Review of existing legislation to protect pollinators from pesticides in selected countries
2022
This review is intended to contribute background information to the FAO Global Seminar on Strengthening Regulations to Protect Pollinators from Pesticidesto held in February 2022, within the context of capacity building related to Phase III of the African, Caribbean and the Pacific Countries (ACP) Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) Programme (abbreviated ACP MEAs 3).
Protecting pollinators from pesticides – Urgent need for action
2022
Pollinators are essential for fruit, vegetable, oilseed and forage production, as well as for the production of seed for many root and fibre crops. In addition to being essential to food security and quality, pollinators contribute to the production of medicines, biofuels (e.g. canola and palm oil), fibres (e.g. cotton and linen) and construction materials such as timber. Livelihoods based on beekeeping and honey hunting are embedded in many rural economies. The large importance of pollinators, for both wild and cultivated plants, means they are fundamental to maintain ecosystem services and uphold global biodiversity.
2022
In December 2017, the 3rd Session of the United Nations Environment Assembly by Resolution 3/4 requested “the Executive Director to present a report on the environmental and health impacts of pesticides and fertilizers and ways of minimizing them, given the lack of data in that regard, in collaboration with the World Health Organization, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and other relevant organizations by the fifth session of the United Nations Environment Assembly” (UNEP 2017a).
This report responds to the above mandate in UNEA Resolution 3/4 and presents a comprehensive review of available information on environmental and health effects and their potential impacts. The overall goal of the report is to provide a review of the information base and update the current knowledge to enable other advocacy actions to be taken by stakeholders to minimize the adverse impacts of pesticides and fertilizers.
2021
In this third phase, the programme will continue its efforts on improving the management of pesticides applied in agricultural production. It will support countries in developing an institutional and policy environment conducive to the sustainable use and conservation of biodiversity in agriculture. ACP MEAs 3 will also encourage farmers to transition to more sustainable, resilient and productive systems by promoting the application of ecologically sustainable practices and approaches.
FAO Strategy on Mainstreaming Biodiversity across Agricultural Sectors
2020
The FAO strategy on mainstreaming biodiversity was approved at the FAO Conference in 2019, in view of preparations for the post-2020 global biodiversity framework. The Strategy aims to mainstream biodiversity across agricultural sectors at national, regional and international levels in a structured and coherent manner, taking into account national priorities, needs, regulations and policies and country programming frameworks. The expected result of the application of the Strategy would be to reduce the negative impacts of agricultural practices on biodiversity, to promote sustainable agricultural practices and to conserve, enhance, preserve and restore biodiversity as a whole.
The State of the World's Biodiversity for Food and Agriculture
2019
The State of the World’s Biodiversity for Food and Agriculture presents the first global assessment of biodiversity for food and agriculture worldwide. Biodiversity for food and agriculture is the diversity of plants, animals and micro-organisms at genetic, species and ecosystem levels, present in and around crop, livestock, forest and aquatic production systems. It is essential to the structure, functions and processes of these systems, to livelihoods and food security, and to the supply of a wide range of ecosystem services. It has been managed or influenced by farmers, livestock keepers, forest dwellers, fish farmers and fisherfolk for hundreds of generations.
2019
In the majority of developing countries, pesticides are widely used for the control of pestsand diseases in agriculture. Unsound chemical management, the use of HighlyHazardousPesticides (HHPs), the presence of unsafe guarded obsolete stocks of pesticides and the overall poor management of pesticide products pose significant and often unacceptable risks to human healt hand the environment. The project (of whichthiswasthe second phase) waspart of the EuropeanCommission programme on “CapacityBuilding relatedto MultilateralEnvironmentalAgreements(MEAs) in African, Caribbean and Pacific countries”. The second phase of this project aimed to support and strengthen institutional and national capacity building for the synergistic implementation of the target MEA clusters (chemicals/wastesand biodiversity) in African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP) countries, and to assist them to meet the objectives of these MEAs.
Sustainable Agriculture for Biodiversity – Biodiversity for Sustainable Agriculture. Brochure.
2018
This brochure presents FAO’s work on mainstreaming biodiversity as a cross-cutting theme in the agriculture, fisheries and forestry sectors. It provides examples of on-the-ground activities and highlights relevant international mechanisms. It shows how biodiversity and ecosystems benefit people in countless ways by providing food, clean water, shelter and raw materials for our basic needs. Agriculture is a major user of biodiversity but also has the potential to contribute to the protection of biodiversity. Occupying more than one-third of land in most countries of the world, if managed sustainably, agriculture can contribute to important ecosystem functions. These include maintenance of water quality, erosion control, biological pest control and pollination. Our ability to benefit from ecosystem services in the future will depend critically on how we understand, value and manage them today, both within and outside agricultural production systems. To achieve this objective, the different sectors need to work together.
Biodiversity for sustainable agriculture
FAO’s work on biodiversity for food and agriculture
2018
This brochure presents FAO’s work on mainstreaming biodiversity as a cross-cutting theme in the agriculture, fisheries and forestry sectors. It provides examples of on-the-ground activities and highlights relevant international mechanisms. It shows how biodiversity and ecosystems benefit people in countless ways by providing food, clean water, shelter and raw materials for our basic needs. Agriculture is a major user of biodiversity but also has the potential to contribute to the protection of biodiversity.
2016
This Technical Guidance Document addresses the need for mainstreaming biodiversity and ecosystem services into agriculture, at the national level. More specifically, it is aimed to assist countries in developing and implementing their National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plans (NBSA Ps), to consider ecosystem services – and opportunities for their management – in agricultural production systems. Through an EU-funded project on “Capacity-building related to multilateral agreements (MEAs) in ACP countries (Phase 2)”, this document focuses on the East Africa region, and provides concrete examples and cases primarily from Kenya. The intention is that this document provides practical guidance to countries for building institutional capacity for synergistic implementation of MEAs, and identifying opportunities for managing biodiversity and ecosystem services to reduce the use of chemical inputs. It considers issues at the technical, institutional and policy levels.
2016
This guidance document will be produced to assist countries in finding synergies between two important realms of international agreements: sound chemicals management and biodiversity conservation and sustainable use. We suggest that it can be used as countries are revising any of their strategies or policies related to these two realms, but in particular is oriented toward country revision, or to assist implementation, of their National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs), to help them attain a number of relevant Aichi Targets. It is intended to indicate where important synergies can be harvested, but is not meant to be prescriptive. The document will draw upon work that has been carried out, with similar scope, in Kenya and other countries of the East African Community. It targets specifically the context and national policy processes of Pacific island countries where commercial and semi-commercial agriculture represents a significant activity and the excessive use of agrochemicals is source of concern, looking specifically at Fiji, Samoa and Cook Islands as case studies.