Biodiversity is not just tigers and pandas: it’s about us and our food supply

Intercropping contributes to biodiversity on this farm in Senegal. (Photo by Nathan McClintock)

Popular thinking is that biodiversity is a nice thing under attack that threatens some charismatic critters and lots of other minor things that really don’t matter so much to modern civilizations.

Not true, say those who have studied the question. Biodiversity loss is a massive threat to human food security and, ultimately, to our species' survival as well as to that of the millions of plants, animals and bacteria which share the planet with us.

"Biodiversity loss is not just a question of landscapes and species protection, it's also about agricultural issues upon which we rely to grow our food," Marco Contiero of Greenpeace told IPS.

Organic farming builds biodiversity as the cornerstone of a farming sytem on each farm featuring healthy soil, biological pest management, and home-grown fertility.

Full story: Truthout (May 23, 2010)