When biodiversity thrives the environment thrives Thought leadership from Farmlands’ Head of Sustainability and Land Use, Katie Vickers, on the importance of biodiversity on and off-farm.
Biodiversity has become one of modern agriculture’s bywords. What does it mean though, and why is it important? It’s easy to get overwhelmed by the words, the regulations and the changes but bringing it back to your farm or business can make it easier to get a handle on. Farmers are some of the best conservationists. They know that biodiversity is essential for a healthy ecosystem, farm, region and community.
It’s vital for farmers to understand the part we can play in building resilience. Economic viability and biodiversity are inextricably linked so our role is to work with industry to make sure we have the capability and products to support our custodians of the land. We owe it to upcoming generations to ensure the biodiversity within our environment is thriving. One person dedicated to supporting and engaging landowners with biodiversity is David Norton, a Canterbury University Professor and passionate ecologist and conservationist. I spoke to him about the importance of biodiversity and what farmers can do to build it into their management plan.
They are in an excellent position to manage
What is biodiversity?
significant native biodiversity on their land as
David: Biodiversity can be understood in three ways. In New Zealand, we have both exotic (introduced) and native biodiversity. Native biodiversity encompasses species that grow naturally in New Zealand, for example tōtara trees and kiwi.
they know the outcomes vary within farms, across districts and between regions.
When we conserve biodiversity, we are protecting evolutionary potential.” 24 | THE FARMLANDER
evolutionary potential. It’s also about the systems in which those species live. Those systems must provide the right environment for the species to survive and thrive. Genetic diversity, species diversity and ecosystem diversity are the three key factors to keep in mind. Species first, then thinking about their adaptability through genetic variation, making them resilient and able to cope with change, and then the ecosystem for them to survive in. About 85 percent of our plants, most of our land birds and freshwater fish and all of our reptiles and frogs only occur here in New Zealand so we can’t conserve
Biodiversity is also about genetic variation within those species, so not just having one individual kiwi or tōtara is important. It’s about having populations that are genetically diverse and therefore able to cope with change. When we conserve biodiversity, we are protecting
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