[E-rundbrief] Info 1831 - FAO: Global report on the state of biodiversity

[Matthias Reichl]

E-Rundbrief Info 1831 - FAO: The biodiversity that is crucial for our 
food and agriculture is disappearing by the day. FAO launches the 
first-ever global report on the state of biodiversity that underpins 
our food systems.

Bad Ischl, 22.2.2019

Begegnungszentrum für aktive Gewaltlosigkeit

www.begegnungszentrum.at

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http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/1180463/icode/

The biodiversity that is crucial for our food and agriculture is 
disappearing by the day

FAO launches the first-ever global report on the state of biodiversity 
that underpins our food systems

Photo: ©FAO/Zinyange Auntony

Many associated biodiversity species, such as bees, are under severe 
threat.

22 February 2019, Rome - The first-ever report of its kind presents 
mounting and worrying evidence that the biodiversity that underpins 
our food systems is disappearing – putting the future of our food, 
livelihoods, health and environment under severe threat.

Once lost, warns FAO’s State of the World’s Biodiversity for Food and 
Agriculture report, launched today, biodiversity for food and 
agriculture – i.e. all the species that support our food systems and 
sustain the people who grow and/or provide our food – cannot be recovered.

Biodiversity for food and agriculture is all the plants and animals - 
wild and domesticated - that provide food, feed, fuel and fibre. It is 
also the myriad of organisms that support food production through 
ecosystem services – called “associated biodiversity”. This includes 
all the plants, animals and micro-organisms (such as insects, bats, 
birds, mangroves, corals, seagrasses, earthworms, soil-dwelling fungi 
and bacteria) that keep soils fertile, pollinate plants, purify water 
and air, keep fish and trees healthy, and fight crop and livestock 
pests and diseases.

The report, prepared by FAO under the guidance of the Commission on 
Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture looks at all these 
elements. It is based on information provided specifically for this 
report by 91 countries, and the analysis of the latest global data.

“Biodiversity is critical for safeguarding global food security, 
underpinning healthy and nutritious diets, improving rural 
livelihoods, and enhancing the resilience of people and communities. 
We need to use biodiversity in a sustainable way, so that we can 
better respond to rising climate change challenges and produce food in 
a way that doesn’t harm our environment,” said FAO’s Director-General 
José Graziano da Silva.

“Less biodiversity means that plants and animals are more vulnerable 
to pests and diseases. Compounded by our reliance on fewer and fewer 
species to feed ourselves, the increasing loss of biodiversity for 
food and agriculture puts food security and nutrition at risk,” added 
Graziano da Silva.

The foundation of our food systems is under severe threat
The report points to decreasing plant diversity in farmers’ fields, 
rising numbers of livestock breeds at risk of extinction and increases 
in the proportion of overfished fish stocks.

Of some 6,000 plant species cultivated for food, fewer than 200 
contribute substantially to global food output, and only nine account 
for 66 percent of total crop production.

The world’s livestock production is based on about 40 animal species, 
with only a handful providing the vast majority of meat, milk and 
eggs. Of the 7,745 local (occurring in one country) breeds of 
livestock reported globally, 26 percent are at risk of extinction.

Nearly a third of fish stocks are overfished, more than half have 
reached their sustainable limit.

Information from the 91 reporting countries reveals that wild food 
species and many species that contribute to ecosystem services that 
are vital to food and agriculture, including pollinators, soil 
organisms and natural enemies of pests, are rapidly disappearing.

For example, countries report that 24 percent of nearly 4,000 wild 
food species – mainly plants, fish and mammals - are decreasing in 
abundance. But the proportion of wild foods in decline is likely to be 
even greater as the state of more than half of the reported wild food 
species is unknown.

The largest number of wild food species in decline appear in countries 
in Latin America and the Caribbean, followed by Asia-Pacific and 
Africa. This could be, however, a result of wild food species being 
more studied and/or reported on in these countries than in others.

Many associated biodiversity species are also under severe threat. 
These include birds, bats and insects that help control pests and 
diseases, soil biodiversity, and wild pollinators – such as bees, 
butterflies, bats and birds.

