Worldwide, the agricultural sector is in a period of transition,
and awareness of the need for sustainable agricultural production has
increased in response to the unprecedented population growth, food
demand, and regionally high per capita use of natural resources and
global environmental change that is now occurring. Conservation of
existing biodiversity in agricultural landscapes and the adoption of
biodiversity-based practices have been proposed as ways to increase the
sustainability of agricultural production while also ensuring viable
economic gain.
The goal of the agroBIODIVERSITY science plan and implementation
strategy is to establish the scientific basis needed to address the
trade-offs between food production, biodiversity conservation, ecosystem
services, and human well being in agricultural landscapes. Three key
research foci of the agroBIODIVERSITY Science Plan integrate the
biological and social sciences:
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Preserve and enhance the agrobiodiversity
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Utilize biodiversity for key ecosystem services
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Minimally impact biodiversity of neighbouring
ecosystems
Adoption of farming practices that utilize and conserve biodiversity may
ultimately improve environmental quality and limit agricultural
expansion. Conservation of biodiversity and human knowledge from
traditional agroecosystems is an urgent priority, to support human
societies that rely on its cultural services, in order for this
knowledge to remain available for solving agricultural problems, now and
in the future.
Implementation of the agroBIODIVERSITY Science Plan will involve
collaboration between geneticists, ecologists, anthropologists, and
economists, to cross ecosystem boundaries to understand the
environmental and social drivers of biodiversity change, ecosystem
services provided by biodiversity in agricultural landscapes, and how to
use this information for policy-relevant strategies to meet human needs.
Innovative methods for data handling and analysis across disciplines are
required, as are protocols for integrating formal and informal knowledge.
Workshops, publications, and projects by international networks of
scientists will result in various scientific products that will increase
useful knowledge for a variety of stakeholder groups.
