During the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg, South Africa, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and United Nations launched a Global Partnership Initiative on conservation and adaptive management of Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS). The goal of the initiative is: to identify and safeguard GIAHS and their associated landscapes, agricultural biodiversity and knowledge systems through catalyzing and establishing a long-term programme to support such systems and enhance global, national and local benefits derived through their dynamic conservation, sustainable management and enhanced viability.