Progress? Whose good news counts?

Habitat and species loss continues, as reported in an article in the current issue of Science, Despite Progress, Biodiversity Declines. Of course this is a matter of grave importance and should serve as a clarion call to conservationists everywhere, especially in the lead up to the forthcoming CBD meeting in Japan, and god knows we do need examples and cases of progress. But Science might want to take time and ask a few of the expelled Chagos Islanders whether the fact that "in May, the United Kingdom designated the Chagos Archipelago as the largest marine reserve in the world, setting aside 544,000 square kilometers" is actually the good news it purports to be. I am sure a few will beg to differ on the fact they now have the world's largest marine reserve to go with the world's largest military base.

Healthy Parks, Healthy People

Following the successful inaugural Healthy Parks Healthy People (HPHP) congress in April hosted by Parks Victoria in Melbourne, Australia this initiative, focussed on the health benefits of contact with nature is continuing to expand. A new website, HPHP central, is to be launched in September and the HPHP Global team welcomes your contributions such as articles, research papers, case studies or tips on how to adopt the Healthy Parks Healthy People philosophy into your organisation. Please send contributions to contribute@hphpcentral.com. The Proceedings from the HPHP congress are now available. More than 70 videos from the conference have been posted on YouTube.

The answer is out there, Neo, and it's looking for you

One of the more interesting books I came across in 2009 was Nature's Matrix by Ivette Perfecto, John Vandermeer and Angus Wright. The book makes a strong case for working with small farmers and social movements to strengthen the quality of the agricultural matrix that surround the increasing fragments of natural habitat, an argument that eloquently counters the traditional conservationist agenda which often views agriculture as harmful and farmers and local communities to be excluded at all cost. In the words of the Earthscan website blurp,

Landscapes are frequently seen as fragments of natural habitat surrounded
by a 'sea' of agriculture. But recent ecological theory shows that the nature of
these fragments is not nearly as important for conservation as is the nature of
the matrix of agriculture that surrounds them. Local extinctions from
conservation fragments are inevitable and must be balanced by migrations if
massive extinction is to be avoided. High migration rates only occur in what the
authors refer to as 'high quality' matrices, which are created by alternative
agroecological techniques, as opposed to the industrial monocultural model of
agriculture. The authors outline new knowledge about the science of ecology, current
debates about agriculture (and biodiversity especially in the tropics) and the
role of new and powerful rural social movements such as Via Campesina and these
general tendencies can come together to give us a new paradigm for
biodiversity conservation.

This might be a new paradigm for conservationists but I think there are many in the agriculture and agrobiodiversity community who have been saying for sometime now that the 'quality' of the agricultural matrix, and those who look after it, are a sustainable solution to biodiversity conservation and the bridging or linking of managed and natural landscapes. Let's hope the traditional conservation sector sits up and takes notice. Don't hold your breath! Having said that the book certainly adds weight to the case for biodiverse agro-ecosystems and there are many opportunities here for the agrobiodiversity community to add susbstantial case studies to complement the somewhat limited examples that appear in this book.

Biodiversity day

It is the International Day for Biological Diversity and Ireland has launched a National Biodiversity Mapping System which has been developed by the National Biodiversity Data Centre as a tool for the geographic presentation of observational data on Ireland's biological data. The database currently contains over 400,000 records of 3,721 species.

Keeping aliens out of our waterways

Restrictions on access to Lough Carra and Lough Mask are proposed in a new biosecurity plan for Lough Mask. The report was commissioned to try to protect the lakes from “alien species” that have invaded Lough Corrib. More here.

The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men?

Nine easily available management planning guides, all aimed at UK protected sites (SSSI, Natura 2000, Ramsar, etc.), have been compared in a recent study in the Journal for Nature Conservation . Basic formats recommended by these guides were similar, so that plans based on them should look superficially alike. In contrast, definitions of key terms (vision, objective, and constraint or factor) often varied significantly between guides, even though there is a great deal of collaboration between publishing organisations. Additional guidance and rules for objectives only increased differences between guides, and created differences even where definitions were similar. The bottom line? The variable nature of management planning guidance raises concerns about the consistency of plan preparation.

Hare today, gone tomorrow - part 2

The strange case of the Ulster Wildlife Trust ignoring the available data and the plight of the Irish hare. I wonder who their stakeholders are?

