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.
Through the Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) programme, FAO helps preserve the agricultural heritage that safeguards the biodiversity essential to our environment while providing livelihoods for rural communities.
Here are just four examples of GIAHS sites that are helping to conserve and preserve biodiversity:
Barroso Agro-Sylvo-Pastoral System, Portugal
Situated in northern Portugal, Barroso is an agricultural region that includes a blend of pastures, natural forests, livestock, villages and home gardens. This harmonious system hosts an abundance of agrobiodiversity ranging from unique cattle breeds and potatoes varieties to oak forests with rare flora and fauna.
The communities’ social management of common lands and animals is a unique feature of this system that has preserved the environment while providing livelihoods. The common grazing lands are collective property where the herders group together their flocks and take turn to shepherd them based on the number of cattle they own. The role of domestic herds is significant in maintaining the ecosystems, as rough grazing by sheep and goats directly contribute to controlling shrubby and vegetation, reducing fire risks – a main threat to agroforestry production and regional biodiversity.
The communities’ adapted knowledge of the land has ensured livelihood practices that preserves biodiversity and does not harm the existing ecosystem.