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DISCUSSION No. 149 • FSN Forum digest No. 1346
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Mainstreaming Biodiversity in Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry for improved Food Security and better Nutrition
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until 27 May 2018
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Dear Members,
We are happy to share with you the latest comments received for the online consultation
Mainstreaming Biodiversity in Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry for improved Food Security and better Nutrition.
Please read the summaries of the contributions below. You can access the full versions together with all background information
and the questions on the
FSN Forum's website, which is available also in
French and
Spanish.
We thank all contributors so far for their valuable input and invite you all to keep sharing your experience in this important
aspect of development work.
Please send us examples of cases where biodiversity is contributing to achieving food security and improved nutrition,
and where sustainable production systems have helped preserve biodiversity. We would also like to hear your views on the enabling environments that prompt farmers and institutions to adopt practices that take advantage of biodiversity while at the same time
protecting it.
To take part, post your comment online on the FSN
Forum or send it to [log in to unmask].
We look forward to your comments.
Your FSN Forum team
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CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED
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Adele
Muscolo, Mediterranea University, Reggio Calabria, Italy
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Adele shares information on a study in which she evaluated how different forest management practices influenced the quality
of soil in terms of ecosystem functioning.
Read
the contribution
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Rajasekaran
Murugan, University of Kassel, Germany
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Rajasekaran introduces his studies on the response of soil biodiversity and their ecosystem services to climate change
across temperate, Andean and tropical mountain soils.
Read
the contribution
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Lal
Manavado, University of Oslo, Norway
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Lal stresses the importance of coordinated action as it is uncertain whether enhanced biodiversity of an area could remain
sustainable when surrounded by places where it remains threatened.
He therefore urges to increase efforts to improve policy coherence and to meticulously assess the local contexts through
research and surveys.
Read
the contribution
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Galfato
Gabiso Gada, Hawassa University, Ethiopia
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Galfato shares a paper he co-authored, examining agro-biodiversity conservation at farm level in Boricha and Wondo Genet,
Ethiopia.
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the contribution
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Noel
Templer, Go Organic East Africa, Kenya
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Noel introduces "Go Organic East Africa", an organization training both farmers and students on sustainable organic production.
Read
the contribution
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Samuel
James, Maharishi University, United States of America
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Samuel argues that there is a fundamental conflict between maintaining soil macrofaunal biodiversity normally existing
in naturally-functioning ecosystems, and implementing any type of agriculture requiring a wholesale replacement of the vegetation. In doing so, he stresses the importance of earthworms for healthy ecosystems.
Read
the contribution
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Kanna
Siripurapu, Watershed Support Services and Activity Network (WASSAN), India
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Kanna shares examples of agro-ecological practices in India, such as backyard poultry rearing, the promotion of millet
farming in tribal areas, community-managed tank-based fisheries, etc.
Read
the contribution
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Aklilu
Nigussie, Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research, Ethiopia
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Aklilu focuses on his native Ethiopia warning about the dangers posed by increasing use of chemical fertilizers and by
demographic pressure to the diversified production systems traditionally used by smallholder farmers.
Read
the contribution
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Michael
Commons, Earth Net Foundation/ Agricultural Biodiversity Community, Thailand
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Michael shares first-hand experience of how agroecological methods have helped spur the return of the diverse flora and
fauna that live in healthy rice ecosystems.
He also mentions what is known as "Forest Gardening" or "Organic Agroforestry" , which has substantial impact on the
conservation of biodiversity of land-based systems in Sri Lanka.
As limiting factor to the success of ecological methods, he lists the lack of availability of appropriate technology
for working in biodiverse farming systems, which affects many small-scale farmers.
Read
the contribution
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Joseph
Ahenda, FAO, Somalia
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Joseph highlights the importance of below-ground biodiversity for maintaining the resilience of the soil ecosystem and
to sustain above-ground biodiversity and terrestrial ecosystems.
Read
the contribution
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Laura
Aldrich-Wolfe, North Dakota State University, United States of America
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Laura shares information about an experiment comparing fungal community composition and diversity in root systems of
coffee grown along the continuum from conventional to organic management at 25 sites in Costa Rica.
Preliminary results indicate that coffee farmed under shade and without large inputs of inorganic nitrogen fertilizer
hosts a more diverse fungal community with more fungi that have the potential to serve as biological controls for diseases of the coffee plant.
Read
the contribution
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