Biodiversity and the livestock sector - Guidelines for quantitative assessment

FAO

Biodiversity and the livestock sector - Guidelines for quantitative assessment

Version 1

Year of publication 2020

Place of publication Rome, Italy ;

Pages 142 p.

Author FAO

Publisher FAO ;

Product type Book (stand-alone)

ISBN 978-92-5-132745-6

Edition 1

Full item page

To cite or share https://doi.org/10.4060/ca9295en

Synopsis (short abstract) The Technical Advisory Group (TAG) on biodiversity, hereafter called Biodiversity TAG, is composed of 25 international experts in ecology, biodiversity indicators, agronomy, life cycle assessment, livestock production systems, and environmental science. Their backgrounds, complementary between systems and regions, allowed them to understand and address different perspectives. The aim of the methodology developed in these guidelines is to introduce a harmonized international approach for assessing the impacts of livestock on biodiversity. The livestock sector is a major user of natural resources (land in particular) and an important contributor to pollution (e.g. causing nutrient losses, increasing greenhouse gas emissions), which makes it one of the sectors with the highest impact on biodiversity. At the same time, livestock production is one of the few sectors with not only negative but also positive impacts on biodiversity; therefore, the sector can pull two levers to improve its biodiversity performance – mitigate harm and maximize benefits. Many environmental assessments of the livestock sector have not addressed biodiversity because of its intrinsic complexity. These guidelines strive to include biodiversity in environmental assessments, in order to increase the understanding of the impacts of livestock on biodiversity and to reveal possible synergies or trade-offs with other environmental criteria or Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Several indicators in these guidelines are also of relevance for the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.

Cite this content as:

FAO. 2020. Biodiversity and the livestock sector – Guidelines for quantitative assessment – Version 1. Rome, Livestock Environmental Assessment and Performance Partnership (FAO LEAP).

https://doi.org/10.4060/ca9295en

Read on Google Books and buy online

Language English

Related items

Showing items related by metadata.

Document

Biodiversity and the livestock sector - Guidelines for quantitative assessment
Draft for public review
2019

Also available in:

No results found.
Book (stand-alone)

Biodiversity Integrated Assessment and Computation Tool | B-INTACT – Guidelines
Second edition
2021

Also available in:

No results found.

Biodiversity loss is accelerating at an unprecedented rate across the planet putting a great number of species on the brink of extinction. A decline in the plants, animals, and microorganisms threatens food security, sustainable development, and the supply of vital ecosystem services. In order to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda, there is an urgent need to take action to halt biodiversity loss and consequently ecosystem degradation. Since the introduction of the Aichi targets, released by the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in 2010, the United Nations have been empowered with greater influence on decision-making impacting biodiversity. However, there was an urgent need for an easy-to-use tool to rapidly, yet effectively assess the impact on biodiversity posed by projects, programmes, and policies. As a timely response, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has developed the Biodiversity Integrated Assessment and Computation Tool (B-INTACT). B-INTACT extends the scope of environmental assessments to capture biodiversity concerns, which are not accounted for in conventional carbon pricing. The tool is designed for users ranging from national investment banks, international financial institutions and policy decision-makers, and allows for a thorough biodiversity assessment of project-level activities in the Agriculture, Forestry and Land Use (AFOLU) sector. The second version of the guidelines includes additional information on how to use B-INTACT together with FAO's Earthmap platform and the Ecosystem Service Valuation Database.
Book (stand-alone)

FAO/IPCC Expert meeting on land use, climate change and food security 2017

Also available in:

No results found.

One hundred scientists, economists and policy experts participated in a three-day expert meeting (EM) to engage in a high-level, globally oriented, and multidisciplinary scoping of topics that climate change to land use and food security. The EM was structured around five themes: climate impacts and human-directed drivers of land change and linkages to food security; mitigation and adaptation options; and policies for resource management, smallholder resilience, mitigation and food and nutrition security. The present report offers a comprehensive synthesis of the EM findings and conclusions reflecting the collective view participants and external reviewers. The report is a valuable source for the IPCC above-mentioned Special Report, especially in relation to food security, as well to researchers and policy makers concerned with the policy implication of food security in relation to post-Paris climate action and Agenda 2030.