Sabina Zaccaro and Miren Gutierrez* interview EMILE FRISON, Bioversity International Director-General
ROME, Jun 19 (IPS) – The promotion of biodiversity in agriculture needs political backing, Emile Frison, Bioversity International Director-General tells IPS in an interview. This kind of biodiversity can provide food security and promote health, he says.
Bioversity International is the largest international research organisation dedicated to conservation and use of agricultural biodiversity. Frison spoke to IPS about the need to value this kind of biodiversity.
IPS: Why is agricultural biodiversity so important?
EMILE FRISON: There are about 30,000 edible plant species. Yet just three of these (rice, wheat, maize) provide 60 percent of our calories. Agricultural biodiversity is the foundation for our food, our medicines, and all of the other goods we depend on to live. It has inestimable value socially, economically, scientifically, culturally and even aesthetically. But if this value is not better recognised, agricultural biodiversity is in danger of disappearing.
The loss of agricultural biodiversity is a silent extinction. There is no ‘red list’ for endangered agricultural species. What is at risk is no less than our future food security, the health and wellbeing of all humanity.
IPS: What are you doing to raise public awareness on this?
EF: A year ago Bioversity International launched an international awareness campaign, Diversity for Life, with the aim of sharing the benefits of agricultural biodiversity. The campaign will spotlight the Guardians of Diversity, people who have devoted their lives to ensuring that the diversity of plants and animals is conserved.
The seven Guardians we honoured this year have dedicated their lives to slowing the loss of this precious resource in the Mediterranean. The importance of their contribution cannot be overestimated. The Guardians are being honoured not only to celebrate their own personal accomplishments, but also to recognise the thousands of unsung heroes that every day dedicate themselves to protecting and conserving plant and animal diversity.
There are many hundreds of people around the world who have dedicated their lives to using and sharing the wealth of agricultural biodiversity. We hope to recognise a fresh set of Guardians every year.
