Decision COP IX/1

The Conference of the Parties,

Having conducted an in-depth review on the programme of work on agricultural biodiversity,

Alarmed by the loss of biological diversity and its negative impacts on the sustainability of agriculture and the world’s food and energy security, 

Aware that agriculture is dependent on biodiversity, and that cultivated systems provide food, feed, fibre and fuel, but some unsustainable practices can affect other ecosystem services, 

Convinced that agricultural biodiversity is a vital asset to achieve Millennium Development Goals 1 and 7, 

Stressing the importance of strengthened collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and other organizations,

Recognizing the important contributions of farmers, livestock keepers, breeders, scientists, international agencies, Governments and other stakeholders in the conservation and sustainable use of agricultural biodiversity,

Also recognizing the important contribution of indigenous and local communities, including farmers and livestock keepers, in the conservation and sustainable use of agricultural biodiversity, in particular at centres of origin of agricultural biodiversity, the value of their traditional knowledge and their important contribution to the achievement of the three objectives of the Convention,

Taking note of the findings of the International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD) in the context of the further implementation of the programme of work on agricultural biodiversity,

Recognizing the challenge to secure sustainable food production globally and stressing the importance of all roles and functions of agriculture to sustain food production, maintain capacity of ecosystems to deliver goods and services, and increase agricultural production for local needs, as an important step to eradicate poverty and sustain livelihoods, 

Emphasizing the need for sustained political will at all levels and provision of resources, enhancing exchange of information, access to and transfer of technology, and capacity-building in support of developing countries, in particular the least developed countries and small island developing States, as well as countries with economies in transition, to reinforce national programmes for the implementation of the programme of work on agricultural biodiversity, 

Recognizing the need for enhanced efforts to further improve the positive impact of agriculture on biodiversity and to mitigate its negative impacts, 

Reiterating its recognition, in decision V/5, of the special nature of agricultural biodiversity, its distinctive features, and problems needing distinctive solutions,

1. Welcomes the celebration of the 2008 International Day for Biological Diversity, and emphasizes the importance of the Day for enhancing awareness of the value of agricultural biodiversity, its current status and rate of loss, the need to support conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity and implement actions that will halt its loss for the benefit of food and energy security, human nutrition, poverty eradication and improved rural livelihoods, noting the importance of agricultural biodiversity to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals;

2. Notes the significant contribution of agriculture to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity through demonstrated best practices in the management of agricultural biodiversity, innovation and progress in supporting sustainable agriculture, reducing the negative impacts of agriculture and in particular its positive contribution to reducing hunger and poverty, improved food security and improved human well being; 

3. Agrees that the programme of work on agricultural biodiversity, including its three international initiatives, continues to provide a relevant framework to achieve the objectives of the Convention;

Implementation of activities in the programme of work: assessment

4. Welcomes the progress and plans made by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in preparing the State of the World’s Biodiversity for Food and Agriculture, including in particular the current updating of the State of the World’s Plant Genetic Resources, the recent launch of the State of the World’s Animal Genetic Resources, and work towards the preparation of the State of the World’s Forest Genetic Resources, the State of the World’s Aquatic Genetic Resources, and other reviews on the status and trends on micro-organisms and invertebrates for food and agriculture, encourages the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations to finalize them as planned, and encourages Parties and the other Governments to provide information that would enable the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations to complete, as planned, the preparation or updating of these reports, and support developing countries, in particular the least developed countries and small island developing States, as well as countries with economies in transition, to that end; 

5. Invites Parties and other Governments and relevant organizations to finance and undertake research as appropriate to further develop and apply methods and techniques for assessing and monitoring the status and trends of agricultural biodiversity and other components of biodiversity in agricultural ecosystems, and collect and refine the collated data into a coherent information set on best monitoring practices;

6. Requests the Executive Secretary to collaborate with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and other relevant organizations to identify appropriate methods or means, including provisional goals and targets, and indicators, including existing indicators, to objectively evaluate how the implementation of the programme of work on agricultural biodiversity contributes to the achievement of the three objectives of the Convention and the Strategic Plan of the Convention, consistent with the framework adopted by the Conference of the Parties in decision VII/30 and VIII/15, as a contribution to the achievement of the 2010 target and the Millennium Development Goals, building on ongoing initiatives, and further requests the Executive Secretary, to report on progress at a meeting of the Subsidiary Body prior to the tenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties; 

7. Invites the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, in collaboration with other relevant organizations, taking into account ongoing initiatives, and consistent with activities 1.4 and 1.5 of the programme of work on agricultural biodiversity, to compile and disseminate information on: 

