- Diversity is vital
- Beauty in jeopardy
- Ecological services
- What destroys biodiversity?
- The human manipulator
- Dialogue for Sustainability
- Changing Course
Dialogue for Sustainability
Can we find a way to use the biological resources of our planet in such a manner that they regenerate and continue to be useful for future generations?
One of the most important ways of trying to maintain ecosystem goods and services for future generations is to ensure that components of biodiversity are used sustainably. We need to assess and manage the pressures generated by our resource use on forest and aquatic resources, agriculture (including horticulture), and pastures.
Around the world, but particularly in developing and newly industrialising countries, communities living in close contact with nature maintain centuries-old traditions of sustainable use: shifting cultivation in the Amazon region uses small gaps in the forest, which close again after a few years. Cultural taboos prevent people from taking more animals than can regenerate.
Other techniques have been forgotten and are being rediscovered only slowly. However, we can learn a lot from these forgotten practices. Thus we need to record and conserve the traditional knowledge and practices of indigenous and local communities that contribute to conserving and using the biological and genetic resources of our world in a sustainable manner.
New technologies also give us ever broader options to make more efficient use of natural resources. Satellite-generated GPS data, for instance, now help farmers around the world to apply fertilisers and irrigation with the utmost precision.
Living in an integrated society
Such practices can be integrated into comprehensive strategies for sustainable management and the conservation of biodiversity. But patterns of production and consumption that are sustainable over the long term can only emerge as a result of a dialogue between all stakeholders.
Where trade brings us goods from afar, the way they are produced harbours opportunities and risks for sustainable development. Biodiversity is of immense economic value, yet the current functioning of market economies often favours activities which damage ecosystems, and reduce their longterm capacity to sustain livelihoods. This is because individuals that profit from a new activity very rarely have to bear the costs associated with the loss of ecosystem services. Where direct comparisons have been made, the total value to society of managing existing ecosystems sustainably has been found to be far greater than if converting them to alternative uses.
Exploring trade and development opportunities therefore requires that all governments, companies and consumers are prepared to integrate the true value of ecosystems into production, consumption and market prices. In Ecuador, for instance, it has proven possible to preserve biodiversity – thanks to resource-conserving production methods – by means of linking up small cocoa farmers with lucrative niche markets in industrialised countries for high-grade chocolate specialities, fair trade products or organic cocoa produce.
High-grade cocoa
Cocoa is one of the raw materials most traded on the world market. Of all the high-quality cocoa, 60% is cultivated in Ecuador, mostly by smallholder families in sustainable multi-storey cropping systems, which make a key contribution to preserving biodiversity. However, because of the susceptibility of highquality cocoa to disease, low yields and low prices, producers are increasingly tending to crossbreed with lesser-quality varieties, which can be cultivated in plantation systems. Compared to multi-storey cropping with its reduced environmental impact, these systems present a threat to the forests.
The goals of the German Technical Cooperation (GTZ) intervention are to boost the incomes of smallholder cocoa producers through improved market access, to reduce pressure on natural resources and to preserve biodiversity. Integrated within the national export promotion programme and within the national agricultural strategy, GTZ takes an approach based on enhancing the value chain. This involves shortening the supply chain between producer and final product, thus generating more profit for the producing smallholders.
The figures show that enhanced incomes are linked directly to sustainable production methods: the graph shows the growth in area managed by certified organic cropping methods in the project area in Ecuador, in relation to the rise in incomes. So far 10,300 farmers have been reached by the project of which 4,400 have a direct market relationship.
Cooperation with the private sector is an important strategic element. This means not only partnerships between development institutions and domestic and European firms, but also – and above all – the involvement of private-sector stakeholders and bodies in practically all promotion activities.
Sustainable resource management is best achieved through joint efforts between rich and poor.