Biological diversity

World events, political upheavals, technological developments, and scientific breakthroughs are moving at a breathtaking pace, providing significant challenges to the conservation movement.

World events, political upheavals, technological developments, and scientific breakthroughs are moving at a breathtaking pace, providing significant challenges to the conservation movement.

World events, political upheavals, technological developments, and scientific breakthroughs are moving at a breathtaking pace, providing significant challenges to the conservation movement.

This set of 20 4-page briefs aims to raise awareness about biodiversity issues within EC development cooperation. The briefs are broken down into three types, including policy, sector and background biodiversity briefs. The first two indicate important issues to be considered by policy makers and technical advisers at policy, programme and project levels, and the third category summarizes topics and legal responsibilities for a general audience.

A companion document to the Strategic Approach document, this guide reviews the lessons learned from the various agency initiatives to integrate biodiversity issues into development cooperation programmes. The lessons learned have been condensed into a set of Guiding Principles which aim to ensure that development cooperation projects and programmes are effective and sustainable, and take full account of environmental security and biodiversity issues.

This document is the product of extensive consultation between EC policy advisers and task managers dealing with biodiversity and the environment, and those working on natural resource and non-natural resource issues. The important issue of integrating biodiversity into development cooperation policy and practice is addressed. It highlights the need to realise biodiversity's full potential to support development while addressing the direct and underlying causes of its loss.

Over 800 million human beings suffer from hunger and malnutrition. The future of global food security depends on the success of our efforts in the conservation and enhancement of agrobiodiversity, the biodiversity occurring in plants and animals. It is important that both intensification and diversification of agriculture, particularly in the developing countries, is based on sound ecological foundations essential for sustainable advances in crop and animal productivity.