recognizes the importance of the conservation and sustainable use of agricultural biological diversity. It addresses (i) genetic and species diversity, and (ii) the wider issue of ecosystems and habitats as follows: the ecosystem approach; the integrated, multi-disciplinary land-use approach (resources planning, development and management); and the holistic systems approach to address the multiple objectives of SARD (land-use pressures and resource degradation, management of animal, plant and microbial diversity, and management of land and water resources, air and climatic factors, and wildlife habitats).
COP decision III/11 has three main target groups and areas of attention. Firstly, the COP requests FAO and the CBD Secretariat to conduct the assessment of ongoing activities and instruments at international and national levels based on contributions, including the exchange of case studies, by governments and international and regional organizations. This assessment will assist the COP, upon the advice and recommendations of SBSTTA, in setting priorities for its multi-year programme of work on agricultural biological diversity while avoiding unnecessary duplication of efforts. Secondly, the COP outlines the actions that Parties are encouraged to conduct through the development of national strategies, programmes and plans, with the support of international and regional bodies. Thirdly, the COP notes and encourages relevant work and contributions of key organizations, notably of FAO, the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the Clearing-House Mechanism (CHM) of the Convention.
Decision IV/6, agreed upon at the fourth COP, emphasized (in its fourth paragraph) the following focus for efforts by Parties and all relevant actors:
While the issue of agricultural biodiversity is being addressed as a distinct thematic area under the Convention, in view of its distinctive features and problems needing distinctive solutions (COP decision II/15), it is also cross-cutting in the sense that it is important to all habitable ecosystems. It addresses genetic resources important to food and agriculture in marine and coastal, forest, inland waters, Mediterranean and mountain ecosystems, as well as in drylands, grassland and savannahs, for which work programmes have been or will be established in the framework of the CBD.
In January 2000 in preparation for the 5th Conference of the Parties to the CBD in May 2000, SBSTTA will consider the results of the assessment of ongoing activities and instruments on agricultural biodiversity, and the identification of priority issues and areas of attention, which is being prepared jointly by FAO and the CBD Secretariat, with a view to facilitate its development of recommendations regarding priorities for the further development of the CBD work programme on agricultural biological diversity.
Although the term "agricultural biodiversity" is relatively new - it has come into wide use in recent years as evidenced by bibliographic references - the concept itself is quite old. It is the result of the careful selection and inventive developments of farmers, herders and fishers over millennia. Agricultural biodiversity is a vital sub-set of biodiversity. It is a creation of humankind whose food and livelihood security depend on the sustained management of those diverse biological resources that are important for food and agriculture. It includes:
Agricultural biodiversity refers to the variety and variability of animals, plants, and micro-organisms on earth that are important to food and agriculture which result from the interaction between the environment, genetic resources and the management systems and practices used by people. It takes into account not only genetic species and agro-ecosystem diversity and the different ways land and water resources are used for production, but also cultural diversity, which influences human interactions at all levels. It has spatial, temporal and scale dimensions. It comprises the diversity of genetic resources (varieties, breeds, etc.) and species used directly or indirectly for food and agriculture (including, in the FAO definition, crops, livestock, forestry and fisheries) for the production of food, fodder, fibre, fuel and pharmaceuticals, the diversity of species that support production (soil biota, pollinators, predators, etc.) and those in the wider environment that support agro-ecosystems (agricultural, pastoral, forest and aquatic), as well as the diversity of the agro-ecosystems themselves.
Agricultural biodiversity has been further described as including:
A particular contribution by this workshop is the description of agricultural biodiversity in terms of a concept that could be applied at all scales, production systems and agro-ecosystems whereby agricultural biodiversity encompasses the variety and variability of animals, plants and micro-organisms which are necessary to sustain key functions of the agro-ecosystem, its structure and processes for, and in support of, food production and food security.
Agricultural ecosystems (or agro-ecosystems) are those "ecosystems that are used for agriculture" in similar ways, with similar components, similar interactions and functions. Agro-ecosystems are determined by three sets of factors: the genetic resources, the physical environment and the human management practices, which exhibit genetic, spatial and temporal variation, as well as by their interactions. There are virtually no ecosystems in the world that are "natural" in the sense of having escaped human influence. Most ecosystems have been to some extent modified or cultivated by human activity for the production of food and income and for livelihood security.
Agro-ecosystems may be identified at different levels or scales, for instance, a field/crop/ herd/pond, a farming system, a land-use system or a watershed. These can be aggregated to form a hierarchy of agro-ecosystems. Ecological processes can also be identified at different levels and scales. Valuable ecological processes that result from the interactions between species and between species and the environment include, inter alia, biochemical recycling, the maintenance of soil fertility and water quality and climate regulation (e.g. micro-climates caused by different types and density of vegetation). Moreover, the interaction between the environment, genetic resources and management practices determines the evolutionary process which may involve, for instance, introgression from wild relatives, hybridization between cultivars, mutations, and natural and human selections. These result in genetic material (landraces or animal breeds) that is well adapted to the local abiotic and biotic environmental variation.[9]
Agro-ecosystems comprise polycultures, monocultures, and mixed systems, including crop-livestock systems (rice - fish), agroforestry, agro-silvo-pastoral systems, aquaculture as well as rangelands, pastures and fallow lands. Their interactions with human activities, including socio-economic activity and sociocultural diversity, are determinant.
Some of the key functions for maintaining stable, robust, productive and sustainable agro-ecosystems may include the following:
6. The Leipzig Conference on the Conservation and Sustainable Utilization of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, resulting in a Global Plan of Action (GPA).
7. Adapted from the presentation made by Sally Bunning (CBD) during the workshop.
8. UNEP/CBD/COP/3/38: Report of the third Conference of the Parties (Buenos Aires, November 1996) and its decisions.
9. For further details and definitions, especially of the abiotic or physical/ecological environment, agricultural biological/genetic resources, management practices and relevant sociocultural variables, see the report of the first workshop (UNEP/CBD/SBSTTA/ 3/Inf.10).
"Governments, funding agencies, the private sector and non-governmental organizations should join efforts to identify and promote sustainable agricultural practices, integrated landscape management of mosaics of agriculture and natural areas, as well as appropriate farming systems that will reduce possible negative impacts of agricultural practices on biological diversity and enhance the ecological functions provided by biological diversity to agriculture."
2.2. Terms and Concepts
The meaning of the terms agricultural biodiversity and agro-ecosystems have not been precisely defined by the COP in consultation with FAO; however, the workshop was presented with some background materials which set the scope for the use of these terms.
Notes
5. Adapted from the presentation made by Louise Fresco (FAO) during the workshop.
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