Aichi Target 7 requires that by 2020 agricultural areas, forests and aquatic resources are managed sustainably ensuring conservation of biodiversity. To date, for agricultural land only subjective indicators, such as the area under “sustainable management”, have been proposed and there is an urgent need to develop a framework of objective metrics. This framework should provide a robust system for monitoring agricultural sustainability and its contribution to biodiversity conservation at national scales for reporting to the CBD.
Tag: biodiversity
Learning pathway: Course flows & blueprint
This course is a pivotal contribution to FAO’s vision of fostering a Better Environment, particularly focusing on Biodiversity for food and agriculture. Aligned with FAO’s strategic initiatives, the course is fortified by the approval of the FAO Strategy on Mainstreaming Biodiversity Across Agricultural Sectors and the 2021-23 Action Plan, emphasizing the importance of targeted policies and practices for sustainable use, conservation, and restoration of ecosystems.
Learning pathway: Course flows & blueprint
This course is a pivotal contribution to FAO’s vision of fostering a Better Environment, particularly focusing on Biodiversity for food and agriculture. Aligned with FAO’s strategic initiatives, the course is fortified by the approval of the FAO Strategy on Mainstreaming Biodiversity Across Agricultural Sectors and the 2021-23 Action Plan, emphasizing the importance of targeted policies and practices for sustainable use, conservation, and restoration of ecosystems.
Learning pathway: Course flows & blueprint
This course is a pivotal contribution to FAO’s vision of fostering a Better Environment, particularly focusing on Biodiversity for food and agriculture. Aligned with FAO’s strategic initiatives, the course is fortified by the approval of the FAO Strategy on Mainstreaming Biodiversity Across Agricultural Sectors and the 2021-23 Action Plan, emphasizing the importance of targeted policies and practices for sustainable use, conservation, and restoration of ecosystems.
Agro-ecological options for fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda JE Smith) management: Providing low-cost, smallholder friendly solutions to an invasive pest
Fall armyworm (FAW), a voracious agricultural pest native to North and South America, was first detected on the African continent in 2016 and has subsequently spread throughout the continent and across Asia. It has been predicted that FAW could cause up to $US13 billion per annum in crop losses throughout sub-Saharan Africa, thereby threatening the livelihoods of millions of poor farmers. In their haste to respond to FAW governments may promote indiscriminate use of chemical pesticides which, aside from human health and environmental risks, could undermine smallholder pest management strategies that depend to a large degree on natural enemies. Agro-ecological approaches offer culturally appropriate low-cost pest control strategies that can be readily integrated into existing efforts to improve smallholder incomes and resilience through sustainable intensification. Such approaches should therefore be promoted as a core component of integrated pest management (IPM) programmes for FAW in combination with crop breeding for pest resistance, classical biological control and selective use of safe pesticides. Nonetheless, the suitability of agro-ecological measures for reducing FAW densities and impact need to be carefully assessed across varied environmental and socio-economic conditions before they can be proposed for wide-scale implementation. To support this process, we review evidence for the efficacy of potential agro-ecological measures for controlling FAW and other pests, consider the associated risks, and draw attention to critical knowledge gaps. The evidence indicates that several measures can be adopted immediately. These include (i) sustainable soil fertility management, especially measures that maintain or restore soil organic carbon; (ii) intercropping with appropriately selected companion plants; and (iii) diversifying the farm environment through management of (semi)natural habitats at multiple spatial scales. Nevertheless, we recommend embedding trials into upscaling programmes so that the costs and benefits of these interventions may be determined across the diverse biophysical and socio-economic contexts that are found in the invaded range.
Policies for Ecological Intensification of Crop Production
Ecological intensification aims to increase crop productivity by enhancing biodiversity and associated ecosystem services, while minimizing the use of synthetic inputs and cropland expansion. Policies to promote ecological intensification have emerged in different countries, but they are still scarce and vary widely across regions. Here, we propose ten policy targets that governments can follow for ecological intensification.
Learning pathway: Course flows & blueprint
This course is a pivotal contribution to FAO’s vision of fostering a Better Environment, particularly focusing on Biodiversity for food and agriculture. Aligned with FAO’s strategic initiatives, the course is fortified by the approval of the FAO Strategy on Mainstreaming Biodiversity Across Agricultural Sectors and the 2021-23 Action Plan, emphasizing the importance of targeted policies and practices for sustainable use, conservation, and restoration of ecosystems.
