For generations, Ariel Benitez's ancestors, the Ava Guaraní people, one of the Indigenous Peoples living in eastern Paraguay, have been harvesting the green leaves of the yerba mate tree to make the bitter, caffeinated brew beloved in South America and beyond. 

On 30 January, biodiversity experts from more than 20 African countries met in Harare to discuss the state of biodiversity for food and agriculture in the region and consider action to strengthen the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity. National Focal Points shared experiences at national and regional levels with the aim of strengthening efforts to halt the loss of this key resource.

They are the dried edible seeds of legumes both cultivated for food and feed. They are pulses, and if you didn’t know already, they have the potential to transform our agrifood systems.

Colourful and flavourful, small yet powerful, pulses include the well-known beans, lentils, chickpeas and peas but there are also the lesser-known kinds like tarwi beans and adzuki beans.  

The World Wetlands Day raises global awareness about the importance of wetlands for human prosperity and a healthy planet. FAO, in collaboration with the Ramsar Convention Secretariat and the Italian Ministry of Environment and Energy Security, will host the World Wetlands Day celebration on 2 February 2024 from 12:00 to 13:30 (CET) at FAO Headquarters and online.

Ensuring the availability of seeds and seedlings from a range of tree species is crucial if we are to meet global targets on the restoration of degraded forests and landscapes, according to a new forestry working paper from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT.

Virtual webinar for Latin America and the Caribbean

• 31 January 2024, 10:00-11:30 EST/ 16:00-17:30 CET - in English and Spanish
• Registration: https://f...

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in partnership with the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) has today launched an all-in-one tool to assess the environmental impact of projects and investments in the agriculture, forestry and land use (AFOLU) sector. The Adaptation, Biodiversity and Carbon Mapping Tool (ABC-Map) is an open-source satellite imagery app, based on Google Earth Engine, with information from global datasets including the World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA), land cover data sets from the European Space Agency and climate data from the ERA5 dataset.

A new global fisheries management body began its inaugural meeting this week with key items on the agenda including best practices and approaches for the effective management of fisheries resources, and improvements in the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) methodology to estimate the state and health of the world's marine fish stocks.

On International Mountain Day (11 December), FAO celebrates the Central Asian Mountain Partnership (CAMP) Alatoo, a micro-reserve that was established to conserve local flora and fauna in Kyrgyzstan. Following consultations with local communities, the reserve protects 14 000 hectares of pastures and glaciers, with strict regulations on activities such as hunting and grazing.

Restoring mountain ecosystems is the theme of this year's International Mountain Day on 11 December. This theme was selected to fully include mountains in the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration 2021–2030, co-led by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN and the UN Environment Programme. The Decade is an opportunity to draw together political support, scientific research and financial resources to significantly scale-up restoration and prevent further degradation of mountain ecosystems.

This workshop seeks to foster information exchange, across regions, on the key factors affecting, and effective approaches for, conserving agrobiodiversity. The objectives are to identify and analyze effective approaches and measures which can assure a balance between agricultural production and agrobiodiversity conservation, highlighting the collaboration among all local stakeholders, and with the support of diverse activities and their synergetic effects; and  to discuss the conditions, challenges and key factors for achieving the successful conservation of agrobiodiversity in GIAHS sites. 

Time: 19 December 2023, 15:00-16:00 CET / 09:00-10:00 ET. Please register here.
The FAO Biodiversity Knowledge Hub will support users to access and use existing tools, guidance and other resources on biodiversity developed under FAO to mainstream biodiversity in agrifood sectors and assist policymakers and other actors to implement and monitor the GBF.

The World Soil Day 2023 and its campaign aim to raise awareness on the importance and relationship between soil and water in achieving sustainable and resilient agrifood systems. World Soil Day is a unique global platform that not only celebrates soils but also empowers and engages citizens around the world to improve soil health.

This side event at the COP28 Climate Change Conference in Dubai, organized by FAO, put a spotlight on the role of agrifood systems in mitigating climate change, protecting and conserving biodiversity, and building inclusive and resilient livelihoods.

The Collaborative Partnership on Sustainable Wildlife Management (CPW) has launched a two-year roadmap aimed at sustainable using and conserving wildlife while ensuring benefits for local people and their livelihoods. The CPW Secretariat is hosted by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and comprises 13 international organizations working to support the sustainable use and conservation of wildlife.

From November 22nd to 24th, FAO, in collaboration with the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity and the United Nations Environment Programme will be co-hosting a significant workshop focused on developing a roadmap for supporting ecosystem restoration under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework at FAO headquarters in Rome.

FAO headquarters is the venue of a week-long global gathering of over 600 participants, including national delegates, diplomats, policy-makers, plant genetic experts, researchers, international organizations, NGOs, seed sector representatives, and civil society organizations from around the world. They have come together for the Tenth Session of the Governing Body of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, to deliberate on policy issues regarding the conservation and sustainable use of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture (PGRFA), which comprise the building blocks of the world's food basket.

Launched at the 5th International Congress on Planted Forests, co-organized by FAO, the latest issue of the FAO forestry journal Unasylva #254, entitled Towards more resilient and diverse planted forests highlights how well designed and sustainably managed planted forests have a vital role to play in meeting Sustainable Development Goals.

You are invited to attend a webinar on 17 November 2023 13:00-14:30 CET. The webinar aims to present the results of a global survey on the status of the world’s soil biodiversity metrics, methods and related initiatives. In addition, proposed metrics and methods for the Global Soil Biodiversity Observatory (GLOSOB) will be presented to the International Network on Soil Biodiversity (NETSOB) for community input. Please take a minute to register for the webinar HERE; If you are not a member of NETSOB, please join the network HERE.

The Secretariat of the International Treaty released a study, The plants that feed the world – Baseline data and metrics to inform strategies for the conservation and use of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture, bringing together crucial data on over 350 food and agricultural crops, m...