Forests, rangelands, mangroves, seagrass meadows, coral reefs and 
wetlands in general – key ecosystems that deliver numerous services 
essential to food and agriculture and are home to countless species – 
are also rapidly declining.

Leading causes of biodiversity loss
The driver of biodiversity for food and agriculture loss cited by most 
reporting countries is: changes in land and water use and management, 
followed by pollution, overexploitation and overharvesting, climate 
change, and population growth and urbanization.

In the case of associated biodiversity, while all regions report 
habitat alteration and loss as major threats, other key drivers vary 
across regions. These are overexploitation, hunting and poaching in 
Africa; deforestation, changes in land use and intensified agriculture 
in Europe and Central Asia; overexploitation, pests, diseases and 
invasive species in Latin America and the Caribbean; overexploitation 
in the Near East and North Africa, and deforestation in Asia.

Biodiversity-friendly practices are on the rise
The report highlights a growing interest in biodiversity-friendly 
practices and approaches. Eighty percent of the 91 countries indicate 
using one or more biodiversity-friendly practices and approaches such 
as: organic agriculture, integrated pest management, conservation 
agriculture, sustainable soil management, agroecology, sustainable 
forest management, agroforestry, diversification practices in 
aquaculture, ecosystem approach to fisheries and ecosystem restoration.

Conservation efforts, both on-site (e.g. protected areas, on farm 
management) and off-site (e.g. gene banks, zoos, culture collections, 
botanic gardens) are also increasing globally, although levels of 
coverage and protection are often inadequate.

Reversing trends that lead to biodiversity loss – what is needed
While the rise in biodiversity-friendly practices is encouraging, more 
needs to be done to stop the loss of biodiversity for food and 
agriculture.

Most countries have put in place legal, policy and institutional 
frameworks for the sustainable use and conservation of biodiversity, 
but these are often inadequate or insufficient.

The report calls on governments and the international community to do 
more to strengthen enabling frameworks, create incentives and 
benefit-sharing measures, promote pro-biodiversity initiatives and 
address the core drivers of biodiversity loss.

Greater efforts must also be made to improve the state of knowledge of 
biodiversity for food and agriculture as many information gaps remain, 
particularly for associated biodiversity species. Many such species 
have never been identified and described, particularly invertebrates 
and micro-organisms. Over 99 percent of bacteria and protist species – 
and their impact on food and agriculture – remain unknown.

There is a need to improve collaboration among policy-makers, producer 
organizations, consumers, the private sector and civil-society 
organizations across food and agriculture and environment sectors.

Opportunities to develop more markets for biodiversity-friendly 
products could be explored more.
The report also highlights the role the general public can play in 
reducing pressures on biodiversity for food and agriculture.

Consumers may be able to opt for sustainably grown products, buy from 
farmers’ markets, or boycott foods seen as unsustainable. In several 
countries, “citizen scientists” play an important role in monitoring 
biodiversity for food and agriculture.
Examples: impacts of biodiversity loss and biodiversity-friendly 
practices

     In The Gambia, massive losses of wild foods have forced 
communities to turn to alternatives, often industrially produced 
foods, to supplement their diets.
     In Egypt, rising temperatures will lead to northwards shifts in 
ranges of fish species, with impacts on fishery production.
     Labour shortages, flows of remittances and increasing 
availability of cheap alternative products on local markets have 
contributed to local crops abandonment in Nepal.
     In the Amazonian forests of Peru, climatic changes are predicted 
to lead to “savannization”, with negative impacts on wild foods’ supply.
     Californian farmers allow their rice fields to flood in winter 
instead of burning them after growing season. This provides 111,000 
hectares of wetlands and open space for 230 bird species, many at risk 
of extinction. As a result, many species have begun to increase in 
numbers, and the number of ducks has doubled.
     In France, about 300,000 hectares of land are managed using 
agroecological principles.
     In Kiribati, integrated farming of milkfish, sandfish, sea 
cucumber and seaweed ensures regular food and income as despite 
changing weather conditions, at least one component of the system is 
always producing food.


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     Matthias Reichl, Pressesprecher/ press speaker,
     Begegnungszentrum fuer aktive Gewaltlosigkeit
     Center for Encounter and active Non-Violence
     Wolfgangerstr. 26, 4820 Bad Ischl, Austria,
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