LINKING BIODIVERSITY
PRESERVATION
AND FOOD SECURITY
Prof. Dr. Muhammad Ashraf
CHALLENGES FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
 Four of major global challenges identified by the UN are:
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Energy crisis
Climate change
Food insecurity
Loss of biodiversity
INTERNATIONAL BIODIVERSITY SCENARIOS
 2010-2020: Decade of Biodiversity
 2010: International Year of Biodiversity
 2011: International Year of Forests
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”
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)
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,
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78 are Extinct or Extinct in the Wild
188 Critically Endangered
540 Endangered
492 Vulnerable
IMPORTANCE OF BIODIVERSITY
 Essential role for providing food security:
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Cereals
Pulses
Vegetables
Fruits
Spices
Medicines
CHALLENGES TO BIODIVERSITY
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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
BIODIVERSITY HOT SPOTS
http://www.biologie.uni-hamburg.de/b-online/bonn/Biodiv_mapping/phytodiv.htm
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
WE ARE LOSING BIODIVERSITY AT ACCELERATED
RATE!
CLIMATE CHANGE AND BIODIVERSITY
Thuiller, W. 2007. Biodiversity: Climate change and the ecologist. Nature, 448: 550-552.
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)
COMPONENTS OF AGROBIODIVERSITY
http://www.fao.org/docrep/007/y5609e/y5609e01.htm
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
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 immediatelyrelated causes
 Over one billion people are gravely or permanently
undernourished
BIODIVERSITY AND FOOD SECURITY
 Rapid decline in biodiversity is a threat to food security
through
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Introduction of exotic species
Loss of gene pool
Neglected/underutilized species
Monocultures
Biofuels
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
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)
INTRODUCED SPECIES/CROPS
Mealybug
Prosopis glandulosa
Eucalyptus
Mealybug infestation
Parthenium
ANTHROPOGENIC THREATS
 Biodiversity is being eroded through:
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Soil mismanagement (erosion, pollution)
Salinization of irrigated areas
Dry-land degradation from overgrazing
Over-extraction of ground water
increasing susceptibility to diseases and pests
Erosion
Salinization
Drought
Deep water-table
Overgrazing
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
MONOCULTURE VS POLYCULTURE
http://www.efrc.com/manage/authincludes/article_uploads/Research/Plant breeding/WBL web.pdf
Polyculture: Food Activists Poised for Fight
Socioeconomic Liberty, Wellness, Justice and Prosperity
Karen Hansen, Feb 6, 2010
EROSION OF GENETIC RESOURCES
 Results when:
– modern varieties displace traditional ones
– minor and underutilized crops are neglected
Triticum dicoccoides X Triticum spelta
Triticum durum + Triticum aestivum
Triticum Emmer + Triticum dicoccon + Triticum tauschii X Triticum speltoides
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
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
BIOFUELS AND FOOD SECURITY
http://www.thebioenergysite.com/articles/200/eu-and-uks-progress-to-biofuel-introduction
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)
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
GERMPLASM RESOURCES
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.
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
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
SAVING MANGROVE FORESTS
DAWN Lahore, Friday, February 11, 2011
Over 30% mangrove forests in the
world have already gone
CONSERVATION OF WETLANDS
DAWN Lahore, Wednesday, February 9, 2011
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
IN WHAT FUTURE WE WILL BE LIVING?
WITH
OR
WITH
We do not inherit earth from our ancestors, we have just
borrowed it from our children - Native American Proverb
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
 Endowment Fund, UAF, for providing necessary funds to
conduct this workshop