The high seas comprise nearly two-thirds of the world's ocean and are filled with a variety of fish species, which are essential for the ocean's biodiversity. They are part of flourishing ecosystems that regulate our climate, provide vital habitats for hundreds of thousands of species and support crucial fisheries.

But high seas ecosystems are facing new challenges: climate change, pollution, and unsustainable practices are threatening their fragile balance. Rising water temperatures are forcing many species to find new habitats, while unsustainable practices, such as overfishing, are impacting fish stocks and biodiversity.

«Je me dois de protéger la forêt, puisqu’elle nous nourrit, ma famille et moi», confie Thomas.

La forêt d’Ituri, dont Thomas parle avec émotion, est située dans le nord-est de la République démocratique du Congo et représente un lieu sacré pour les Mbuti, un peuple autochtone. Au cœur de cette spectaculaire forêt tropicale se trouve la Réserve de faune à okapis. Celle-ci occupe environ un cinquième de la forêt et abrite une faune sauvage parmi les plus riches d’Afrique centrale, dont une importante population d’okapis, ces animaux emblématiques du pays que l’on appelle aussi «girafes des forêts». Elle compte également plus de 100 espèces de mammifères, dont plusieurs espèces menacées, comme l’éléphant de forêt et le chimpanzé de l’est.

Tuesday 28 February 2023

12:00-14:00

Wild plant genetic resources for food and agriculture: their conservation and sustainable use

This webinar is a follow up to the First International Multi-stakeholder Symposium on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture: Technical Consultation on in situ conservation and on-farm management of PGRFA, held in March 2021.  At this event, examples of the continuum of management practices for wild plant genetic resources for food and agriculture, from their conservation to use in breeding improved crop varieties, will be presented and discussed.

Two biodiverse agricultural and agroforestry systems, or chakras, in Ecuador - one in the Andes mountains and one in the country’s Amazon region - have won recognition as Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)....

Pulses contribute to increasing the resilience of farming systems and providing a Better Life for farmers in water scarce environments, as they have a low water footprint and can better tolerate drought and climate-related disasters compared with other food crops, making them an essential tool to adapt and mitigate climate change. Including pulses in various farming systems (e.g. agroforestry, intercropping and integrated farming systems) can help to increase the resilience of agriculture livelihoods and improve productivity.

Furthermore, on the economic side, the global pulses industry, dealing with pulses production and trade, proves to be a positive driver in ensuring the resilience of regional and global supply chains, enabling consumers to access nutritious foods and contributing to the sustainable use of natural resources.

Based on the benefits that pulses provide to agrifood systems and the environment, the Steering Committee selected “Pulses for a Sustainable Future” as the theme for the 2023 celebration.

8 February 2023 - Agrifood systems have the potential to make a significant contribution to the 2030 Agenda and more specifically to the conservation, sustainable use and restoration of biodiversity as stipulated in the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.

The community of the world’s nations adopted a landmark framework to support global biodiversity on 19 December, and the agreement contains significant contributions from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), committed to make sure that the needs and impacts of agrifo...

Washington, DC - The fifteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP15) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) ended earlier this week in Montreal, Canada with a landmark agreement to protect 30 percent of the world’s lands, coastal areas and inland waters by 2030. The final text...

Described as the most important global meeting for the future of our planet this century, the 15^th Conference of the Parties (COP15) to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), held in Montreal, Canada under the presidency of China, concluded on Monday 19 December. Around 18 000 people registered for the conference, including representatives from more than 194 parties to the CBD. 

Despite the substantial progress made in spreading knowledge about soil biodiversity and its functions, only around 1% of soil organisms have been identified so far. Moreover, soil biodiversity loss remains one of the main global threats to food security in many regions of the world and is likely...