Rome -  Building on growing momentum to tackle environmental problems by addressing the ways in which our food and fiber are produced, the Global Environment Facility has approved 26 projects led by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. “To achieve the 2030 Agenda we need a healthy planet and healthy people. These projects will help countries conserve and use natural resources sustainably while providing nutritious diets and green and climate-resilient livelihoods and contribute to the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and the Paris agreement” said FAO Deputy Director-General Maria Helena Semedo, welcoming the greenlighting of the projects by the 64th  Council Session of the GEF, held in on 26 June in Brasilia. The projects total  $174.7 million in GEF funding and leverage $1.2 billion in co-financing.

QU Dongyu addresses meetings in Hyderabad on topics including food security and biodiversity.

Interview with the Director of FAO’s Fisheries and Aquaculture Division, Manuel Barange.
The term aquatic foods refers to the 3000 different species of fish, mollusks, crustaceans and algae that we catch, and over 650 species that we culture. According to the expert, it is a huge biodiversity that offers exceptional long-term food opportunities and renewable solutions, if managed properly. Furthermore, growing many of them has a much lower environmental impact than growing land-based animal production systems.

In its 18th Session, the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF18) convened from UN headquarters in New York from 8 to 12 May, with the FAO delegation at UNFF18 led by Zhimin Wu, Director of the FAO Forestry Division and Chair of the Collaborative Partnership on Forests (CPF).

Existing data suggests that only a small fraction of agricultural plastics is collected and recycled, while most are buried or landfilled, resulting in negative impacts to ecosystems, biodiversity and human health.

Biodiversity is the basis of life on Earth. We live biodiversity, we eat biodiversity and we are biodiversity. Without it, our world would be lifeless. The Earth's diverse ecosystems provide us with essential services, from clean air and water to food and medicine. In today's rapidly changing world, one of the most pressing challenges we face is the alarming loss of biodiversity.

The African Union Commission through its Directorate of Sustainable Environment and Blue Economy (SEBE) will organize the Africa, Caribbean and Pacific High Level Conference on the implementation of the Outcomes of the Fifteenth Conference of the Parties (CoP15) to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the Nineteenth Conference of the Parties (CoP19) to the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations on 22 May opened a two day series of events and immersive experiences, highlighting the key role of its programme of Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) in preserving biodiversity and livelihoods and strengthening the nexus between humans and the environment which nurtures us and produces our food.

Changing the fate of an extraordinary bee species for the benefit of all: FAO, the Moroccan government and local beekeepers are making it their mission to save the Saharan yellow bee whose importance to the region’s ecosystems and biodiversity cannot be understated.

Pollination is one of nature’s most important processes contributing to biodiversity. It helps us to produce a wide variety of plants many of which are also food crops. An estimated 90 percent of the world’s flowering plants depend on pollination for reproduction. And though often overlooked, bees and forest beekeeping also help sustain forest ecosystems as pollination helps the regeneration of trees which in turn helps to conserve forest biodiversity.

Amidst the vast expanse of Mongolia's high altitude Great Plateau, a remarkable story unfolds - one of endurance, adaptation, and unwavering resilience. The nation's unique livestock breeds are a symbol of pride and a vital backbone of the country's economy. Today, on this International Day for Biological Diversity, we celebrate not only Mongolia’s livestock diversity, but also the herders that have developed and maintained them for thousands of years.

Biodiversity includes organisms that can help farmers grow crops successfully, such as bees and birds that pollinate crops,  earthworms that keep soils healthy and microorganisms that are capable of acting as biological control agents. The indiscriminate and inappropriate use of pe...

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), with support from the European Union (EU), moved a collection of unique genetic samples from Kharkiv in the east of Ukraine to a safe location in the west of the country. At a time when the world is facing an unprecedented loss of agricultural biodiversity in farmers’ fields, it is more important than ever to ensure that crop diversity is safeguarded, including the diversity that is held in genebanks.

Brussels, Geneva and New York – The rethinking of food and agriculture and the necessary sector transformations we need moving forward must take into consideration the implementation of the closely interlinked climate change and biodiversity outcomes from COP27 and COP15, respectivel...

The high seas comprise nearly two-thirds of the world's ocean and are filled with a variety of fish species, which are essential for the ocean's biodiversity. They are part of flourishing ecosystems that regulate our climate, provide vital habitats for hundreds of thousands of species and support crucial fisheries.

But high seas ecosystems are facing new challenges: climate change, pollution, and unsustainable practices are threatening their fragile balance. Rising water temperatures are forcing many species to find new habitats, while unsustainable practices, such as overfishing, are impacting fish stocks and biodiversity.

"I have a duty to protect the forest, as it feeds me and my family," says Thomas.

The Ituri Forest, which Thomas Aseli speaks about with emotion, is located in the northeast of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and is a sacred place for the Mbuti Indigenous People. Within this spectacular rainforest is the Okapi Wildlife Reserve. It occupies about one-fifth of the forest and houses some of the richest wildlife in central Africa, including a large population of the reserve’s iconic okapi, also known as a forest giraffe. It is also home to more than 100 species of mammals, including several endangered species such as the forest elephant and the eastern chimpanzee.

Tuesday 28 February 2023

12:00-14:00

Wild plant genetic resources for food and agriculture: their conservation and sustainable use

This webinar is a follow up to the First International Multi-stakeholder Symposium on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture: Technical Consultation on in situ conservation and on-farm management of PGRFA, held in March 2021.  At this event, examples of the continuum of management practices for wild plant genetic resources for food and agriculture, from their conservation to use in breeding improved crop varieties, will be presented and discussed.

Two biodiverse agricultural and agroforestry systems, or chakras, in Ecuador - one in the Andes mountains and one in the country’s Amazon region - have won recognition as Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)....

8 February 2023 - Agrifood systems have the potential to make a significant contribution to the 2030 Agenda and more specifically to the conservation, sustainable use and restoration of biodiversity as stipulated in the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.