On 22 May 2022, GLOBALG.A.P. is celebrating the International Day for Biological Diversity declared by the United Nations. Under the theme “Building a shared future for all life”, the day encourages the global community to reevaluate its relationship with the natural world and seeks to raise awareness of biodiversity as the platform for meeting sustainable development challenges.
One of the world’s most precious resources
Biodiversity represents the huge variety of life on earth, encompassing animals, plants, bacteria, and fungi, and is one of the world’s most precious resources. According to studies conducted by the United Nations and the World Biodiversity Council, one million animal and plant species are threatened with extinction due to biodiversity loss resulting from human activities.
The international day forms part of the ongoing United Nations Decade on Restoration. Running from 2021 to 2030, it was initiated on the proposal of over 70 countries around the world and aims to halt and reverse the degradation of ecosystems through global collaboration.
Protecting biodiversity in conventional agriculture
Protecting biodiversity and maintaining healthy ecosystems is essential for water, food, energy, medicines, clothing, and more. GLOBALG.A.P. recognizes the urgent need to address biodiversity issues in its area of impact – conventional agriculture – and emphasizes the protection of biodiversity as one of the central challenges facing the agricultural sector and global food supply chains.
Industry solutions are therefore needed to monitor how agricultural enterprises promote and enhance biodiversity at farm level in order to further ensure food safety and food security. To demonstrate its commitment to tackling this issue, GLOBALG.A.P. recently launched the BioDiversity add-on. Building on environmental sustainability criteria in the new Integrated Farm Assurance (IFA) standard version 6, GLOBALG.A.P. has identified additional principles and criteria that address biodiversity and developed a prototype to test the implementation of the topic on a large scale.
Farm-level biodiversity management
In collaboration with retailer Lidl and supported by a wide range of environmental stakeholders such as the Global Nature Fund, the BioDiversity add-on is a farm-level biodiversity management tool that is initially available for fruit and vegetable supply chains. The prototype has been developed to monitor, enhance, and protect key biodiversity indicators in areas such as conservation and restoration, water, and soil management.
Fruit and vegetable producers in the European Economic Area can now trial the add-on, and stakeholders are encouraged to reach out to GLOBALG.A.P. through the established channels to share their interest, experience, and feedback. This insight is crucial to the continuous improvement of the add-on.
GLOBALG.A.P. will also join the Food for Biodiversity Association to share this experience and build a robust and widely consulted solution for this important topic. Version 2 of the BioDiversity add-on is scheduled for launch in 2023.
About GLOBALG.A.P.
GLOBALG.A.P. is a brand of smart farm assurance solutions developed by FoodPLUS GmbH in Cologne, Germany, with cooperation from producers, retailers, and other stakeholders from across the food industry. These solutions include a range of standards for safe, socially and environmentally responsible farming practices. The most widely used GLOBALG.A.P. standard is Integrated Farm Assurance (IFA), applicable to fruit and vegetables, aquaculture, floriculture, livestock, and more. This standard also forms the basis for the GGN label: the consumer label for certified, responsible farming and transparency.
The GLOBALG.A.P. brand began its journey as EUREPGAP in 1997. 25 years later, over 200,000 producers have GLOBALG.A.P. certification in 134 countries. Nearly 150 team members around the world are dedicated to the mission of spreading responsible farming practices to ensure safe food for future generations. www.globalgap.org
Contact:
GLOBALG.A.P. c/o FoodPLUS GmbH,
Leonie Fischer
fischer@globalgap.org.