Reconciling Agriculture and Wild Biodiversity Conservation

Overview

Solution: Ecoagriculture

An essential strategy for conserving wild biodiversity, especially that found in highly populated, poor rural areas around the world, is to convert agriculture that is destructive of biodiversity into ecoagriculture. Ecoagriculture builds on the concept of ‘ecosystem management’ and refers to land-use systems that are managed both to produce food and to protect wildlife and other critical ecosystem services.

Research and Policy Agenda

An ambitious policy and research agenda is needed to develop and promote the adoption of farming systems that increase production, protect wildlife and raise farm incomes in areas of high biodiversity value.

Private Sector’s Role

Private research and development (R&D) by large-scale commercial food producers and agro-processors could play an important role. Private food processing companies that obtain a large share of their raw material from smallholder farmers located near protected areas may be motivated to encourage ecoagriculture.

Public Sector’s Role

Public sector institutions and civic organizations can play a leading role in ecoagriculture development, because so much of the necessary research and investment is to provide ‘public goods.’