Global Landscape Forum Biodiversity Digital Conference

The Global Landscape Forum Biodiversity Digital Conference was a two day conference (28th-29th October 2020) hosting speakers over 50 sessions dealing with diverse topics and diverse speakers from diverse backgrounds but the common goals of protecting biodiversity, restoring biodiversity and healing the planet. 

Over the two days panels spoke of impending biodiversity loss in the absence of action and the need for interdisciplinary cooperation in order to shift systems. Stefan Schmitt from Crop Trust, in an emotive videocast on day 2, spoke of the 42 trillion dollars (½ the global GDP) dependent on a functioning biodiversity (Swiss Re); and how one fifth of countries worldwide are at ecosystem collapse as biodiversity declines. 

He spoke of the Crop Trust use of the word ‘forever’ and maybe how it could be considered a whimsical idea. But he considered it a synonym for sustainable. If we lose a species we lose it forever, if we lose biodiversity we lose options and with such a complex problem such as biodiversity loss and the challenges of future food security and societal and planetary health it is imperative to have systems thinking and a forum such as the GLF conference to bring together such diverse thinking such as farmers tenure rights and rewilding programs alongside each other. Diversity of thought and ideas provides diversity of solutions

The session ‘Securing our Food Forever’ on day one dealt with the issues surrounding gene banks and was one of the more engaging sessions. The first panel, Building a Global Rational System for Crop Diversity Conservation, discussed the International Treaty for Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture and how this treaty bound the gene bank managers together. These managers on the panel, Vania Azevedo, Lavernee Gueco and Destrio Nyamongo spoke of how the treaty facilitated countries to share resources and develop agriculture and food security. 

Gene banks secure crop diversity. There are over 1700 regional and international gene banks and between them holding some two million samples of crops. Having this resource provides insurance against a particular crop falling prey to attack from a pest or fungus and dying out forever, the example given is the Cavendish banana. Without gene banks some of our mose familiar foodstuffs would be under severe and unimaginable threat. The ITPGRFA aims to protect food security through protecting crop security. It promotes the conservation of seeds, fair exchange and ensures responsible use of these resources. The treaty also recognises farmers rights, albeit subject to national laws, and each country has different laws concerning farmers rights and this may be where the treaty falls down.

Nonette Royo touches on the subject of farmers rights in the ‘Rights Based Ecosystem Approaches for a Green Just Recovery’ session. With regards to land rights and subsequently seed rights many governments, she maintains, overlook those with little financial resources to claim these rights. She calls for a more formal recognition of indiginous peoples rights to an active governance of the land and in order to facilitate a green just recovery from the covid crisis with biodiversity at the forefront and native friendly climate action.

Smallholders  have maintained biodiversity for thousands of years, domesticating and sharing seeds across borders. Although science has developed crops and technology to promote food security there is still a reliance of local knowledge. Martin Van Zoonenfeld from the World Veg Gene Bank in Tawan explains the global crop wild relative project. This involves breeding wild relatives with cultivated varieties to produce a more resistant or productive crop to then be sold to smallholders at an affordable price. These seed stocks can then be regenerated by citizen regenerators or smallholders to maintain stock levels of successful seeds

Peter Zens Frage, a vegetable farmer near Cologne, makes the argument for breaking the cycle of monoculture farming and caring for the soil in a more traditional way. In the session The Role of Diverse Agricultural Landscapes in Biodiversity Conservation and Food System Resilience he promotes traditional knowledge like crop rotation and intercropping for the promotion of wildlife diversity. The positives of a short supply chain and easy access to traditional markets are also pointed out and echoed by Thomas Jacob who also speaks of the farmer as innovator and problem solver. Examples of local innovation in Indian farms are using moringa leaf as leaf rooting hormone and practicing multi root grafting and using thick layers of sheep manure in vermi pits.  

However smallholders need support both financially and in government. Financial investments will be needed to maintain biodiverse environments and support smallholders and conservationists. There has been a Finance for Biodiversity Pledge announced by 26 financial institutions during the  biodiversity summit during the UN general assembly. However the current covid crisis may direct focus away from investment in this sector even though there seems to be a public appetite for focus on conservation, food security and climate change. 

This conference has highlighted the diversity of actors with a focus on biodiversity and the complexity and nuance of their needs and arguments. With regards to food production, the end users are key. The marketers, households, chefs, they all preserve a culinary cultural identity and help preserve traditional crops and farmers are integral to selecting and protecting crop varieties most suitable to their environments and as custodians of their land,  but the seed is the raw material. The better the conservation of the seeds and seed biodiversity will lead to a better utilization of the biodiversity and vice versa.