Trends in Agricultural Biodiversity

" Biodiversity is a non-detachable part of the concept of sustainability. ... biodiversity is essential for agricultural production, as agriculture should be for biodiversity conservation. " Brazilian Government proposal to SBSTTA of the CBD, Second Meeting Montreal 2–6 September 1996 Although the context of this paper is a " World Biodiversity Update, " any attempt at such would be presumptuous if not impossible. What I will attempt, however, is to highlight some of the major developments in biodiversity action and policy that have emerged during the past year or two. In fact, several of these are directly related to agricultural biodiversity, and indeed to the issue of new crops. Then I shall explore the main trends in the appreciation, conservation and sustainable use of what is termed agricultural biodiversity. The coming into effect of the Convention on Biological Diversity has led to a wide range of activities and initiatives as governments attempt to get to grips with the problems of implementing what is no more than an outline convention. The deliberations of the Conference of the Parties (COP) of the Convention and its Subsidiary Body for Scientific Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA) have been criticized by some as spending too much time on issues such as biotechnology, biosafety, and intellectual property rights (Raven 1998) while issues such as the preservation of species have been ignored. Others regard the Convention as providing incentives for countries to conserve and sustainably use their own biodiversity and ensure that the benefits derived from it by third parties are equitably shared (Seyani 1998). Certainly, a great deal of controversy has been generated by matters such as access to genetic resources, farmers' rights, and technology transfer , reflecting different attitudes and perceptions between developing and developed countries. These are serious issues that demand attention and while those of us who are alarmed at the growing rate of biodiversity loss and habitat destruction are naturally impatient and would like to see more urgent steps being taken to stem the losses, progress in reconciling the different positions is being made and at the same time many countries are taking positive steps to put in place mechanisms for the conservation and sustainable use of their biodiversity. Another key development was the endorsement by governments of the Global Plan of Action (GPA) for the " Conservation and Sustainable Use of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture " at the …