LINKING BIODIVERSITY PRESERVATION AND FOOD SECURITY

2. LINKING BIODIVERSITY PRESERVATIONAND FOOD SECURITY Prof. Dr. Muhammad Ashraf

3. CHALLENGES FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT Four of major global challenges identified by the UN are: Energy crisis Climate change Food insecurity Loss of biodiversity

4. 2010-2020: Decade of Biodiversity 2010: International Year of Biodiversity 2011: International Year of Forests INTERNATIONAL BIODIVERSITY SCENARIOS

5. US Congressional Biodiversity Act, 1990 The Congressional biodiversity mandate has expanded in recent years to include the. U.S. Department of Defense ("Legacy Resource Management Program”

6. WHAT IS BIODIVERSITY? The full range of variety and variability within and among living organisms and the ecological complexes in which they occur. It encompasses: Ecosystem or community diversity Species diversity Genetic diversity (US Congressional Biodiversity Act, 1990)

7. CURRENT STATUS OF BIODIVERSITY Approximately 250,000 to 300,000 are edible plant species Animals provide 30% of human requirements for food and agriculture More than 20,000 species are used for medicinal purposes Of the world’s 5,490 mammals, 78 are Extinct or Extinct in the Wild 188 Critically Endangered 540 Endangered 492 Vulnerable

8. IMPORTANCE OF BIODIVERSITY Essential role for providing food security: Cereals Pulses Vegetables Fruits Spices Medicines

9. CHALLENGES TO BIODIVERSITY Human population growth Pollution and diseases Habitat loss and degradation Introduction of invasive alien species Over-exploitation of natural resources Global climate change Energy crisis International trade of game species

10. BIODIVERSITY HOT SPOTS http://www.biologie.uni-hamburg.de/b-online/bonn/Biodiv_mapping/phytodiv.htm

11. HUMAN POPULATION IN BIODIVERSITY HOT SPOTS Cincotta, R.P., J. Wisnewski and R. Engelman. 1999. Human population in the biodiversity hotspots, Nature, 404: 990-992

12. WE ARE LOSING BIODIVERSITY AT ACCELERATED RATE!

13. CLIMATE CHANGE AND BIODIVERSITY Thuiller, W. 2007. Biodiversity: Climate change and the ecologist. Nature, 448: 550-552.

14. AGROBIODIVERSITY? “Agrobiodiversity is understood as a set of social construction of habitats and cultures together with agricultural systems containing diversity of species and landscapes, appears to become important in addressing issues such as food security and poverty reduction” (Valentina, 2010)

15. COMPONENTS OF AGROBIODIVERSITY http://www.fao.org/docrep/007/y5609e/y5609e01.htm

16. HUMAN DEPENDENCE ON BIODIVERSITY 75% of the world’s food generated from only 12 plant and 5 animal species Only three crops (rice, maize and wheat) contribute ~ 60% of calories and proteins obtained by humans from plants • FAO, 1999

17. GLOBAL CONSEQUENCES OF FOOD INSECURITY Every five seconds a child below ten years of age dies from hunger Every day 25,000 people die from hunger, or immediately-related causes Over one billion people are gravely or permanently undernourished

18. BIODIVERSITY AND FOOD SECURITY Rapid decline in biodiversity is a threat to food security through Introduction of exotic species Loss of gene pool Neglected/underutilized species Monocultures Biofuels

19. BIODIVERSITY AND FOOD SECURITY Since the 1900s, 75 % of plant genetic diversity has been lost as farmers have worldwide left their multiple local varieties and landraces for genetically uniform, high-yielding varieties These varieties require more water, high input of chemical fertilizers and pesticides which deteriorate the environment increased salinity increased waterlogging depletion of nutrients Use of few genetically modified varieties and breeds in monocultures has replaced well-adapted old cultivars 30 % of livestock breeds are at risk of extinction; six breeds are lost each month

20. INTRODUCED SPECIES/CROPS Introduced species rank second to habitat destruction in threatening the biodiversity They compete with native flora/fauna for resources and competitively exclude native species They rapidly invade valuable cultivated lands (Mesquite) Accompany new pests and weeds (Mealybug infestation) Retard seed germination and plant growth of native plants by releasing allelopathic chemicals (Eucalyptus & Parthenium)

21. INTRODUCED SPECIES/CROPS Mealybug Prosopis glandulosa Eucalyptus Mealybug infestation Parthenium

22. ANTHROPOGENIC THREATS Biodiversity is being eroded through: Soil mismanagement (erosion, pollution) Salinization of irrigated areas Dry-land degradation from overgrazing Over-extraction of ground water increasing susceptibility to diseases and pests Overgrazing Erosion Salinization Deep water-table Drought