Towards sustainable management of soil biodiversity in agricultural landscapes in Africa
Soil biodiversity constitutes an important part of the terrestrial food web and plays a major role in sustainable agriculture. However, the wider benefits of soil biodiversity have been largely ignored by traditional and conventional agriculture in Africa. This work synthesizes the current state of knowledge and highlights the unique challenges to management of soil biodiversity in African agriculture. The role of soil biodiversity in integrated pest management (IPM), maintenance of soil fertility and rehabilitation of degraded land is demonstrated. The analysis provides evidence supporting the hypothesis that agricultural intensification negatively impacts on soil biodiversity and ecosystem functions. Recognition of the role of soil biodiversity in agricultural and educational policies and adoption of multi-sectoral approaches could improve its sustainable management in Africa.
Mapping the biodiversity of “cinderella” trees in Cameroon
The domestication of indigenous tropical trees starts with the identification of germplasm collection sites. Collecting from a wide genetic base enhances the ecological quality of each collection activity. Determining species occurrence, potential collection sites, and distribution by relying too heavily on published information based on their ‘biophysical limits’ has shown itself to be full of practical challenges. Within the tree domestication process, the identification and illustration of the geographic re-distribution of high-value tropical trees through their cultivation by farmers, enriches the process of tree germplasm collection. This paper draws parallels between tree cultivation by farmers in Cameroon and the inadvertent testing of the trees in niches and habitats often different from the natural homes of the species. By forcing species to adapt in regions other than those in which they might have been naturally selected, farmers ‘force’ certain genetic attributes of individual trees, necessary for their survival, to be expressed in one form of adaptation or another. The surviving trees may subsequently constitute unique stands with peculiar genetic and/or phenotypic characteristics. As these resilient man-made stands spread across broad geographical areas, mapping them becomes equivalent to recording an expression of that ‘resilience’ factor in the species. Recording these sites with the rest of its natural range of occurrence is thus equal to mapping the species’ diversity or its ‘domestication range’. The methodology used in this study utilized published biophysical information on vegetation, precipitation, temperature and altitude, as well as geographic data on germplasm collection, cultivation sites and natural stands. These data layers were then used to suggest zones of possible occurrence and distribution. Field collections and survey activities were later used to verify incidence and cultivation sites of four sample tropical tree species, in Cameroon: Irvingia gabonensis, Cola nitida, Prunus africana, and Dacryodes edulis.
Managing genetic variation in tropical trees: linking knowledge with action in agroforestry ecosystems for improved conservation and enhanced livelihoods
Tree species in agroforestry ecosystems contribute to the livelihoods of rural communities and play an important role in the conservation of biodiversity. Unless agroforestry landscapes are productive, however, farmers will not maintain or enhance the range and quality of tree species in them, and both income opportunities and biodiversity will be lost. Productivity depends on both tree species diversity and genetic (intra-specific) variation, but research on the latter has until recently not received the recognition it deserves. Worse, when knowledge on tree genetic variation in agroforestry systems has become available, it has not generally been linked in any systematic way with management, indicating a disjunction between research and field-level practice. In this essay, we attempt to bridge this gap by considering three questions: why is genetic diversity important in tree species What is our current state of knowledge about intra-specific variation in trees in agroforestry systems And, finally, what practical interventions are possible to support the conservation of this diversity in agricultural landscapes, while enhancing farmers livelihoods A wide genetic base in agroforestry trees is essential to prevent inbreeding depression and allow adaptation to changing environmental conditions and to altering markets for tree products. Recent evidence shows, however, that many species are subject to poor germplasm collection practice, occur at low densities in farmland, and are found in highly aggregated distributions, all of which observations raise concerns about productivity and sustainability. A range of germplasm-access based interventions is necessary to improve current management, including the enhancement of community seed- and seedling-exchange networks, and the development of locally based tree domestication activities. Equally necessary, but more difficult to address, is the development of markets that support genetic diversity in tropical tree species; we discuss approaches by which this may be undertaken.