8. Recognizes the contribution of indigenous and local communities to the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity as a contribution to the 2010 biodiversity target and the 2010 target of the World Summit on Sustainable Development, and in the context of 2008 being the International Year of the Potato, congratulates the indigenous peoples of the Andean region in their creation and maintenance of the natural centre of diversity of the potato;

Implementation of activities in the programme of work: adaptive management and capacity-building

9. Recognizing the need for accelerated implementation of policies that promote the positive, and mitigate the negative impacts of agriculture on biodiversity, urges Parties, other Governments, and relevant organizations, to strengthen the capacity needed for implementing the programme of work, including through regional workshops; 

10. Invites Parties, other Governments, relevant international and regional organizations, local and indigenous communities, farmers, pastoralists and plant and animal breeders to promote, support and remove constraints to on-farm and in situ conservation of agricultural biodiversity through participatory decision-making processes in order to enhance the conservation of plant and animal genetic resources, related components of biodiversity in agricultural ecosystems, and related ecosystem functions;

11. Invites Parties, other Governments and relevant organizations, to submit to the Executive Secretary best practices concerning the issue of on-farm and in situ conservation of agricultural biodiversity, and requests the Executive Secretary, in consultation with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, to collate this information and to disseminate it through the clearinghouse mechanism and other relevant means, and to make it available to the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice and the Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations; 

12. Invites Parties, other Governments and relevant organizations to strengthen mechanisms for the conservation and sustainable use of seeds through both formal and informal systems at the local national, regional and global levels;

Implementation of activities in the programme of work: mainstreaming

13. Urges Parties and other Governments to ensure that national sectoral and cross-sectoral plans, programmes and strategies promote the conservation and sustainable use of agricultural biodiversity, and to implement agricultural policies that contribute to the maintenance of biodiversity, and discourage those agricultural practices that are causing biodiversity loss;

14. Notes the Comprehensive Assessment of Water Management in Agriculture / as a significant contribution towards managing the impacts of agriculture on water;

15. Urges Parties, other Governments, and relevant organizations, to promote the effective participation of indigenous and local communities, farmers, pastoralists, animal breeders and other stakeholders, including those whose livelihoods depend on the sustainable use and conservation of agricultural biodiversity, when applying the ecosystem approach to agriculture; including by respecting, preserving and maintaining the knowledge innovations and practices of indigenous and local communities as pertaining to agriculture;

16. Invites Parties, other Governments, relevant organizations and indigenous and local communities to improve the implementation of the programme of work through: 

17. Urges Parties, other Governments and relevant organizations: 

18. Welcomes the Global Plan of Action for Animal Genetic Resources of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations adopted by the first International Technical Conference on Animal Genetic Resources held in Interlaken, Switzerland, in September 2007, as the internationally agreed framework that contains the strategic priorities for the sustainable use, development and conservation of animal genetic resources for food and agriculture, and provisions for implementation and financing, and invites Parties, other Governments, indigenous and local communities, farmers, pastoralists, animal breeders, relevant organizations and other stakeholders to ensure the effective implementation of the Global Plan of Action;

19. Recalling decision VI/6, recognizes the close links between the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture and the Convention, welcomes the progress in implementing the Treaty, especially with regard to the Multilateral System, Farmers’ Rights and the Funding Strategy, and urges Parties to further support its implementation;

International Initiative for the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Pollinators

20. Welcomes the report on the rapid assessment on the status of pollinators prepared by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (UNEP/CBD/COP/9/INF/24);

21. Invites the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in collaboration with Parties, other Governments and relevant organizations, to continue the implementation of the International Initiative for the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Pollinators (decision VI/5) and, in particular:

22. Invites developed country Parties, other developed country Governments, and relevant organizations to assist developing countries, in particular the least developed countries and small island developing States, as well as countries with economies in transition, in the implementation of paragraph 21 above;

International Initiative for the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Soil Biodiversity

23. Invites the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and requests the Executive Secretary to continue to support Parties, other Governments, indigenous and local communities, farmers and pastoralists and other stakeholders, including regional initiatives to implement the International Initiative for the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Soil Biodiversity (decision VI/5), including through capacity-building and dissemination of best practices and lessons learned, through the clearing-house mechanism and other relevant means; 

24. Also invites the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, and other relevant organizations and initiatives to carry out further work and compile and disseminate information to improve the understanding of soil biodiversity, its interaction with above-ground biodiversity, and other soil functions, the various ecosystem goods and services that it provides, and the agricultural practices that affect it, and to facilitate the integration of soil biodiversity issues into agricultural policies and to make available a report for consideration by the Subsidiary Body on Scientific Technical and Technological Advice before the tenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties;

