Nature and Farming: Sustaining Native Biodiversity in Agricultural Landscapes

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Nature and Farming: Sustaining Native Biodiversity in Agricultural Landscapes
Nature and Farming: Sustaining Native Biodiversity in Agricultural Landscapes View on Amazon Nature and Farming: Sustaining Native Biodiversity in Agricultural Landscapes Add to cart

Amazon Price: $69.95 $60.91 You save: $9.04 (13%). (as of 20/01/2018 5:29 pm – Details). Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on the Amazon site at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.

Conserving and enhancing native biodiversity on farms brings many benefits as well as providing many challenges. Nature and Farming explains why it is important to sustain native plants and animals in agricultural landscapes, and outlines the key issues in developing and implementing practical approaches to safeguarding native biodiversity in rural areas. The book considers the range of ecological and agricultural issues that determine what native biodiversity occurs in farmland and how it can be secured. Many inspiring case studies are presented where innovative approaches towards integrating biodiversity and farm management have been successful, resulting in win–win outcomes for both nature and society. In the integration and synthesis of these case studies lies the kernel of a new paradigm for nature conservation on farms. Although the book focuses on biodiversity conservation on Australian and New Zealand farms, the issues and approaches discussed are applicable to many other developed countries, especially in Europe and North America.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 310 pages
  • Publisher: CSIRO Publishing (June 7, 2013)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0643103252
  • ISBN-13: 978-0643103252
  • Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 1 x 10.5 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds

SAVE OUR PLANET - How an agricultural revolution could save the world's biodiversity

SAVE OUR PLANET... Changes in agriculture can protect the world's biodiversity. According to Puerto Rican ecology and natural resources professor Dr. Ivette Perfecto from the University of Michigan, farmers could benefit while helping to save the planet from turning to organic farming and agroecology, or working along nature's principles to produce food. In her research, Dr. Perfecto observed that large crop agricultural landscapes, such as coffee farms in Costa Rica, are able to host diverse and healthy wildlife. In contrast, isolated patches of rainforest or nature preserves are not able to sustain even the reduced number of species living there. Her studies concluded that small-scale farmers and their organic or agroecological methods, the latter of which minimize the use of fertilizers and do not use pesticides, could therefore protect biodiversity -- with farmers benefiting from greater yields. She stated, "A variety of studies have shown convincingly that organic agriculture is at least as productive as industrial agriculture, and according to Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) data, the smaller the farm the more productivity. In other words, if you want to increase production the most efficient way to do so is to break up the mega farms, distribute the land to small-scale farmers and provide training in agroecology." Dr. Perfecto recently co-authored a book on the solution titled, "Nature's Matrix: Linking Agriculture, Conservation and Food Sovereignty" in which she cites the rapid deforestation of the Amazon rainforest in emphasizing the need to shift toward small-scale organic farming. According to related research by Dr. Lester Brown, president of the Earth Policy Institute, the Amazon is being cleared both by cattle ranching and soybean farming, with soybean crops for cattle feed causing both crop fields and grazing lands to extend even deeper into the forest. Dr. Brown states that the key to protecting the rainforest's biodiversity is to decrease consumers' demand for meat products and their associated soy crops.

Our appreciation, Dr. Perfecto, for these insights into a more efficient and sustainable agriculture sector, as we thank Dr. Brown for addressing the issue's root cause. Let us step in awareness to nourished the world through the most eco-conscious and plentiful method of organic vegan farming.

As in an interview published in the September 2009 edition of The House Magazine, Supreme Master Ching Hai has frequently highlighted the transformation of our agricultural system that would return balance to our imperiled planet.

Interview with Supreme Master Ching Hai
Published in The House Magazine
September 2009 edition

Supreme Master Ching Hai: There are so many benefits from organic vegan farming, as well as many benefiting parties. First, for the farmers, organic vegan farming is productive, saving 37% more energy and even more water than conventional farming methods. Wildlife and ecosystems also win. According to the largest study done on organic farming in the UK, compared to conventional farms, organic farms contained 85% more plant species, with 71% taller and thicker hedges, and a healthy return of native animals across the species. Organic soil matter also absorbs CO2 so effectively that the Rodale Institute calls organic vegan farming a powerful strategy to reduce global warming, by up to 40% of all CO2 emissions now in the atmosphere.
The government can support this organic vegan farming through subsidies. They can also redirect the funds away from the meat industry and instead toward encouraging citizens to plant, to buy and to choose organic vegan food. And when they do, we will soon have a lot of healthy, happy, productive people, a restored green environment, and minimum climate mitigation costs -- something all governments can look forward to and gain the enthusiastic support of all citizens.
Stephen Collie

About Stephen Collie

Steve Collie is a retired internet professional and the founder of Stephen Collie Enterprises, an internet marketing company based in Tauranga, New Zealand.