agroBIODIVERSITY Cross Cutting Network Photo: F. Wäckers Co-chairs: Louise Jackson (UC Davis) & Lijbert Brussaard, IPO at Wageningen University

About agroBIODIVERSITY  Revision of current models of agricultural production, biodiversity conservation & rural development are required to meet sustainability targets and maximize resilience and adaptive capacity in an uncertain future => AGROBIODIVERSITY FOR ECOLOGICAL INTENSIFICATION  This requires interdisciplinary science that addresses synergies and trade-offs between biodiversity conservation, agricultural production and other ecosystem services in diverse social-ecological contexts

Highlights

Keynotes at the European Agronomy Meetings. "Reconciling biodiversity conservation and food security" (LB) & “Biodiversity as a basis for agro-ecosystem functioning: investigating mechanisms at multiple scales” (LJ). CCAFS (CGIAR-DIVERSITAS) joint planning workshop on “Filter and buffer functions provided by (agro)biodiversity & vulnerability/adaptation to climate change”. Identification of topics and research sites for collaboration (Nov. 2010, Mexico) agroBIODIVERSITY core project: - Several joint research proposals (EUFP7, BiodivERsA) - Capacity building (shared PhD, MSc students) - Paper linking research at 8 agroBIODIVERSITY sites

The core research project at 8 study sites: Agrobiodiversity and intensification of agriculture; insights from 8 landscapes in different biomes Jackson et al (submitted).

Insights from 8 landscapes in different biomes; objectives 1.Conduct a global comparative analysis of relationships between livelihood resources (types of capital), biodiversity and ecosystem services 2.Identify viable biodiversity-based interventions and actions toward ecological intensification 3.Explore how global and local/regional knowledge can be coupled to guide actions that increase biodiversity-based management and ecological intensification. Jackson et al (submitted).

Global network: 8 agricultural landscapes Landscape-specific actions for functional agrobiodiversity, ecological intensification and improvement of livelihoods Local/regional participatory research that synthesizes ecology, socioeconomics, stakeholders and institutions Types of participatory networks and social learning Interventions for ecological intensification of agriculture Classification of landscapes into socio-ecological domains Domain ADomain BDomain C Integrating global and regional knowledge for long- term provision of multiple ecosystem services Jackson et al (submitted).

Highlights – Science/Policy Multi-stakeholder platform for exchange of knowledge Joint project proposals (e.g. EU-COST), publications and events on FAB, targeted at farmers, policy makers, businesses and NGOs

Directions for 2011 Future work ( ) will be focused on further data collection/integration at the sites. The IPO at Wageningen Univ. has appointed a researcher (Dr. Felix Bianchi). Link synergies/trade-offs between biodiversity and food security to climate change mitigation/ adaptation in research and policies targeted at agricultural landscapes. Strengthening collaborations with researchers in the field of geo-informatics, as well as the social sciences. agroBIODIVERSITY SC meetings at Resilience Conference (March 2011) and in Bilbao (August 2011)

Photo: F. Wäckers

Conclusions 1.Three social-ecological domains were distinguished based on rapid indicators of different capital assets 2.Results guide further quantitative data collection and analysis to improve our understanding of drivers of land use change, especially re social and human capital. 3.Many of the priority interventions for ‘ecological intensification’ were common within (or across) the social-ecological domains, illustrating the scope for knowledge sharing. 4.Other priority interventions related to climate vulnerability / adaptation to climate change 5.The results emphasize the importance of landscape scale interventions and these were considered to depend strongly on human and social assets.

The core research project at 8 study sites: Plot  Farm  Community  Landscape  Across landscapes 8 individual sites *Field-based assessments Integration across disciplines and scales Synthesis & cross-site comparison ** Development of concepts and methodological approaches Stakeholder involvement