Agroecology and the Struggle for Food Sovereignty ... - Yale University

iodiversity, conservation, and ecosystem services
131
Biodiversity, Conservation, and Ecosystem
Services
Report by Corrina Steward
This session addressed the linkages between biodiversity, conservation, and
ecosystem services. Participants discussed how to support and reward farmers who
create and/or conserve biodiversity. A point of contention was at what level – local,
national, and/or international – and by what mechanisms – markets, policies, and/or
regulations – should the nation-state and the global community assist farmers. At the
heart of the debate were varying definitions of biodiversity, the value placed on it by
diverse actors, and the question of who benefits from biodiversity and ecosystem
services.
Participants described how biodiversity and ecosystem services schemes play out
in their research, work, and home communities. One participant pointed out that the
value placed on biodiversity is not universal; rather, it depends on farming landscapes
and practices, social organization, and community values. For instance, Janette
Bulkan, a doctoral candidate at Yale University, explained that in Guyana agrobiodiversity
is strongly linked to identity, gender, and spiritual worldview: “Women
in Guyana share cassava varieties like daughters – it is a very personal relationship
involving kinship and place identity, cosmology.” John Lewis from ProNatura
described how agro-biodiversity projects, such as home gardens and carbon
sequestration projects, can be a form of economic development and conservation –
which he called “conservation co-management.”
Many participants raised concerns that the introduction of markets for conserving
biodiversity ignores farmers’ rights. John Tuxill, a doctoral candidate at Yale
University, asserted that many farming communities no longer control the
biodiversity with which they have worked traditionally. Liz Shapiro, a doctoral
candidate at the University of California-Berkeley, went further, saying that because
markets for ecosystem services exist and will continue to grow, “the key is that
communities maintain sovereignty over their ability to continue to use their
biodiversity and other resources.” Silvia Rodríguez from GRAIN explained that, in the
case of Costa Rica, the ecosystem services market is taking sovereignty away from
local communities and research scientists. She indicated that with each new
environmental service, buyers assume increasing priority over natural resources like
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