LEISA Magazine | 20.4 | December 2004
This issue of LEISA Magazine looks at the contribution farming can make to the sustainability of life on earth on a broader scale – and the importance of wild biodiversity for the maintenance of the healthy landscapes and watersheds we all need to survive.
For rural people, managing biodiversity has always been a central part of their livelihood strategies. A diverse range of organisms contribute in different ways to agriculture and rural livelihoods – either directly, by providing food, medicines, timber, fuel, fodder, organic fertilizer, or cash income – or indirectly by providing “ecosystem services” such as biological pest control, pollination or organic matter decomposition.
The way we manage agriculture will have a major impact on the conservation of biodiversity, both on and off the farm. In this issue, we have tried to highlight some of the attempts that are taking place to achieve food production while preserving or enhancing wild biodiversity.