Ecoagriculture: Integrating Agriculture and Biodiversity Conservation A Landscape Perspective

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Ecoagriculture Integrating Agriculture and
Biodiversity Conservation A Landscape
Perspective

• Sara J. Scherr
• President, Ecoagriculture Partners
• Biodiversity Conservation in Agriculture
  Symposium
• Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
• May 31, 2006

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Managing and Conserving Biodiversity Our
Natural Infrastructure
Watershed protection and regulation
Wild species habitat protection
Plant pollination
Carbon sequestration and storage Soil formation
and fertility
Decomposition of wastes Landscape
beauty
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Importance of Agricultural Landscapes for
Biodiversity Conservation
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Population in Global Biodiversity Hotspots
Population in Global Biodiversity Hotspots
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Dominance of Agricultural Land Use in Major
Habitat Types
Our Vision
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Importance of Biodiversity for Agricultural
Communities
Our Vision

• Direct consumption of wild foods, medicines and
  fuel (and safety net)
• Farm inputs wild spp as fodder, fertilizer,
  packaging, fencing
• Income from sale of wildlife, ecosystem services
• Crop/stock genetic diversity
• Local ecosystem services water, pollination,
  soil fertility, pest disease control, nutrient
  cycling

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Future Trends in Agricultural Landscapes The
Urgency of Integrated Action

• Agriculture is a key element of rural food
  security and poverty reduction (UN
  Millennium Project)
• Agricultural product demand is growing
• 50-100 ? LDC food demand by 2030
• Ecological degradation threatens agricultural
  productivity, livelihoods, health and assets of
  the poor (Millennium Assessment)

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Example of the Challenge Lake Victoria
Basin, E. Africa
Our Vision
Agricultural Lands and Habitat
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Strategic Partnerships Required Between
Conservationists and Farm Communities

• Producers in, around linking PAs
• Agricultural regions that are key providers of
• for biodiversity and ecosystem services
• Degraded areas where ecosystem restoration
• is essential for both biodiversity
  production
• Agriculture in and around urban areas

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Ecoagriculture
Our Vision
Agricultural landscapes where farms and natural
areas are managed to enhance rural livelihoods
and sustainable agricultural production (of
crops, livestock, fish and forest), while
conserving or restoring ecosystem services and
biodiversity.
Putting food security at the heart of
conservation Putting conservation at the
heart of food security
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Motivations of Farmers and Communities Who Engage
in Ecoagriculture

• Reduce production costs, raise or
• stabilize yields, improve quality
• 2) Conserve biodiversity critical to
• their own livelihoods
• 3) Access product markets seeking
• biodiversity-friendly sources
• 4) Earn payments for ecosystem
• services
• 5) Comply with env. regulations
• 6) Protect rights to farm/herd/harvest wild
  products in PAs
• 7) To reduce conflicts with other groups in the
  landscape
• 8) Protect important cultural, spiritual or
  aesthetic values

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Developing and Managing an Ecoagriculture
Landscape
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Inter-Dependence of Agriculture,
Ecosystems and Livelihoods
Our Vision
Wild biodiversity
Some ecosystem processes and functions help to
maintain wild biodiversity.
Conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem
services

• Ecosystem process function, such as
• Primary production
• Decomposition
• Nutrient cycling
• Gene flow evolutionary processes
• Hydrology

Some ecosystem processes and functions benefit
humans directly. These are ecosystem services.
Ecosystem services

• Beneficial services within landscape, such as
• Pollination
• Pest control
• Soil fertility
• Water quality

• Beneficial services outside landscape, such as
• Carbon sequestration
• Flood protection
• Habitat for valued species

• Community and household-level benefits such as
• Protection of natural capital
• Wild foods, fuel, medicines
• Compensation payments for ecosystem
  services

Sustainable agricultural production
Sustainable livelihoods
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What Wild Species Need in Agricultural Landscapes

• Nesting sites undisturbed areas
• Protective cover diverse perennial cover
• Adequate, clean water few pollutants, source
• flow/recharge, water access
• Access to territory functional corridors
• All-season food access diverse food sources
• Predator-prey balance diversity, protection
• Interdependent species patches of natural
• vegetation, avoid unnecessary disturbance
• How can agricultural landscapes provide these
  features, while increasing production?

