Applying the Ecosystem Approach to Biodiversity Conservation in Agricultural Landscapes

Overview

Agriculture’s impact on biodiversity only growing

Biodiversity conservation efforts must engage agriculture more centrally. Nearly a third of the world’s landmass has crops or planted pastures as the dominant land use; another quarter of the land is under extensive livestock grazing. 80 to 90% of lands habitable by humans are affected by some form of production activity and areas critical for the conservation of genetic, species and ecosystem diversity are often most affected.

More than 1.1 billion people, most directly dependent on agriculture, live within the world’s 25 biodiversity ‘hotspots’, the most threatened species-rich regions on Earth. Agriculture’s ecological ‘footprint’ will only continue to grow with rapid increases in population, higher levels of meat consumption and the emerging biofuels market.

Biodiversity friendly ag systems are out there

A recent surge in research has revealed a wide range of synergistic relationships between ecological and agricultural systems, and there has been extensive documentation of sustainable practices by farmers, farming communities and agribusinesses that have found ways to maintain ecosystem integrity along with production and livelihood opportunities.

This knowledge has substantially deepened our understanding of the production and conservation approaches that together lead to positive-sum interactions in agricultural landscapes, often referred to collectively as ecoagriculture. This brief draws from experience and research in ecoagriculture systems throughout the world to suggest guidelines for national and local implementation of the CBD’s Ecosystem Approach in agricultural regions.