FAO in Geneva, in close collaboration with the FAO Office of Climate Change, Biodiversity and Environment in Rome, is organizing a hybrid briefing on the upcoming UN Biodiversity Conference (COP15). As several objectives of the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) are closely linked to a...

Maia Diagne’s eyes fill with emotion as she describes the lifelong bond she feels with the water lilies that grew in large quantities in her part of Senegal. "I was born in the middle of the water lilies, in a pirogue [a small boat] while my mother was on her way to the Djoudj National Bird Park to harvest them."

Biodiversity is at the centre of the biggest issues the world faces: from climate change to poverty eradication, food and water security, health and sustainable development.

At 52 years old, through a marriage and the birth of seven children, Dandakoye has witnessed devastating changes to the land around his village of Sakey Kouara Tegui. Situated in the western region of Niger, Dandakoye’s village is nestled in the watershed of the Gorou Tayya plateau in the urban commune of Kollo.

Five new GIAHS sites announced as the FAO flagship programme celebrates 20th anniversary

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations’ (FAO) flagship programme of Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) today celebrated its 20th anniversary, highlighting its role in promoting sustainable agriculture and revitalizing the rural communities who are respon...

2022 marks the 20th anniversary of the FAO GIAHS Programme. FAO launched the GIAHS initiative at the World Summit on Sustainable Development held in Johannesburg in 2002. Since its inception, the number of agricultural systems recognized as GIAHS has been gradually increasing.

The final chapters are much more detailed, with many new examples from around the world. The final chapters also provide a range of valuable additional evidence and policy options in advance of the many major global environmental negotiations this year, including COP 27 of the Climate Conventi...

New report includes case studies from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Finland, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru and the United Kingdom

Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (hereinafter ‘the convention’) have held workshops, consultations and formal negotiations (CBD, 2018) to develop a ‘Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework’ (hereinafter ‘the framework’). The framework establishes goals and targets for positive bi...

Biodiversity constitutes an essential element in our global ecosystems and provides the foundation for agricultural practices and food production. It is essential to our well-being and food security, but it is often threatened by our activities. In some places, however, farmers have learned to work in harmony with the environment and use knowledge passed down over centuries to implement sustainable practices and protect the biodiversity in their surrounding ecosystems. These farmers and rural communities have envisaged and implemented ingenious ways to conserve, preserve and sustainably use biodiversity while safeguarding their livelihoods and the unique landscapes in which they live.

Fishing gear has been lost, abandoned or otherwise discarded in our seas and oceans for centuries. But the impact of Abandoned, Lost or Discarded Fishing Gear (ALDFG), also known as ghost gear, is gaining more attention as fishing activities have expanded offshore and to deep sea marine environme...

Two new sites in Japan - an inland fisheries and associated paddy farming system centred on the country’s largest lake and a traditional fruit-growing area  believed to have been the birthplace of Japanese grape cultivation - have been formally recognized as Globally Important Agricultural H...

Billions of people, in developed and developing nations, benefit daily from the use of wild species for food, energy, materials, medicine, recreation, inspiration and many other vital contributions to human well-being. The accelerating global biodiversity crisis, with a million species of plants ...

Through clear Arctic skies, the small plane carrying 10 precious boxes of seeds from Spain arrived at Svalbard airport on the morning of the 7th of June. Two days later a box arrived from Lithuania. It was an occasion for the two countries to celebrate.

The Council of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has endorsed two thematic strategies that will guide FAO’s work on climate change and on science, technology and innovation over the next decade.

UNDP Regional Goodwill Ambassador completes an excruciating feat to raise awareness about the climate emergency and food security.

Paralyzed from the chest down Michael Haddad, Regional Goodwill Ambassador, Michael Haddad, yesterday defied all odds to achieve the imposs...

The Food and Agriculture organization of the UN led events at Stockholm+50 that presented solutions to halt environmental degradation through the transformation of our agrifood systems

2 June 2022, Stockholm, Sweden – “Stockholm+50 is an opportunity to start putti...

Today there is less food security, less health security, less economic security and greater inequality.

By recognizing the importance of multilateralism in tackling the multiple crises facing today’s world. Stockholm+50 will act as a springboard to accelerate the implementation of the UN D...

On the occasion of Biodiversity Day, the International Treaty has just issued a new call for project proposals to be supported by the Benefit-sharing Fund. The fifth round of the Benefit-sharing Fund (BSF) will disburse over USD 7 million to projects that benefit small-scale farmers in developing...