Biodiversity protection “window of opportunity is closing,” warn scientists at COP15

The Crop Trust is an international non-profit organization dedicated to conserving and making crop diversity available for use globally, forever and for the benefit of everyone.

Rice terraces at different stages of maturity in a Betsileo village. Betsileo communities in the central highlands are especially renowned for their advanced rice farming. Wherever a flat surface exists – or can be built – rice can be planted. The farmers sow a wide assortment of local types at different times, employing irrigation to grow some in the dry season and waiting for the rainy season to plant others. This diversity is all at once a source of efficiency, security, cultural identity, and pride.

Complex rice terraces irrigated by streams are in various states of harvest. The Betsileo communities are famous for their intricate landscaping stretching high into the hills. (Photo Credit: Toby Smith/Reportage by Getty Images for The Global Crop Diversity Trust).

By Marc Cervera, Food Ingredients First

16 December 2022

Authorities are trying to adopt a new set of goals to prevent and reverse the loss of nature. At COP15 in Montreal, delegates are discussing a global biodiversity framework with clear targets for overexploitation, pollution and sustainable agricultural practices, all while figuring out how to drive financial flows toward planet-friendly investments.

The Crop Trust, which works to protect and conserve crop diversity, says that while “COP15 delegates are inheriting a track record of failure,” there is still time to reverse the current “destructive trend” that threatens the planet’s diversity of crops and biology.

But, industry and all stakeholders must act now.