Agriculture:

Its Role in Biodiversity Loss and Ways Forward

Colin Chapman

Cultivated systems now cover of the earths terrestrial surface. A further 10-20 % will be converted by 2050.

Over half of the 14 biomes that the MA assessed have experienced a 20-50% conversion to human use. In the last 50 years rates of conversion have been the highest in tropical and subtropical dry forest.

Tropical countries are losing 12.5 million ha of forest annually.

6 million ha of forests are logged each year

Fires burned over 4.7 million ha of Indonesia's forests during 1997 / 1998.

Countries of sub-Saharan Africa return a mean of 58% of their GNP in repayments of foreign debts. Repayments can be as high as 241% of GNP

What Actions Can be Taken?

1) Protected areas 2) Species protection and recovery measures 3) Ex situ and in situ conservation of genetic diversity 4) Restoration 5) Payments and markets for biodiversity and ecosystem services 6) Consider biodiversity in agriculture, forestry, and fisheries 7) Capture of benefits by local communities 8) Increased coordination 9) Public awareness and education 10) Enhanced capacity for assessing the consequences of ecosystem change 11) Increased integration of sectoral responses 12) Elimination of subsides 12) Sustainable intensification of agriculture 13) Addressing unsustainable consumption patterns 14) Slowing global growth of nutrient loading 15) Correction of market failures 16) Integration of biodiversity conservation and development 17) Increased accountability of performance in decisions 18) Scientific data need to be made available to all sectors of society

What Actions Can be Taken?

1) Protected areas 2) Species protection and recovery measures 3) Ex situ and in situ conservation of genetic diversity 4) Restoration 5) Payments and markets for biodiversity and ecosystem services 6) Consider biodiversity in agriculture, forestry, and fisheries 7) Capture of benefits by local communities 8) Increased coordination 9) Public awareness and education 10) Enhanced capacity for assessing the consequences of ecosystem change 11) Increased integration of sectoral responses 12) Elimination of subsides 12) Sustainable intensification of agriculture 13) Addressing unsustainable consumption patterns 14) Slowing global growth of nutrient loading 15) Correction of market failures 16) Integration of biodiversity conservation and development 17) Increased accountability of performance in decisions 18) Scientific data need to be made available to all sectors of society

What Actions Can be Taken?

(1) Protected areas (2) Capture of benefits by local community (3) Public awareness and education (4) Sustainable intensification of agriculture (5) Integration of biodiversity conservation and development

Region Africa Madagascar Asia Americas

Protected Area 90,899 740 42,525 67,506

% Protected 3.1 1.3 1.4 3.9

21% of Ta National Park 21% was temporarily ceded for logging. Bia National Park in Ghana was gazetted in 1974 to include 306 km2, it was reduced in size to 230 km2 in 1979, and further reduced to 77 km2 in 1980.

4 million primates are consumed annually in the DR Congo, which represents a market value of $42 million

What Actions Can be Taken?

(1) Protected areas (2) Capture of benefits by local community (3) Public awareness and education (4) Sustainable intensification of agriculture (5) Integration of biodiversity conservation and development

In 7 protects designed to provide villagers neighboring national parks in Uganda with revenue from ecotourism, none of the communities viewed that the park provided them with benefits.

What Actions Can be Taken?

(1) Protected areas (2) Capture of benefits by local community (3) Public awareness and education (4) Sustainable intensification of agriculture (5) Integration of biodiversity conservation and development

What Actions Can be Taken?

(1) Protected areas (2) Capture of benefits by local community (3) Public awareness and education (4) Sustainable intensification of agriculture (5) Integration of biodiversity conservation and development

What Actions Can be Taken?

(1) Protected areas (2) Capture of benefits by local community (3) Public awareness and education (4) Sustainable intensification of agriculture (5) Integration of biodiversity conservation and development

Wild Coffee
1.5 Million Parks Opposed World Bank Delayed Payment No-Harvest Vast Majority of Funds to US Consultants