Balancing bio-diversity and agriculture.
Abstract
The issue globally is seen as a 'trade off' between biodiversity and intensification against a background of the need to produce about 50% more food by 2030. Expansion of the area cropped globally would seriously impact biodiversity but there are also many problems with the other option, intensification. Evidence concerning cereal-ecosystem weeds, insects and birds is examined from a continuous 36 year study of biodiversity on 62 km2 of arable farmland on the Sussex Downs, UK. The data show a resilient cereal ecosystem with no obvious pesticide treadmill effects and associated studies are showing that practical measures can be taken to limit the damage to biodiversity caused by the intensification of cropping. The developed world will have to produce more grain and export it to the developing world in order to save the rich bio-diversity in tropical forests. To be effective this must go hand-in-hand with bio-diversity conservation where the extra grain is produced.