FAO and biodiversity for food and agriculture Biodiversity for food and agriculture is among the earth’s most important resources. Crops, livestock, aquatic organisms, forest trees, micro-organisms and invertebrates thousands of species and their – genetic variability up the web of biodiversity upon which the food production –make world’s depends. Biodiversity is indispensable: be it the insects that pollinate plants, the microscopic bacteria used for making cheese, the diverse livestock breeds used to make a living in harsh environments, or the thousands of varieties of crops that sustain food security worldwide. Biodiversity is essential for achieving nutritional diversity in diets a diverse food basket which is important for human health – – and development. However, biodiversity for food and agriculture, and in particular at the genetic level, is being lost at an alarming rate. biodiversity mainly through the implementation of Global Goal 3 of its new Strategic FAO’s work on Framework management and utilization of “sustainable natural resources, including […]genetic resources for the benefit of present and future generations”. recognizes biodiversity as a critical element of the FAO’s Strategic Framework organization’s main strategic objectives. This is particularly true with respect to and importance biodiversity’s relevance to the long term sustainability of agriculture (farming, livestock, forestry, fisheries, aquaculture, etc..) and to enhancing resilience. This strategic level of importance provides many entry points for financing to be directed towards biodiversity. FAO’s Biodiversity related instruments and processes FAO hosts a number of intergovernmental bodies that, develop and adopt a number of inter alia, biodiversity-related instruments, conventions and agreements. These are: ) FAO is involved in a number of partnerships with the CBD. The main ones are: Aichi Biodiversity Targets Task Force . , International Pollinators Initiative, Cross-cutting initiative on biodiversity for food and nutrition, International Initiative for the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Soil Biodiversity, Global Partnership on Forest Landscape Restoration FAO holds databases and information and publishes several periodic assessments of natural resources and biodiversity for food and agriculture, such as
FAO and biodiversity for food and agriculture Biodiversity for food and agriculture is among the earth’s most important resources. Crops, livestock, aquatic organisms, forest trees, micro-organisms and invertebrates – thousands of species and their genetic variability –make up the web of biodiversity upon which the world’s food production depends. Biodiversity is indispensable: be it the insects that pollinate plants, the microscopic bacteria used for making cheese, the diverse livestock breeds used to make a living in harsh environments, or the thousands of varieties of crops that sustain food security worldwide. Biodiversity is essential for achieving nutritional diversity in diets – a diverse food basket – which is important for human health and development. However, biodiversity for food and agriculture, and in particular at the genetic level, is being lost at an alarming rate. FAO’s work on biodiversity mainly through the implementation of Global Goal 3 of its new Strategic Framework “sustainable management and utilization of natural resources, including […]genetic resources for the benefit of present and future generations”. FAO’s Strategic Framework recognizes biodiversity as a critical element of the organization’s main strategic objectives. This is particularly true with respect to biodiversity’s relevance and importance to the long term sustainability of agriculture (farming, livestock, forestry, fisheries, aquaculture, etc..) and to enhancing resilience. This strategic level of importance provides many entry points for financing to be directed towards biodiversity. FAO’s Biodiversity related instruments and processes FAO hosts a number of intergovernmental bodies that, inter alia, develop and adopt a number of biodiversity-related instruments, conventions and agreements. These are: ) FAO is involved in a number of partnerships with the CBD. The main ones are: Aichi Biodiversity Targets Task Force . , International Pollinators Initiative, Cross-cutting initiative on biodiversity for food and nutrition, International Initiative for the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Soil Biodiversity, Global Partnership on Forest Landscape Restoration FAO holds databases and information and publishes several periodic assessments of natural resources and biodiversity for food and agriculture, such as
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