Globally, local and indigenous approaches to conserving biodiversity, crop improvement, and managing precious natural resources are under threat. Many communities have to deal with 'biopiracy,' for example. As well, existing laws are usually unsuitable for protecting indigenous and traditional knowledge and for recognizing collective rights, such as in cases of participatory plant breeding, where farmers, researchers and others join forces to improve existing crop varieties or develop new ones, based on shared knowledge and resources. This book addresses these issues. It outlines the national and international policy processes that are currently underway to protect local genetic resources and related traditional knowledge and the challenges these initiatives have faced. In particular these themes are addressed within the context of the Convention of Biological Diversity and the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. The authors broaden the policy and legal debates beyond the sphere of policy experts to include the knowledge-holders themselves. These are the 'custodians of biodiversity': farmers, herders and fishers in local communities. Their experience in sharing access and benefits to genetic resources is shown to be crucial for the development of effective national and international agreements. The book presents and analyzes this experience, including case studies from China, Cuba, Honduras, Jordan, Nepal, Peru and Syria. Copublished with the International Development Research Centre (IDRC).

Agricultural biodiversity is a precious legacy which we have a moral duty to pass on intact to future generations. As farming systems modernise, these crucial resources risk being lost, unless effective conservation measures are put in place and sufficient recognition is given to the role of the farmer in food security and agricultural development. This publication contains a number of black and white photographs by Pablo Balbontân Arenas, which give an insight into the life and customs of small farmers who foster, maintain and use genetic diversity in traditional agricultural systems, deploying local techniques and knowledge accumulated over many centuries, focusing on four crops: wheat, rice, maize and potato. The accompanying text is written in English, Spanish and Italian.

Agricultural biodiversity is a legacy from past generations that we have a moral obligation to pass on, intact, to the next generations so that they can retain all options for dealing with the future. The photographs of Pablo Balbontín Arenas, reproduced in this book, give an idea of genetic diversity. They provide an insight into the life and customs of farmers who foster, maintain and use genetic diversity in traditional agricultural systems, deploying local techniques and knowledge accumulated over many centuries. Pablo has chosen four crops (wheat, rice, maize and potato) that together account for more than 50 percent of human calorie intake from plants, and has traveled to areas where each of these crops has been domesticated and developed over thousands of years, seeking out communities and settlements that are generally difficult to reach and therefore 'uncontaminated', in which to observe and photograph local agricultural traditions.--Publisher's description.

The world relies on very few crop and animal species for agriculture and to supply its food needs. In recent decades, there has been increased appreciation of the risk this implies for food security and quality, especially in times of environmental change. As a result, agricultural biodiversity has moved to the top of research and policy agendas. This Handbook presents a comprehensive overview of our current knowledge of agricultural biodiversity in a series of specially commissioned chapters. It draws on multiple disciplines including plant and animal genetics, ecology, crop and animal science, food studies and nutrition, as well as social science subjects which explore the socio-economic, cultural, institutional, legal and policy aspects of agricultural biodiversity. It focuses not only on the core requirements to deliver a sustainable agriculture and food supply, but also highlights the additional ecosystem services provided by a diverse and resilient agricultural landscape and farming practices. The book provides an indispensable reference textbook for a wide range of courses in agriculture, ecology, biodiversity conservation and environmental studies.

Describes how farmers manage, maintain, and benefit from biodiversity in agricultural production systems. Includes the most recent research and developments in the maintenance of local diversity at the genetic, species, and ecosystem levels.

The collection of papers in the book Property Rights and the Environment: Social and Ecological Issues, (6) and this companion volume examine the relationships between people, the environment, and property rights and the ways in which a given social and ecological context affects those relationships. The papers are products of a research program at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Stockholm. The main objective of the program was to convene social scientists and natural scientists to address research questions in their full social and ecological dimensions.The program's participants addressed five general issues related to property rights and the environment: (1) the design of governance systems for sustainability; (2) the relationship between equity, stewardship, and environmental resilience; (3) the use of traditional knowledge in resource management, (4) the mechanisms that link people to their environments, and (5) the role played by population and poverty. This volume presents case studies that address questions of design application in those five areas.(6) Also available: Property Rights and the Environment: Social and Ecological Issues. (ISBN 0-8213-3415-8) Stock No. 13415.