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Science Supporting Ecoagriculture

• Scientific advances in agroecology, wildlife
  biology, molecular biology, genetics, hydrology
• New research techniques (e.g., remote sensing,
  systems modeling, biochemical markers)
• New tools for ecosystem and landscape analysis
• Improved methods for on-farm and landscape-scale
  action research
• New tools to assist multi-stakeholder diagnosis,
  negotiation, planning and assessment

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Emerging Principles 1 Terrestrial Habitats

• Maintain natural vegetation with adequate
• patch size and connectivity (depends on
  sinks,
• ecological traps, location, configuration,
  edge
• effects, boundary zones, ecological
• compatibility of production areas)
• Protect natural fragments that serve as critical
  
• habitat on/off farm from anthropic disturbance
• Retain tree cover on farms for connectivity
• Harvest wild products from natural habitats
• using low-impact, sustainable methods
• Ensure farmers and communities benefit from
• stewardship of conserved areas

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Emerging Principles 2 Freshwater Habitats

• Maintain or restore native vegetation buffers
• (in US- width of 25 meters for nutrient and
  pollutant removal 30 m for
• microclimate regulation and sediment removal
  50 m for detrital input and
• bank stabilization over 100 m for wildlife
  habitat functions)
• Protect wetlands and maintain critical function
• zone in natural vegetation (In US- at least 10
  of watershed
• and 6 of any sub-watershed)
• Re-establish hydrological connectivity natural
  
• patterns of aquatic ecosystems (incl.
  flooding)
• Protect watersheds with spatial configuration of
  
• perennial natural, planted vegetation
• Maintain continuous year-round soil cover to
• enhance rainfall infiltration

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Emerging Principles 3 Ecologically
Compatible Agricultural Production
Intensification without Simplification

• Reduce agricultural pollution
• Manage pests, diseases, nutrients using
  ecological principles
• Minimize run-off of toxic chemicals, nutrients
  and wastes
• Ecologically manage soil,water,natural vegetation
• Maintain biologically healthy soils, and
  year-round soil cover
• Time operations to minimize disturbance to wild
  species
• Manage irrigation systems to save water for
  wildlife
• Use crop mixtures and configurations that mimic
• the structure and function of natural habitats
• Ensure diverse crop mix at a landscape scale
• Ensure diverse mix of varieties/breeds at a
  landscape scale
• Use mix of annual and perennial crops that mimic
  natural vegetation
• Maintain diverse land use mosaic
• Improve productivity to free other areas of the
  farm or landscape for nature protection

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Emerging Principles 4 Achieving Positive
Synergies for Agricultural Production

• Increase input efficiency
• Enhance biological and
• ecological synergies
• Improve spatial
• organization of land use
• Manage wild species to
• benefit farming
• Economies of scale through collective action
• Substitute natural capital for financial capital

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Building on Traditional Production
Systems Multi-Species Agroforests in Indonesia

• Benefits- 70-90 of species
• of natural forests
• 4 million ha in Indonesia
• - Many commercial spp
• Mosaic with rice
• 2 billion value of
• rubber agroforests alone

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Building on Industrial Production
Systems Biodiversity and Wine Initiative, S.
Africa

• Benefits
• No loss of habitat
• Ecologically compatible practices
• Reduced cash costs
• Link to market brands and
• agri-tourism

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Institutional Challenges to Implement
Ecoagriculture

• Collective action within communities
• Multi-stakeholder landscape forums
• Cross-sectoral knowledge-sharing and research
• Marketing chains for biodiverse products
• Institutions developed for PES
• Coordinated agriculture-conservation policy
• Supportive tenure systems for farmland and PAs

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Building Ecoagriculture Communities of Practice
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1) Understand How Ecoagriculture Works

• Document Cases of Ecoagriculture
• Monitor Ecoagriculture Landscapes
• Mobilize Ecoagriculture Research

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2) Promote Learning Among Ecoagriculture
Innovators

• Community Ecoagriculture Knowledge Service
• Ecoagriculture Leadership Course
• Ecoagriculture Working Groups

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3) Promote Policies and Markets that Support
Ecoagriculture

• Intl and National Policies
• Incorporate Ecoagriculture
• (incl. MDGs, MEAs)
• Product Market
• Innovations
• Payments for Ecosystem
• Services in Ecoagriculture
• Landscapes

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Thank you! For more information..
www.ecoagriculture.org