The New Naturalist

There will be few people interested in rural development who have not at one time or another delved into one of the New Naturalist series of books. I was pleased to learn that they are still going strong with plans to get old titles back in print.

Farmers help to promote conservation

Here is an interesting article sent to me by a friend but which doesn't include a great deal of information. It highlights farmers being used to promote conservation and it would be useful to learn more about the project and how farmers are being used and if there is anything to do with promoting agricultural biodiversity.

Anyone with more information?

Does the IUCN take agricultural biodiversity seriously?

The IUCN World Congress has been taking place this week in Barcelona and this is a question that has crossed my mind more than once. If one was to answer this question based on the range of events taking place to do with agriculture, food security and sovereignty and agrobiodiversity then one might be tempted to answer in the affirmative. But I have come away with the impression that there is much that needs to be done including a greater need for better joined up analysis and advocacy. There still appears to be a massive disconnect between the global conservation and agrobiodiversity communities. But we need not be in conflict, from the evidence presented here there is much we could and should be doing better. The challenge is how we find better and more effective ways of working together. How do we address this disconnect between those of us working in agricultural biodiversity and conservation?
There are many opportunities and entry points for both communities. The responsibility for the current situation does not lie solely at the door of either community. There is much that the agricultural and agrobiodiversity community could and should be doing to improve an important partnership. Some participants pointed out that the agrobiodiversity community was actively looking for collaboration with the conservation community. I am sure they are but how effectively are they doing this? I am convinced there is room for improvement. This would involve a much more coherent and evidence-based approach, an approach that is much more inclusive and strategic, much more thought through than is currently taking place. Other participants have stressed the need for creating more awareness on the benefits of agrobiodiversity. While important, this is only one element of a much more concerted effort that is required in order to break down a very entrenched mindset.
Some suggestions that have emerged from this meeting include the IUCN having a more active role in promoting that biodiversity in agricultural systems has a function, is useful and can support food security and sovereignty. Enhancing integration of the relevant commissions and member organizations of IUCN to promote a higher profile for agricultural biodiversity, so that the IUCN can better articulate a position on this. Jeff McNeely suggested that maybe there was a need for conservationists to better understand agriculture and to have a better historical perspective on land use. Clearly there is. There was allusion to how this might trickle down to a new level of ‘professionalism’ among conservation workers and practitioners. I certainly hope so. There were many other positive suggestions, too many to go into any detail here.
However, I just wanted to add that we, as the agricultural biodiversity community, might want to look inwards and reflect on what we have been doing recently to change this disconnect. I am sure there is more that agrobiodiversity organizations, programmes, projects and individuals could be doing so they are better organized and positioned to engage the global conservation community and effect change. It will take much more than an awareness campaign to change the current disconnect.

Does the IUCN take agricultural biodiversity seriously?

The IUCN World Congress has been taking place this week in Barcelona and this is a question that has crossed my mind more than once. If one was to answer this question based on the range of events taking place to do with agriculture, food security and sovereignty and agrobiodiversity then one might be tempted to answer in the affirmative. But I have come away with the impression that there is much that needs to be done including a greater need for better joined up analysis and advocacy. There still appears to be a massive disconnect between the global conservation and agrobiodiversity communities. But we need not be in conflict, from the evidence presented here there is much we could and should be doing better. The challenge is how we find better and more effective ways of working together. How do we address this disconnect between those of us working in agricultural biodiversity and conservation?

There are many opportunities and entry points for both communities. The responsibility for the current situation does not lie solely at the door of either community. There is much that the agricultural and agrobiodiversity community could and should be doing to improve an important partnership. Some participants pointed out that the agrobiodiversity community was actively looking for collaboration with the conservation community. I am sure they are but how effectively are they doing this? I am convinced there is room for improvement. This would involve a much more coherent and evidence-based approach, an approach that is much more inclusive and strategic, much more thought through than is currently taking place. Other participants have stressed the need for creating more awareness on the benefits of agrobiodiversity. While important, this is only one element of a much more concerted effort that is required in order to break down a very entrenched mindset.

Some suggestions that have emerged from this meeting include the IUCN having a more active role in promoting that biodiversity in agricultural systems has a function, is useful and can support food security and sovereignty. Enhancing integration of the relevant commissions and member organizations of IUCN to promote a higher profile for agricultural biodiversity, so that the IUCN can better articulate a position on this. Jeff McNeely suggested that maybe there was a need for conservationists to better understand agriculture and to have a better historical perspective on land use. Clearly there is. There was allusion to how this might trickle down to a new level of ‘professionalism’ among conservation workers and practitioners. I certainly hope so There were many other positive suggestions, too many to go into any detail here.

