Hoofdoorzaak van de zogenaamde soorterosie is de moderne landbouw, die zich nog enkel toespitst op enkele winstgevende soorten. Het verdwijnen van soorten leidt tot verlies van belangrijke erfelijke aanleg. Dat maakt voedingsgewassen kwetsbaarder voor schadelijke dieren, ziektes of droogte. Het gevolg kan hongersnood zijn. "Gezonde voeding is echter een mensenrecht", beklemtoonde directeur-generaal Jacques Diouf van de FAO.

Eerdere berichtgeving over de biodiversiteit:
22/5/06: Europa vraagt extra inspanningen voor biodiversiteit

060612 VILT

http://www.bangkokpost.com/breaking_news/breakingnews.php?id=102528

FAO: Species reduction harms food security

Madrid (dpa) - Global food security is threatened by the reduction in cultivated plant species, experts said Monday as representatives of more than 100 countries gathered for a meeting in Madrid organized by the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).

The meeting was the first by the signatories of a binding treaty on the protection of plant genetic resources, which went into force in 2004.

The five-day meeting was to discuss the practical implementation of the treaty, such as access to plant genetic resources and financial strategy.

The industrialisation and massive commercialisation of agriculture as well as deforestation have dramatically cut the number of cultivated species, according to the FAO.

Throughout history, humans have used some 10,000 plant species for food, but today's diet is based on just over 100 species, a dozen of which represent 70 per cent of human consumption.

Three quarters of the genetic diversity of crops are estimated to have been lost during the last century.

The reduction of the genetic pool makes it more difficult for agriculture to resist pests, diseases and climate change and to improve plant species.

"Uniformity means productivity, but also vulnerability," FAO expert Jose Esquinas told the daily El Pais.

He cited the example of the Irish potato famine in the 19th century, when a fungus rapidly destroyed the primary source of food, killing or displacing millions.

In Spain, for instance, the number of melon varieties has gone down from 380 in the early 1970s to only about a dozen currently on the market.

"Once genetic material is lost, it is irretrievable," Esquinas says.

The Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources aims at safeguarding the genetic diversity of crops, at sustainability and for farmers in developing countries to get a fair share of the benefits arising from their use.

The tropical and sub-tropical countries are the richest in terms of plant genetic diversity.

The treaty creates a multilateral system of access- and benefit- sharing applying to 64 species including wheat, rice, potatoes and maize.

"We now need to specify the financial and budget aspects, the proceedings, the agreement on the access to genetic resources and the distribution of benefits," FAO director Jacques Diouf said in an interview with El Pais.

A 1996 goal of halving hunger by 2015 would not be fulfilled, Diouf predicted. "If we continue like we have done in the past decade, we will reach it in 2150," he added.

Not everyone in industrialized countries was interested in eradicating hunger, because that would prevent them from exporting their excess production to developing countries, Diouf observed.

see also : http://www.fao.org/ag/cgrfa/gb1.htm