3. IYPH
Outputs
3.3 IYPH advocates
The FAO Director-General appointed three advocates to champion the cause of plant health and promote the International Year of Plant Health (IYPH).
The advocates were chosen to share the ideas and goals underpinning the IYPH with their respective audiences and raise the profile of #PlantHealth and its importance to people around the world.
Each advocate used their influence to call for action and show how everyone has a role to play in protecting plants and thus the planet.
Rodrigo Pacheco is an Ecuadorian chef who is passionate about “regenerative gastronomy”, which has led him to advocate for the urgent restoration of the world’s ecosystems. Pacheco is involved in developing a “biodiversity corridor” in Ecuador running from the Pacific Coast to the Andean Choco region, crossing five different ecosystems and climate zones. The project is an evolution of his ongoing work to innovate in culinary and gastronomic sciences.
Rodrigo Pacheco’s respect and care for nature has caught the attention of political leaders, activists, private businesses and others who support Pacheco’s approach to living in harmony with the environment and his plan to create an edible forest.
As an FAO Goodwill Ambassador, I aim to share my knowledge and experience for a purpose that, in this case, is the regeneration of nature and the flora that surround us.
Rodrigo Pacheco
Monty Don s the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland’s leading garden writer and broadcaster. He has been making television programmes for over twenty years on a range of topics, spanning travel, craft, outdoor living and, principally, gardening. He has been the main presenter of the BBC’s Gardeners’ World since 2003 and, since 2011, the programme has been filmed in his own garden, Longmeadow, in Herefordshire. Monty Don has also made acclaimed prime time series such as Around the World in 80 Gardens, Monty Don’s Italian Gardens and three series of Big Dreams, Small Spaces.
A prolific horticultural journalist, Monty Don was gardening editor at The Observer newspaper, and currently contributes a regular column for the Daily Mail and BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine. His numerous books include the bestselling Fork to Fork, The Jewel Garden and his latest bestsellers Nigel: My Family and Other Dogs and Japanese Gardens: A Journey.
We have for far too long overlooked the natural world on our doorstep. There are people in their thirties or late twenties that care, and they’re going to do something about it. And we must enable them.
Monty Don
Diarmuid Gavin is an Irish garden designer and television personality who has designed many gardens throughout Ireland and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, mainland Europe, Africa and China. He has participated in the Royal Horticultural Society Chelsea Flower Show nine times, winning the gold medal in 2011.
As a broadcaster, Diarmuid Gavin presented gardening series including Home Front, Planet Patio, Art of the Garden, Diarmuid’s Big Adventure, Gardens Through Time and Gardening Together, which air for major British broadcasters. He has authored 13 books on garden design, including the international best sellers Outdoors and Planting written with the late Sir Terence Conran. His autobiographical volume, How the Boy Next Door Turned Out, was published in 2010.
I am honoured and delighted to accept the role as Champion for the International Year of Plant Health for the Europe Region. I look forward to working with you to promote this vitally important issue.
Diarmuid Gavin
In addition to a press release announcing Monty Don and Diarmuid Gavin’s IYPH engagement, www.fao.org carried a much-read feature story where the advocates discuss the importance of plant health.
Over the months, each advocate participated in a range of activities to engage people in important matters related to plant health. They also participated in a series of dialogues that underlined the important connection between plant protection and food security with representatives from institutions, academia and civil society.
One of the first concrete operations was the production of Talking Plant Health.
British broadcaster and author Janet Ellis spoke with two of the advocates, introducing some of the themes in an accessible and straightforward manner.
Talking Plant Health was viewed by over 40 000 people on its initial release on LinkedIn and Facebook, and is now hosted on YouTube, where it garnered 1 500 views by July 2021.
On 17 February 2021, a second public event was held virtually, bringing together all three advocates along with Michael Keller, the Secretary-General of the International Seed Federation (ISF) and Ralf Lopian, the Chairperson of the IYPH International Steering Committee. The event was entitled “Plant Health starts with Seed Health”, produced by the ISF.
Through his near-nightly Instagram talk show, Diarmuid Gavin repeatedly promoted the ideas underpinning IYPH – devoting one instalment to a session with an Irish government representative.
Diarmuid Gavin also produced a supplementary promotional video for the Irish Christmas market. Additionally, he devoted a whole show to National Tree Week and the planting of a native Irish oak tree in his garden along with an IYPH plaque. During all such activities, he made use of IYPH signage.
A national IYPH seminar was produced by the Irish Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. Entitled Celebrating Ireland’s Role in IYPH, the event was chaired by the Minister of State for Agriculture Pippa Hackett, with contributions from Chief Plant Health Officer Barry Delany, IYPH Steering Committee Chairperson Ralf Lopian and Diarmuid Gavin.
As the International Year of Plant Health’s Goodwill Ambassador for Latin America and the Caribbean, the Ecuadorian Chef Rodrigo Pacheco has pledged to keep advocating for plant health, biodiversity and the urgent restoration of natural ecosystems. In an interview published on the IYPH website (http://www.fao.org/plant-health-2020/our-advocates/rodrigo-pachego-interview/en/) he explained what he is doing to reconnect people with nature and the importance of promoting plant health to sustain life.
Rodrigo Pacheco consistently shared sustainable recipes promoting biodiversity, raising awareness about plant pests and diseases. He also participated in dialogues addressing the important connection between plant protection and food security with representatives from institutions, academia and civil society. In addition, he took part in regional events such as Agrocalidad Ecuador’s World Food Safety Day event and the launch of the Agrocalidad food safety characters. Rodrigo Pacheco also participated in interviews about his IYPH engagement with major Spanish-language news outlets, including El Comercio, La Hora, El Universo and Agencia EFE.
Monty Don used his personal media activities as an opportunity to speak about IYPH at every turn including with the Daily Express, Radio Times and Horticulture Week. The same was also true for Diarmuid Gavin, who spoke about the IYPH on Today with Claire Byrne and with the Irish Independent and Sunday Independent.
United Nations Regional Information Centre for Western Europe (UNRIC) was very supportive in publishing an interview with Monty Don. “The World is in Your Hands’ says Monty Don” was republished by UN.org. UNRIC reported great response to the story and considerable engagement on Twitter.
UNRIC also published an interview with Diarmuid Gavin, which was similarly republished by UN.org. “By protecting plants, we are protecting life – an interview with Diarmuid Gavin” was repurposed on UN.org for World Bee Day and published in Arabic, French and Russian.
Future prospects
At the time of writing in July 2021, Rodrigo Pacheco was being profiled by CNN International for his engagement on issues such as biodiversity and plant health, and will be guest editor of a CNN microsite from August to October 2021.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland recently stated they would like Monty Don to promote plant health – particularly relating to the worrying spread of the Colorado potato beetle (Leptinotarsa decemlineata) and the oak processionary moth (Thaumetopoea processionea).
In conclusion, the involvement of all three advocates to date has helped engage relevant stakeholders and created increased opportunities for dialogue, participation and access to information on how to ensure plant health and foster innovation for sustainable agricultural practices.
As Diarmuid Gavin said after the IYPH Closing Ceremony, “Everyone involved did their best to promote the overarching message that plant health could not be more important for the future of our planet. That message is out there now; it will continue to gain traction and the ideas underpinning the Year are ones I will continue to promote whenever, wherever I can.” These sentiments were echoed by Rodrigo Pacheco and Monty Don.