International Initiative on Biodiversity for Food and Nutrition

25. Invites the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the World Health Organization, Bioversity International and the Executive Secretary to support Parties, other Governments, indigenous and local communities farmers and livestock keepers and other stakeholders in their implementation of the International Initiative on Biodiversity for Food and Nutrition, including through research, capacity development and dissemination of best practices, such as the increased use of underutilized crops and livestock, and lessons learnt, through the clearing-house mechanism and other relevant means; 

Agricultural biodiversity and climate change

26. Encourages Parties and other Governments to document the observed impacts and consider the projected impacts of climate change, on agricultural biodiversity, to use the information in cross-sector planning in agricultural areas and to make this information available through the clearinghouse mechanism and other relevant means;

27. Encourages Parties and other Governments, in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and indigenous and local communities and other stakeholders, to gather information on lessons learned about the conservation and sustainable use of agricultural biodiversity, for consideration in climate change adaptation and mitigation planning and cross-sectoral planning in agricultural areas, and to make this information available through the clearing-house mechanism and other relevant means;

28. Requests the Executive Secretary to continue the collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the Joint Liaison Group of the Rio Conventions, the organizations involved in follow-up to the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, indigenous and local communities, and other partners to gather and disseminate information, on: 

29. Invites the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and other relevant organizations, in collaboration with the Executive Secretary, to continue to provide Parties and other Governments with data, tools and information to adapt their agricultural policies and practices and cross sectoral programmes, to changing climate, and to improve the capacities of farmers, livestock keepers, plant and animal breeders, relevant organizations and other stakeholders to reduce the risks associated with climate change; 

30. Welcomes the organization by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations of a high-level meeting to be held in June 2008 on “World Food Security and the Challenges of Climate Change and Bioenergy” and invites the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations to provide the report to the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice;

Integration of the issue of biofuels in the programme of work

31. Decides to integrate the issue of biofuel production and use into the programme of work on agricultural biodiversity, in particular by addressing biofuel production, especially when based on feedstocks produced through agriculture, inter alia to:

Addis Ababa Principles and Guidelines on Sustainable Use

32. Requests the Executive Secretary to collaborate with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and other relevant organizations to further elaborate the operational guidelines of the Addis Ababa Principles and Guidelines for the sustainable use of agricultural biodiversity (decision VII/12, annex II), taking into account the special nature of agricultural biodiversity, its distinctive features, and problems needing distinctive solutions; 

33. Urges developed country Parties to fully implement their commitments regarding provision of financial support, including new and additional financial resources in accordance with Article 20 of the Convention, technology transfer, scientific cooperation and capacity-building, as agreed in the relevant articles of the Convention, the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) and other major multilateral conferences, in order to ensure the sustainable use of agricultural biodiversity in line with the Addis Ababa Principles and Guidelines on Sustainable Use and their further elaboration;

Research issues

34. Invites Parties and other Governments and relevant organizations to finance and undertake research that would contribute to the implementation of the programme of work on agricultural biodiversity including, for example: 

General considerations

35. Welcomes the adoption of the multi-year programme of work of the Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the implementation of which would be an important contribution to the implementation of the Convention programmes of work, in particular the programme of work on agricultural biodiversity; 

36. Welcomes the progress of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations to apply the ecosystem approach in its areas of competence and invites the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, and other relevant organizations, to strengthen application of the ecosystem approach to agriculture;

37. In response to the request from the FAO Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture at its eleventh meeting, requests the Executive Secretary to work with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the Secretariat of the Commission to prepare a joint work plan on biodiversity for food and agriculture that would assist Parties in, inter alia, streamlining reporting requirements, and facilitating the dialogue at international, regional and national level between bodies dealing with environment and agriculture, while respecting each other’s mandates and intergovernmental authority, and present a report to the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice before the tenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties; 

38. Emphasizing the importance of agriculture to the sustainable development of developing countries, particularly the least developed countries and small island developing States, as well as countries with economies in transition, particularly in those countries that are centres of origin or diversity encourages Parties, in particular developed country Parties, to take actions with a view to promote agricultural practices and policies that are consistent and in harmony with the Convention, the internationally agreed development goals and other relevant international obligations;

39. Urges developed country Parties, and invites other Governments and relevant organizations:

40. Urges Parties and other Governments, noting decision VIII/15, to address the question of nutrient loading, and especially nitrogen deposition, and to provide information to the Executive Secretary on relevant activities to reduce the threat to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity and to disseminate this information through the clearing-house mechanism and other means.