“Agriculture and biodiversity are inseparable,” says Friedhelm Schmider, Director General of the European Crop Protection Association (ECPA). “However, it’s often overlooked that the greatest threat to biodiversity occurs through the loss of habitat due to the expansion of farmland and that pressure is going to increase as the population grows. The best solution is to sustainably increase food production on land presently under cultivation and resist the age-old response: expand the farm base. We need more food not more farmland, and that will require innovating and integrating the discoveries of science and technology more effectively into agriculture and agricultural policies.”
ECPA joins the celebration of International Day for Biological Diversity, highlighting the close relationship between biodiversity and productive agriculture.
Schmider referred to the threat to biodiversity presented by the rising world demand for food which is expected to increase 70% by 2050. “We are up against a critical challenge: how do we strike a healthy balance between increasing food production and maintaining wildlife biodiversity? Do we bring uncultivated land, wherever it might be, into production to provide the necessary increase in Europe’s food supply? Or, do we sustainably increase food production on land already cultivated, utilizing appropriate environmental stewardship methods including soil protection, good water management, and the safe use of pesticides; at the same time, instituting measures to promote biodiversity on non-farm habitat areas?
“Once the facts are known, I don’t think there’s any argument about which choice is best: avoid putting more land under cultivation anywhere and focus on sustainable agricultural practices to increase productivity.”
Schmider pointed to recent studies which backed this assertion: one from the Humboldt[1] Institute which demonstrated that reducing productivity in Europe will lead to expansion of land dedicated to our food needs in the developing world, further threatening rainforests and other habitat; and a study of species population effects from the University of Leeds[2] (UK) which stressed the importance of addressing the big picture when setting agricultural policies to minimize biodiversity losses.
“The Leeds study demonstrates that the best way to preserve biodiversity is to prevent encroachment on wild habitat by using the most productive agricultural methods and thereby minimizing the expansion of farmland. The Humboldt study shows that Europe will accelerate the destruction of biodiversity-rich habitat if it reduces productivity on European farms because elsewhere in the world farmland will expand to meet EU needs.
“Coupling this global perspective with technological innovation and training farmers to use technology sustainably is the winning combination... and not just for our own species!”
Source: ECPA
