Nature & Agriculture

Wellbeing of society is based on a healthy and productive natural environment - a healthy planetary ecosystem. It is this ecosystem that provides vital and valuable services that are still being taken for granted. Climate regulation (at micro- and macro levels), waste decomposition, nutrient cycling, flood control, water and air treatment, pest and disease control, provision of genetic resources or pollination are some of the services nature delivers for 'free'. For humans, the ecosystem forms the basis of our food and materials production (soil for agriculture, water for irrigations, mines for minerals, forests for timber, etc) as well as recreational space. For the millions of species other than humans, 'nature' is home. In fact, they 'are' nature, and nature is the very basis of their existence.

The explosion of human population and the worldwide growth in standards of living have led to a stark increase in human demand for nature. More people require more food and thus more agricultural space, but also more space for recreation, living, storing waste, etc. Higher living standards translate into more and more-resource intensive consumption (more meat in diet, high mobility demand, etc), which in turn creates more demand on nature.

The problems of this growing demand now become increasingly apparent. More carbon emitted, and less land for carbon sequestration (i.e. changes in stock, for example due to logging), leads to climate change. This in turn may reduce the productivity of land, requiring more area or resources (e.g. water, fertilisers) for the same output. Although growing demand can, to some extent, be addressed with technological innovation leading to higher productivity, the long-term impact of many of these productivity measures are uncertain (effect of pesticides and fertilisers on soil, increased emissions due to higher energy demand, etc). Furthermore, there are concerns regarding health (e.g. from use of antibiotics in industrial farming), inequality (e.g. small farmers in emerging markets having to compete with large ones in developed countries), safety (e.g. genetically altered organisms), social degradations (e.g. farmers performing factory-type work), as well as animal wellbeing (e.g. livestock in factories).

In the view of FFGS, it is high time for humans to rethink our relationship with nature. We have to make a step change from the Cartesian view of 'humans versus nature' to the recognition that our own livelihood is fully dependent on the ecosystem around us, and that we have to work with, not against, nature. It is our moral obligation to (i) share planetary resources fairly among humans, (ii) share them fairly with other species, and (iii) protect them for future generations.

Agriculture is a key driver of food security, land use, water and soil quality, carbon emissions and biodiversity. It needs to become more regional, more seasonal, and embrace more integrated, nature-enabled processes (e.g. via permaculture. Farmers should be seen as providers of food as well as safe-keepers of soil and nature in general. Problems with trade regulations must be addressed. There is need for research regarding long-term productivity. Misguided policy efforts, which require lots of land area and increase food, water, and soil problems (such as biofuel monocultures), must be swiftly abolished.

Equally, the loss of biodiversity must be taken a lot more serious. Apart from the moral issues referred to already, we need to give more recognition to the economic aspects of biodiversity. There is great value in the genetic information stored in species. Such information was generated and tested during millions of years of evolution and carries huge potential for innovation (e.g. via biomimicry). As we are already responsible for a great and irreparable biodiversity loss, large scale conservation efforts focused on the remaining biodiversity hotspots are of utmost urgency.