Biodiversity
Biodiversity, the variety of life found on earth, is the foundation of all agriculture. It supports our food supply from the soil to the delivery of vital ecosystem services such as pollination. Organic Agriculture is a production system that sustains the health of soils, ecosystems and people.
Decades of intensive land-usage has reduced habitat for wild species worldwide. Agriculture has expanded into sensitive ecosystems and had far-reaching effects on biodiversity and carbon storage. Habitat loss has now been identified as the main threat to 85 – 90% of all species described by the IUCN as ‘threatened’ or ‘endangered’ and is the most commonly recorded reason for species extinction over the last 20 years.
Organic agriculture can help sustain biodiversity by
- Providing food and shelter for wild species found on farms and thus increasing them in number and variety.
- Supporting high levels of agro-biodiversity.
- Maintaining healthy soils and soil fauna, such as earthworms.
- Reducing the risk of water pollution.
Convention agriculture contributes to biodiversity loss by
- Using toxic herbicides and insecticides which accumulates in ground and surface waters polluting natural habitats of wildlife, pollinators, natural enemies and fisheries,
- Adopting of monocrops and uniform cultivars, which are reducing the number of genetically viable species used in agriculture.
- Concentrating higher amount of cattle per square meter
OAN raises awareness and promote the use of sustainable techniques to preserve and enhance biodiversity.
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