However, I just wanted to add that we, as the agricultural biodiversity community, might want to look inwards and reflect on what we have been doing recently to change this disconnect. I am sure there is more that agrobiodiversity organizations, programmes, projects and individuals could be doing so they are better organized and positioned to engage the global conservation community and effect change. It will take much more than an awareness campaign to change the current disconnect.

Protected areas 'not properly cared for'

Fewer than half of the north's protected natural habitats are being properly maintained, a report from the Northern Ireland Environment Agency has found. Read more here.

As dull as ditch water?

Nobody really cares about them? I spent my youth rummaging in ditches like these. Fascinating places. Read what Jane Kavanagh of UCC has to say about them here.

Benefits and costs of biodiversity in Ireland 2008

This report presents an assessment of social and economic benefits of selected ecosystem services in Ireland. The analysis covers a broad range of sectors, including agriculture, marine, health, and forestry. It finds that there are many net benefits to be derived from biodiversity conservation when compared to the policy costs. Report can be downloaded here.

Co-operation on health and biodiversity

Here is a very interesting and worthwhile initiative and it is housed in our own backyard, Galway to be exact. The COHAB Initiative is an international programme established to respond to the gaps in awareness and existing policies on issues linking biodiversity with human health and well-being. The Initiative aims to establish an international, inter-disciplinary collaborative framework to support existing activities on international development, biodiversity conservation and population health, and to contribute to the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals.

The Second International COHAB Conference on Health & Biodiversity took place from Monday 25th to Thursday 28th February 2008 in Galway City, Ireland and brought 170 delegates from over 70 countries together, from all disciplines and backgrounds, to collaborate on new approaches for protecting human health and well-being through the conservation and sustainable use of the world's biological diversity.

Those of you with a particular interest in human health and how it depends on biodiversity might be interested in the new publication 'Sustaining Life'.

International Day of Biodiversity

Today is International Day for Biodiversity and the special theme this year is Biodiversity and Agriculture. The Conference of Parties to the CBD is in full swing, debating many burning issues related to this theme.

The Future Control of Food

THE FUTURE CONTROL OF FOOD: A Guide to International Negotiations and Rules on Intellectual Property, Biodiversity and Food Security is the first wide-ranging guide to the key issues of intellectual property and ownership, genetics, biodiversity, and food security. Proceeding from an introduction and overview of the issues, comprehensive chapters cover negotiations and instruments in the World Trade Organization, Convention on Biological Diversity, UN Food and Agriculture Organization, World Intellectual Property Organization, the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants, and various other international bodies. The final part discusses civil society responses to relevant changes and developments in these issues, how they affect the direction of research and development, the nature of global negotiation processes and various alternative futures.

Published by Earthscan and IDRC the book is available for download here.

Wanted! Your views on biodiversity?

A public consultation process to inform the development of Ireland's second National Biodiversity Plan is underway. The production of a national biodiversity plan is an obligation for all parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, which Ireland ratified in 1996. This Convention has the widest scope of the international environmental agreements concerning nature and biodiversity, with 189 countries and the European Union, having ratified the agreement. All parties to the Convention have committed to working towards the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity and achieving a significant reduction in the rate of biodiversity loss by 2010. Ireland produced its first plan in 2002, and the new plan will set out a programme of work for the five-year period 2008-2012.

Any organisation or member of the public wishing to make a submission can contact biodiversitypolicy@environ.ie or visit the website of the National Parks and Wildlife Service for more details.

To view the current National Biodiversity Plan 2002-2006 click here.

To view an interim review of the implementation of the National Biodiversity Plan 2002-2006 click here.

Hare today, gone tomorrow

There is an interesting story on the BBC about the impacts of agri-environment and countryside management schemes on biodiversity in the NI countryside. A researcher at QUB maintains that the schemes have contributed to population explosions of potential pest species such as foxes and rabbits by favouring their habitat preferences at the expense of other species such as the hare. Read more here.

Thanks to Luigi for the lead.

Falling through the cracks?

Thanks to Luigi for bringing to my attention another UK biodiversity conservation document that fails to give serious consideration of agricultural biodiversity yet again. Read more here.