Forest edge in southern Mexico
While we confront biological diversity (consciously or not) every day, today is the office International Day for Biological Diversity, and this year the theme is forests! Unfortunately, the United States is not a signatory to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), and thus you may not have heard too much on the topic.
First, what is biological diversity? According to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), biodiversity is "
As food and nourishment is such an component to life, agrobiodiversity attracts particularly strong interest from the science and development communities (FAO). This subset of biodiversity is actively managed by farmers, constitutes products for human consumption as well as the systems on which these rely, and is entangled in culture and tradition. Diversity within our agroecological systems is critical for adaptation and long-term viability of agriculture. It provides a base for research into new varieties - drought-tolerant, pest and disease-resistant, higher yielding, etc. - and allows farmers not to put all their eggs in one basket, so to speak (IUCN).
Finally, let's talk forest agrobiodiversity. The Platform for Agrobiodiversity Research (PAR) emphasize how critical forest products, including food, to our day-to-day survival. Even beyond smallholder farmers who combine small scale cultivation with utilizing the diversity within a forest - from food (tree fruit, nuts, etc.), to fuel (wood), to medicines - forest ecosystem functioning (largely as a product of maintaining biodiversity...) provides services essential to food cultivation such as water filtration, pollination (see bees), and micro-climate regulation. So if you want something concrete to think about for forest diversity, dwell on your coffee, chocolate, mangos, cashews, bananas, etc. But you can also view the role of forest diversity on a deeper level as being integral to sustaining life on this planet.
Next post I propose to talk more about food and less about agriculture! Stay tuned for PB Cake Pops and Ruby Rhubarb Cake!