23. MONOCULTURE VS POLYCULTURE A key component of maintenance of biodiversity is the introduction and maintenance of high genetic diversity in the fields Genetically different plants can complement each other using different resource niches (long-rooted and shallow rooted crops), thereby increasing overall resource use efficiency This idea leads to the hypothesis that the advantage of using crop diversity over using monocultures may increase along a gradient of increasing environmental variability In this regard, Döring et al. (2010) showed that the yield advantage of diverse populations over monocultures was particularly prevalent under stress conditions, i.e. when the environment affects yields negatively

24. MONOCULTURE VS POLYCULTURE http://www.efrc.com/manage/authincludes/article_uploads/Research/Plant breeding/WBL web.pdf

25. Polyculture: Food Activists Poised for Fight Socioeconomic Liberty, Wellness, Justice and Prosperity Karen Hansen, Feb 6, 2010

26. EROSION OF GENETIC RESOURCES Results when: modern varieties displace traditional ones minor and underutilized crops are neglected Triticum durum + Triticum aestivum Triticum dicoccoides X Triticum spelta Triticum Emmer + Triticum dicoccon + Triticum tauschii X Triticum speltoides

27. NEGLECTED AND UNDERUTILIZED SPECIES The ignorance of cultivation of underutilized (i.e. millets and sorghum) and neglected species (finger millet) also classified as 'minor crops‘ is also a cause for the considerable erosion of biodiversity Pearl millet Finger millet Sorghum

28. BIOFUELS AND FOOD SECURITY Currently, biofuels have been praised as a solution to energy insecurity and climate change Increased conversion of agricultural commodities to biofuels plays a key role in increasing international food prices (United Nations, 2007) Approximately 70-75% of the increase in food commodity prices from 2002 to 2008 was mainly due to biofuels (World Bank ) Subsidies and other fiscal tools aimed at promoting the use of biofuels, have decisively contributed to a rising demand for sugar, maize, wheat, oilseeds, and palm oil A food/fuel competition could be observed as global wheat and maize stocks are declining considerably

29. BIOFUELS AND FOOD SECURITY http://www.thebioenergysite.com/articles/200/eu-and-uks-progress-to-biofuel-introduction

30. IN SITU CONSERVATION OF BIODIVERSITY Conservation of biodiversity in the natural habitat of a species in the form of: Living collections Germplasm banks (in the form of seeds, embryos, in vitro tissues, cells, tissue culture seedlings, or DNA clones)

31. EX SITU CONSERVATION OF BIODIVERSITY It seems difficult to conserve some species in their natural environment then it becomes necessary to protect them in the form of ex situ conservation by establishing: Botanical gardens and Germplasm nurseries

32. GERMPLASM RESOURCES

33. BOTANICAL GARDENS The history of botanic gardens can be traced as far back as the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, built by Nebuchadnezzar in 570 BC as a gift to his wife. Early botanic gardens were designed mainly for the purpose of recreation. By the 16th Century, however, they had also become important centers for research. They promoted the study of taxonomy and became a focal point for the study of aromatic and medicinal plants. Recently, they have taken on significant conservation responsibilities by establishing seed banks and tissue culture units.

34. BOTANICAL GARDENS Now more than 2000 botanic gardens are known around the world in over 150 countries They maintain more than 6 million accessions in their living collections and 142 million herbaria specimens. Botanical gardens conservation could be considered as field gene bank or seed gene bank or both, depending on the conservation method being used. Karachi University has established a superb botanical garden a few years ago

35. FIRSRT CENTER FOR BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION IN PAKISTAN Established at Shah Abdul Latif University, Khairpur, Sindh, Pakistan on December 24, 2009 The Centre includes three divisions: 1. Floristic Diversity Division 2. Faunistic Diversity Division 3. Environmental Science Division

36. SAVING MANGROVE FORESTS DAWN Lahore, Friday, February 11, 2011

37. Over 30% mangrove forests in the world have already gone

38. CONSERVATION OF WETLANDS DAWN Lahore, Wednesday, February 9, 2011

39. WHAT CAN BE DONE? Promotion of polyculture along with monoculture Promotion of awareness about the importance of biodiversity Changes in the attitude of scientists, students, teachers and general public towards biodiversity Government policies also need to be redesigned for practically effective conservation of biodiversity Subsidies to farmers for the cultivation of old neglected, underutilized and old crop cultivars Promotion of research relating to evaluation of national germplasm of cultivated crops to maintain their viability Establishment of gene banks of cultivated crops at regional level

40. IN WHAT FUTURE WE WILL BE LIVING? OR WITH WITH

41. We do not inherit earth from our ancestors, we have just borrowed it from our children - Native American Proverb

42. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Endowment Fund, UAF, for providing necessary funds to conduct this workshop