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Management of Crop Diversity: Key Practices for DRR Implementers








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    Book (series)
    The pollination services of forests
    A review of forest and landscape interventions to enhance their cross-sectoral benefits
    2020
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    Most flowering plants, including wild species and many food crops, are pollinated by animals and are vital, therefore, for biological production and the maintenance of biodiversity. Pollinators benefit from diverse natural habitats for forage and nesting, especially when these are limited in plant production systems. Landscape and forest management practices can help ensure the continued availability of pollinators and thereby increase resilience and the productivity of forestry and agriculture. The extent of forests and other natural habitats in a landscape plays a role in determining the species composition of pollinators. Agricultural landscapes adjoining fragmented forests and natural areas benefit from pollinator services, and animal-pollinated crops therefore achieve higher fruit set. Forest management practices can have significant effects on pollinator abundance and diversity. They affect forest variables such as structure, species composition, soil dynamics, hydrology and light availability, all of which can affect pollinator species composition and diversity and plant–pollinator networks. Indigenous and local knowledge can contribute to the conservation of pollinators through traditional management practices. This working paper, which is aimed at forest practitioners, landscape planners and land-use decision-makers, reviews published literature on the impacts of forest and landscape management practices on pollinators. It also addresses the implications of climate change, collates 36 case studies, and makes recommendation on measures for maintaining pollinator diversity and abundance in forests and landscapes.
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    Livestock biodiversity 2010
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    This paper describes the institutional background against which invasiveness is considered with regard to livestock genetic diversity. The human-made nature and extensive spread of a few domesticated animal species for global food production is a feature of agricultural diversity that complicates the simple, negative view of invasive species. The different impacts of livestock species on natural biodiversity, of breed diversity within species, and of within-breed diversity on agricul tural biodiversity are discussed. Livestock production continues to threaten natural biodiversity. The increasing demand for food of animal origin, the productivity and technology differentials, as well as the information and awareness bias, tend to favour international high-output breeds over local breeds. This will increase their ‘invasiveness’ in the market economy if current policy distortions continue. Several measures are proposed to control genetic erosion through uncontrolled gene flow. Countries are responsible not only for control of invasive alien species under the Convention on Biological Diversity but also for sustainable use and conservation of animal genetic resources, and for food security; they must balance trade-offs between these broad policy objectives.
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    Article
    Missing the food from the woods: the case of Soliga tribes of Western Ghats, India
    XV World Forestry Congress, 2-6 May 2022
    2022
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    Forest dependent indigenous communities have traditionally fulfilled their dietary requirements from a range of locally available food resources. For Soliga tribes of Biligirirangana Hills (BR Hills) in India’s Western Ghats, gathering of wild berries, tubers and mushrooms, shifting cultivation of millets, legumes and vegetables within the forests and small game hunting have habitually supported food and subsistence needs. Over the years, the traditional food practices have transformed drastically, driven by conservation policies that resulted in the resettlement of Soligas to forest peripheries, a ban on traditional fire practices and consequent colonization of forests by invasive species, altering the forest composition and leading to decline of wild food resources. We trace the trajectory of changes in Soliga food systems using a combination of methodologies ranging from a comprehensive literature review and expert interviews to household surveys in three Soliga settlements in BR Hills. Our study reveals the diminishing importance of forests as source of food and income and shift from food crops to cash crops in farms in forest peripheries to avert crop raids by wildlife. Dependence on forest produce collection and farming was found to vary based on the allocation of tribal land rights and the location of the settlements with respect to the forest type and availability of markets. While existing literature and expert respondents recognize the changing forest dynamics and the immense ecological knowledge of Soligas that complements forest conservation efforts, the nexus between forests, farming and health and nutrition of the tribe was hardly appreciated. Improved access to public food distribution system and evolving cultural preferences has increased the dependence on external markets for food. We further discuss the repercussions of these transitions on nutritional security and food sovereignty of the community. Keywords: Food systems, Human health and well-being, Biodiversity conservation, Agriculture, Sustainable Forest management ID: 3483228

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