{"id":8621,"date":"2016-04-27T10:50:14","date_gmt":"2016-04-27T10:50:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/revoscience.com\/en\/?p=8621"},"modified":"2016-04-27T10:50:14","modified_gmt":"2016-04-27T10:50:14","slug":"tapping-into-asias-biodiversity-to-feed-a-hungry-region","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/tapping-into-asias-biodiversity-to-feed-a-hungry-region\/","title":{"rendered":"Tapping into Asia’s biodiversity to feed a hungry region"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Bangkok, Thailand–\u00a0<\/span>Scientists and government representatives are assessing\u00a0<\/span>opportunities to increase food security\u00a0<\/span>and nutrition\u00a0<\/span>by more closely examining the region\u2019s biodiversity\u00a0<\/span>and its links<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>to\u00a0<\/span>food production and agriculture<\/span>,\u00a0<\/span>a<\/span>n FAO<\/span>\u00a0regional consultation on biodiversity announced today.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The Asia region\u2019s\u00a0<\/span>agriculture, livestock, forestry and fisheries<\/span>produce food\u00a0<\/span>through an intricate and complex relationship<\/span>.<\/span>B<\/span>etter understanding these associations can help scientists and food producers improve food security<\/span>\u00a0and nutrition<\/span>\u00a0in a region that is expected to lead global population growth in coming decades.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>We need biodiversity<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>f<\/span>or food and agricultural production, including\u00a0<\/span>fibre<\/span>, fuel, fodder and much more. Associated biodiversity and ecosystem services also underpin ecosystem resilience, adaptation to climate change and sustainable livelihoods<\/span>,<\/span>\u201d\u00a0<\/span>sa<\/span>id<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Vili A. Fuavao<\/span>,\u00a0<\/span>Deputy Regional Representative<\/span>\u00a0of the<\/span>\u00a0FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The purpose of the consultation on the State of Biodiversity for Food and Agriculture in\u00a0<\/span>Asia<\/span>\u00a0is to assess the state of knowledge and the needs and priorities for its sustainable use and conservation.\u00a0<\/span>Represen<\/span>t<\/span>atives from 14 countries are participating in the<\/span>\u00a0consultation<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>It is\u00a0<\/span>part of a global assessment process under the aegis of the Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPrevious assessments have given us quite a clear picture of what we know and what we do not know about plant, animal, forest and aquatic genetic resources, in other words, the biodiversity that is of direct use to human beings, be it as food or plow horse,\u201d said Irene Hoffmann, Secretary of the Commission.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2017, FAO will launch the next edition of The State of World\u2019s Biodiversity for Food and Agriculture. The report will look at the contribution biodiversity makes to food security, livelihoods and environmental health.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis report is different\u00a0<\/span>from our previous assessments\u00a0<\/span>in that it will look at the diversity of micro-organisms, invertebrates, amphibians, reptiles, birds, plants and mammals that are found\u00a0<\/span>in and around food production systems and often contribute to the provision of important ecosystem services supporting food and agricultural production<\/span>,\u201d said Hoffmann<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>\u201c<\/span>I am confident that the report will improve our understanding of this hidden trea<\/span>sure, \u2018associated biodiversity\u2018<\/span><\/a>\u00a0that supports agriculture, livestock, forestry and fisheries.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Asia is home to<\/span>\u00a05 of\u00a0<\/span>the world\u2019s\u00a0<\/span>17 megadiverse countries<\/span>known to have the majority of the Earth\u2019s species and a high number of endemic species.\u00a0<\/span>The five\u00a0<\/span>Asian countries\u00a0<\/span>are China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The region also has a huge amount of wild foods, non-traditional and underused edible plants and animal species, a wide diversity of landscapes and production systems and rich\u00a0<\/span>traditional\u00a0<\/span>knowledge ab<\/span>out the use<\/span>\u00a0and maintenance of biodiversity for food and agriculture.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOf<\/span>\u00a0the more than 50 000 edible plant species in the world, only about 7 000 have been cultivated for consumption in human history. Most aquaculture produce comes from only about 200 species of the more than 175 000 species of fish, molluscs, crustaceans and aquatic plants living on this planet. A mere 35 or so animal species have been domesticated for use in agricultural and food production<\/span>,\u201d said Fuavao.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>In order to feed our growing population, we have to intensify agricultural production in a more sustainable manner. There is no way we can do it without agricultural biodiversity. Our mission is to maintain biodiv<\/span>ersity for food and agriculture,\u201d he added.<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Participants in the three-day consultation will discuss priorities for biodiversity for food and agriculture, related to monitoring and assessment, sustainable use and conservation, policies, institutions and capacity, and regional and international cooperation.<\/span>\u00a0this page.<\/span><\/p>\n

Source:\u00a0http:\/\/www.fao.org\/<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bangkok, Thailand– Scientists and government representatives are assessing opportunities to increase food security and nutrition by more closely examining the region\u2019s biodiversity and its links to food production and agriculture, an FAO regional consultation on biodiversity announced today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8625,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[62],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8621","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-agriculture"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/medium_4_image.jpeg",219,146,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/medium_4_image-150x146.jpeg",150,146,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/medium_4_image.jpeg",219,146,false],"medium_large":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/medium_4_image.jpeg",219,146,false],"large":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/medium_4_image.jpeg",219,146,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/medium_4_image.jpeg",219,146,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/medium_4_image.jpeg",219,146,false],"ultp_layout_landscape_large":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/medium_4_image.jpeg",219,146,false],"ultp_layout_landscape":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/medium_4_image.jpeg",219,146,false],"ultp_layout_portrait":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/medium_4_image.jpeg",219,146,false],"ultp_layout_square":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/medium_4_image.jpeg",219,146,false],"newspaper-x-single-post":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/medium_4_image.jpeg",219,146,false],"newspaper-x-recent-post-big":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/medium_4_image.jpeg",219,146,false],"newspaper-x-recent-post-list-image":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/medium_4_image.jpeg",95,63,false],"web-stories-poster-portrait":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/medium_4_image.jpeg",219,146,false],"web-stories-publisher-logo":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/medium_4_image.jpeg",96,64,false],"web-stories-thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/medium_4_image.jpeg",150,100,false]},"author_info":{"info":["RevoScience"]},"category_info":"Agriculture<\/a>","tag_info":"Agriculture","comment_count":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8621","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8621"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8621\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8625"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8621"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8621"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8621"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}