The FAO Biodiversity Knowledge Hub provides access to biodiversity-related resources developed by FAO. The aim is to strengthen countries’ capacity to mainstream biodiversity in agrifood sectors, implement the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals and achieve food security for all.

Can investing in people and nature effectively combat climate change? Absolutely! A sustainably managed forest generates multiple returns for people and the environment. Here's how deforestation-free cocoa and yerba mate help mitigate climate change, conserve Indigenous Peoples' knowledge, boost incomes and protect forests...

The potato, an important crop that is consumed by over one billion people around the world, will be celebrated on 30 May 2024, the first-ever International Day of Potato. The theme will be: ‘Harvesting diversity, feeding hope’. The theme underscores the fact that with over 5 000 improved varieties, and farmers’ varieties/landraces of the crop, there are ample choices for the needs of diverse production systems, culinary preferences and industrial applications.

On 29 April 2024, a virtual event, co-organized with the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, will be held to raise awareness of the contribution of farmers’ varieties and landraces to food security and nutrition, highlight relevant initiatives and facilitate knowledge exchange among diverse stakeholders on their conservation and sustainable use.

Transforming our agrifood systems to make them more efficient, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable is key to addressing the triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution. This was the overarching message from the Deputy Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Maria Helena Semedo, in a series of events during the sixth session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) and the Second Quadripartite Executive Annual Meeting.

Sayad village is one of the most ancient settlements nestled on the Caspian Sea coast of Azerbaijan’s Khachmaz district. It’s long been famous for its numerous varieties of succulent tomatoes thanks to the farmers’ careful cultivation of the crop and the sunny climate. But something new and transformative is happening. Farmers are reviving and building on their region’s traditional agricultural techniques, such as crop rotation, with the help of training and support from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the European Union.

“We go to look for oysters in the mangroves to feed our families and for business. This is how I make a living. If I work for two to three days, I can earn money to cover my expenses,” says Fatou Sarr, President of the Women Transformers Group of Diamniadio, a cooperative and producers’ organization that supports small-scale oyster producers.

It is around five in the morning, and the Imataca Forest Reserve is stirring with the voices of Kariña women. They advance towards the middle of the jungle, bound for the Botanamo river to gather the day’s water. Then, these indigenous women will prepare “casabe”, a circular tortilla made from cassava flour, to accompany what other members of the tribe have brought in from the hunt. After breakfast they turn to their main task of the day: managing and conserving the forest.

Scientists say that these next ten years will count the most in the fight against climate change and biodiversity loss. 2021 marks the start of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, and this is our opportunity to turn the tide to prevent, halt and reverse degradation of ecosystems worldwide.

Picture patches of tropical, dry forest separated by agricultural land stretched across the surface of six countries at the heart of the American continent. This is the Central American Dry Corridor, a 1 600-kilometre-long expanse through Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama – home to 11.5 million rural people, who largely depend on agriculture for their livelihoods.

Agriculture has been around for more than 10 000 years. In that time, it has not only given us food, shelter, and livelihoods, but also knowledge, traditions, innovations and ecosystem services. However, with many ecosystems pushed beyond their capacity, agriculture now needs to provide all these benefits – and more – while being more responsive to the environment.

At 52 years old, through a marriage and the birth of seven children, Dandakoye has witnessed devastating changes to the land around his village of Sakey Kouara Tegui. Situated in the western region of Niger, Dandakoye’s village is nestled in the watershed of the Gorou Tayya plateau in the urban commune of Kollo.

Biodiversity constitutes an essential element in our global ecosystems and provides the foundation for agricultural practices and food production. It is essential to our well-being and food security, but it is often threatened by our activities. In some places, however, farmers have learned to work in harmony with the environment and use knowledge passed down over centuries to implement sustainable practices and protect the biodiversity in their surrounding ecosystems. These farmers and rural communities have envisaged and implemented ingenious ways to conserve, preserve and sustainably use biodiversity while safeguarding their livelihoods and the unique landscapes in which they live.

"It eats everything, leaves nothing and reproduces very quickly," laments Mouradh, a fisherman from the Tunisian islands of Kerkennah. For the country’s fishers, the blue crabs that were being hauled out of the water, tangled up in their broken nets, were a disaster.

Romeo Mikičić has been fishing in the azure waters of the Adriatic Sea for more than 40 years.The father of two is passionate about the sea and comes from generations of fishers who lived on the island of Cres, one of more than a thousand islands in the Republic of Croatia that depend on fishing.

Huamani Cardenas lives in Lima, but is originally from Conayca, a rural town of roughly 1 300 people in the central highlands of Peru. When he received a delivery of fresh food from his hometown, he was thrilled. “I sincerely thank the authorities of Conayca for thinking of us,” he wrote in a social media group for young Conaycans living in Lima.

Maia Diagne’s eyes fill with emotion as she describes the lifelong bond she feels with the water lilies that grew in large quantities in her part of Senegal. "I was born in the middle of the water lilies, in a pirogue [a small boat] while my mother was on her way to the Djoudj National Bird Park to harvest them."

Join FAO in marking the International Day of Forests on 21 March with a livestreamed event from FAO HQ in Rome to find out about some of the outstanding innovations that are helping to protect forests and unlock the many benefits they bring. New solutions are transforming forestry, allowing more accurate mapping and monitoring, empowering Indigenous Peoples to be the guardians of forests, promoting ecosystem restoration and driving the development of more sustainable wood and forest products.

FAO and UN Environment Programme have named seven initiatives from Africa, Latin America, the Mediterranean and Southeast Asia as UN World Restoration Flagships under the UN Decade of Ecosystem Restoration. UN World Restoration Flagships are chosen as the best examples of ongoing, large-scale and long-term ecosystem restoration by the Task Forces for Science and Best Practices of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration and approved by its Executive Board.

You are kindly invited to join the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the Society for Ecological Restoration (SER), and IUCN’s Commission on Ecosystem Management for the official launch of Standards of practice to guide ecosystem restoration: A contribution to the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration 2021–2030 on 6 and 8 March 2024. These Standards of Practice have been developed to serve as a universal framework for all forms of restorative efforts during the UN Decade, ranging from minimizing societal impacts to advancing ecological restoration.