Land holds the past, present and future of humanity. Everything from nutritious food and thriving ecosystems to agricultural heritage and livelihoods rely on healthy and productive land. Yet every year, an average of 100 million hectares of land are degraded through unsustainable agriculture, urbanization and more frequent and prolonged droughts.

FAO celebrates the International Day of Potato 2024 with a special and an high-level event

Regional consultations on the review of the Second Global Plan of Action for Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture were held in Cali, Colombia from 21 to 23 May 2024. FAO National Focal Points for Plant Genetic Resources and National Focal Points to the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture from more than 20 countries from Latin America and the Caribbean gathered at the premises of the Alliance Biodiversity International & the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) to discuss priorities for the conservation and sustainable use of plant genetic resources.

The theme of this year’s International Day for Biodiversity is “Be Part of the Plan” - a rallying call to the public and diverse actors to support the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, endorsed in December 2022, and also known as The Biodiversity Plan. FAO is an integral part of this plan, as agrifood systems are a powerful channel for readily available and scalable solutions to conserving, restoring and sustainably using biodiversity.

Reviving and marketing ancestral agricultural food production practices.

Biodiversity and agriculture are inseparable. The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, or ‘The Biodiversity Plan’, adopted by countries in 2022, fully recognizes this close interdependence. The Biodiversity Plan sets out a pathway to a world living in harmony with nature by 2050, with more than half of its 23 targets relating to agrifood systems. FAO is playing an active role in supporting countries to implement these ambitious targets and its four Goals. In reality, FAO’s projects and initiatives relate to most of the Biodiversity Plan targets, with five topping the list.

The United Nations World Restoration Flagships are the most ambitious, promising or successful examples of large-scale ecosystem restoration, recognized in the context of the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. At least ten new flagships will be selected and announced in 2025. Apply before 31 May 2024 to join the #GenerationRestoration! 

The International Symposium Agriculture, Biodiversity and Food Security: From Commitments to Actions was held at the Quebec City Convention Centre, Canada, from April 30 to May 2, 2024. Jointly organized by Université Laval's École supérieure d'études internationales, the Ministère des Relations internationales et de la Francophonie (MRIF), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, the event brought together over 250 key players from the agricultural and agrifood sectors in 39 countries.

The FAO Biodiversity Knowledge Hub provides access to biodiversity-related resources developed by FAO. The aim is to strengthen countries’ capacity to mainstream biodiversity in agrifood sectors, implement the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals and achieve food security for all.

Can investing in people and nature effectively combat climate change? Absolutely! A sustainably managed forest generates multiple returns for people and the environment. Here's how deforestation-free cocoa and yerba mate help mitigate climate change, conserve Indigenous Peoples' knowledge, boost incomes and protect forests...

On 29 April 2024, a virtual event, co-organized with the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, will be held to raise awareness of the contribution of farmers’ varieties and landraces to food security and nutrition, highlight relevant initiatives and facilitate knowledge exchange among diverse stakeholders on their conservation and sustainable use.

The potato, an important crop that is consumed by over one billion people around the world, will be celebrated on 30 May 2024, the first-ever International Day of Potato. The theme will be: ‘Harvesting diversity, feeding hope’. The theme underscores the fact that with over 5 000 improved varieties, and farmers’ varieties/landraces of the crop, there are ample choices for the needs of diverse production systems, culinary preferences and industrial applications.

The agricultural sector - plant and animal production, fisheries, aquaculture, and forestry - depends on biodiversity and the ecosystem services it provides, but it is also the sector with the greatest influence on biodiversity. Through this call for submissions, stakeholders are invited to submit contributions on experiences and best practices, and concrete, scalable solutions concerning biodiversity and agriculture, in order to inform the International Symposium "Agriculture, Biodiversity and Food Security: From Commitments to Actions" – to be held in Quebec City, Canada, from April 30 to May 2, 2024 – and facilitate the development of recommendations.

Join FAO in marking the International Day of Forests on 21 March with a livestreamed event from FAO HQ in Rome to find out about some of the outstanding innovations that are helping to protect forests and unlock the many benefits they bring. New solutions are transforming forestry, allowing more accurate mapping and monitoring, empowering Indigenous Peoples to be the guardians of forests, promoting ecosystem restoration and driving the development of more sustainable wood and forest products.

FAO and UN Environment Programme have named seven initiatives from Africa, Latin America, the Mediterranean and Southeast Asia as UN World Restoration Flagships under the UN Decade of Ecosystem Restoration. UN World Restoration Flagships are chosen as the best examples of ongoing, large-scale and long-term ecosystem restoration by the Task Forces for Science and Best Practices of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration and approved by its Executive Board.

Transforming our agrifood systems to make them more efficient, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable is key to addressing the triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution. This was the overarching message from the Deputy Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Maria Helena Semedo, in a series of events during the sixth session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) and the Second Quadripartite Executive Annual Meeting.

You are kindly invited to join the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the Society for Ecological Restoration (SER), and IUCN’s Commission on Ecosystem Management for the official launch of Standards of practice to guide ecosystem restoration: A contribution to the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration 2021–2030 on 6 and 8 March 2024. These Standards of Practice have been developed to serve as a universal framework for all forms of restorative efforts during the UN Decade, ranging from minimizing societal impacts to advancing ecological restoration.

FAO is currently seeking applications from experts to join the Scientific Advisory Group (SAG) of its Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) Programme for the 2024-2025 term. The Scientific Advisory Group, composed of nine members nominated by the FAO's Director-General, serves as a crucial expert body. Members are selected based on their individual merits rather than as representatives of member countries, with a focus on ensuring a balance in terms of region and gender.

Over the last three years, under the ACP-MEAS 3 project, a European Union-funded initiative that seeks to strengthen environmental governance and implement Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs), Zimbabwe has made significant progress in policy development, sustainable agriculture research and development, mitigation of the impact of Highly Hazardous Pesticides (HHPs), and promotion of ecosystems-based agricultural practices through farmer field schools.

FAO has launched a new phase of work – supported with $2 million from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) – to assist developing countries in monitoring and reporting data on both the state and changes in their forest cover more effectively and transparently. The project will directly benefit at least 20 countries and more broadly support 236 countries and territories that are part of the FAO Global Forest Resources Assessment national correspondent network.