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Convention on Biological DiversityPlant Conservation Report Page 22TARGET 6 :AT LEAST 30 % OF PRODUCTION LANDS MANAGEDCONSISTENT WITH THE CONSERVATION OF PLANT DIVERSITYIntroductionIn the context of this target, ‘production lands’refer to lands where the primary purposeis agriculture (including horticulture),grazing and wood production. Diversity in aproduction system can be used as a resource tomediate potential stresses of the surroundingenvironment. For example, a crop populationwith a diverse genetic makeup may have a lowerrisk of being entirely lost to any particular stress,such as temperature extremes, droughts, loods,pests, and other environmental variables.Furthermore, conserving and harnessingbiodiversity can provide additional beneits tofarmers, such as the presence of a diversity ofpollinators, including bees, butterlies, hummingbirds and bats.under sustainable management”. This indicatorcould eventually be used as a proxy for assessingprogress towards implementing Target 6 at theglobal level. In addition, at the 6th meeting of theUnited Nations Forum on Forests, four global goalson forests were agreed. Among these, goal 3 isdirectly relevant to this target (and to sustainableforest management) “Increase signiicantly thearea of protected forests worldwide and the areaof sustainably managed forests and increase theproportion of forest products from sustainablymanaged forests.”It should be noted that implementation of thistarget is closely linked to the programme ofwork on agricultural biodiversity. Noting too thatsustainable management of production lands hasconsequences on reduction of poverty, improvedlivelihoods, the development of national targetslinked to Target 6 will likewise enhance theachievement of Millennium Development Goalsand of targets set under other multilateralagreements.Coastal forest and the challenge of urbanization in LatinAmerica (Photo: Peter Wyse Jackson).This target incorporates a number of objectives,including the on-farm conservation of cropdiversity (landraces, traditional varieties), theconservation of threatened wild plants growingon production lands and the prevention of impactson plant diversity in surrounding ecosystems.Measures taken at the national level to implementthis target include: use of good agriculturepractices, good forestry practices and nationalcertiication schemes.ProgressIndicators to assess progress towards the 2010biodiversity target include the indicator on “Areaof forest, agricultural and aquaculture ecosystemsIncreasingly, integrated production methods arebeing applied in agriculture, including integratedpest management, conservation agriculture andon-farm management of plant genetic resources.Similarly, sustainable forest management practicesare being more broadly applied. The 2005 GlobalForest Resources Assessment 27 showed that11% of total forest area is designated primarilyfor the conservation of biological diversity while65% of the total forest area has conservation ofbiodiversity as one of the designated functions.The Forest Stewardship Council's (FSC) 28Principles and Criteria for responsible forestmanagement, address environmental impact oflogging activities and require the maintenance ofHigh Conservation Value Forests. FSC has certiiedmore than 100 million hectares of forest in 70countries, and other national forest certiicationschemes have been developed in over 35 countries.Although a comprehensive analysis of the overallimpact of certiication is lacking, positive effectson biodiversity and the increased use of reducedimpact practices can be seen within individualcertiied forest management units. However,the main beneits of certiication continue tobe seen in the management of northern forests27 http://www.fao.org/forestry/site/fra/en/28 http://www.fsc.org/en/
and certiication has been a less effective toolin tackling the crisis of forest destruction anddegradation in tropical forests.Increasing concern over the environmentalimpact of agriculture in Europe has led to theintroduction of agri-environment schemes. Theseschemes compensate farmers inancially for anyloss of income associated with measures thataim to beneit the environment and biodiversity.There are currently agri-environment schemesin 26 out of 44 European countries. In addition, arecent study shows that over 30 million hectaresare currently certiied according to organicstandards 29 .Over the last ten years Bioversity Internationalhas worked with institutions and farmers ineight countries on over 20 different crops toexplore the maintenance of traditional varietiesin crop production systems. This has resulted inthe identiication of many practices and policiesthat can support the maintenance of diversityin production lands and will provide one of theirst global overviews of the maintenance of cropdiversity in different countries and ecosystems.The Food and Agriculture Organization of theUnited Nations helps member countries toachieve sustainable increases in production ofcrops and grasslands through, amongst others, thedevelopment of integrated production systems,and rational grassland management.agri-environment schemes and the organicproduction sector is expanding rapidly, thereare questions concerning the extent to whichplant diversity speciications are incorporatedwithin such schemes. It is believed that a betterunderstanding of plant conservation needs by theagriculture and forestry sectors would help theachievement of this target.Bioversity International and the CommunityWorking with the international networks oncoconut and banana, Bioversity has collaboratedwith community-based organizations toimplement poverty reduction research in away which is consistent with this target: socioeconomicfactors and needs of the farmer aretaken in to account in the management oftheir production system which maintains highlevels of biological diversity. The InternationalCoconut Network (COGENT) collaborates withcommunity-based organizations to implementpoverty reduction research in which coconutseedling nurseries are established andmaintained. Seedlings of farmers’ varietiesselected from the local communities arepropagated and planted in the communities. In2006, over 25,000 seedlings were planted in 34communities in 12 countries with support fromCOGENT project funds and in collaboration withlocal/national coconut planting initiatives.The South African Biodiversity and WineInitiativeEast African sandalwood (Osyris lanceolota)Bushes being cultivated in mixed woodlands inCentral Kenya (Photo: Peris Kamau).FutureOne of the challenges of this target is inestablishing a deinition for management systemsthat are ‘consistent with the conservation of plantdiversity’. While many countries are implementing29 The World of Organic Agriculture: Statistics andEmerging Trends 2008 - orgprints.org/13123The location of the best agricultural soils forthe cultivation of table wine grapes coincideswith South Africa’s most threatened lowlandecosystems. These lowland ecosystems harbourlarge numbers of threatened and endemicplant species. The challenge is to guide theexpansion of vineyards in a way that avoidsfurther transformation of priority biodiversityareas. The Biodiversity and Wine Initiativeseeks to influence environmental managementwithin vineyards and in adjacent areas. Thereare two main mechanisms, one involving thestewardship by estate managers of prioritybiodiversity resources on these lands, and theother involving the promulgation and adoptionof industry-wide guidelines and standards forland management and wine production, avoidingsuch negative impacts as water abstraction andpollution through runoff of agri- chemicals. Theindustry has now incorporated the biodiversityguidelines into their Integrated Production ofWine Guidelines and is exploring the potentialmarketing benefits of using the biodiversity ofthe Cape Floristic Region as a unique sellingpoint for South African wine.Plant Conservation ReportPage 23 Convention on Biological Diversity
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