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SusCon 2010: Biodiversity & Organic Farming Session |
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Biodiversity & Organic Farming10.00 am to 1.00 pm Tuesday, June 15, at SusCon 2010CNN-West Nuremburg Messe, Germany
About...
Organic agriculture is the world’s leading ecosystem based farming system. It’s widely recognized for protecting ecosystems and biodiversity by providing an alternative to harsh chemical and degenerative farming practices. It also enhances landscapes through its active integration of biodiversity. Bringing you right up to date on innovative business initiatives from places as diverse as Germany, Egypt and India the event will showcases how organic agriculture continues to lead in the provision of products based on the sustainable use of biodiversity. The session will reveal the strategies behind leading rural-marketing initiatives and the increasing use of comprehensive criteria to ensure the protection of biodiversity and of the livelihoods of people that depend upon it.
The event will not forget the bigger picture. Rising global demand for western style diets and the desperate need for export income in developing countries are driving the destruction of the world’s primary ecosystems. Can organic agriculture help reverse this trend? Maybe it can. The session will highlight the opportunity to strengthen the world’s 1.5 billion biodiversity stewards. These small producers produce 70% of the world’s food. Their livelihoods and food security depend on the sustainable use of biodiversity. Ecological intensification of their farming systems through innovative organic farming practices can increase productivity and climate resilience and contribute to the preservation of their globally significant stewardship role in the face of rapid industrialization of agriculture.
The event will open to the floor for a discussion on how the organic sector can extend its positive impacts. The need for ‘premium’ organic standards, scaling-up farmer to farmer certification and the development of guidelines for the Convention on Biological Diversity will all be key discussion points in what promises to be a lively conclusion to an informative and constructive event.
Program
- Introduction - Hartmut Vogtmann - DNR, Germany
- Biodiversity, Agricultural Practice and Enterprises" - Report of the DNR-AoeL Working Group - Helmut Röscheisen – DNR, Germany and Alex Beck – AoeL, Germany
- Regional, Fair, Carbon-free & Nature Protective – Do we need a Premium Organic Standard? - Armin Kullmann - Institute for Rural Development, Germany
- Building biodiversity – Inspirations from the Desert - Helmy Abouleish – Sekem, Egypt (TBC)
- Biodiversity and Eco-Intensification - Robert Jordan – IFOAM, Germany
- Discussion and Conclusions – chaired by Hartmut Vogtmann - DNR, Germany
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