A “first evidence-based” tool developed by a global alliance could enable farmers to better assess their impacts on biodiversity, as the need to address nature protection in the agricultural sector is being increasingly emphasised, according to an international group of researchers.
The Cool Farm Biodiversity metric, a farm-scale software that scores how well farms are supporting their local biodiversity, has been designed by the Cool Farm Alliance, a not-for-profit group that counts many of the world’s most important food and beverage companies, NGOs, and academics among its members.
The main findings on the metric’s potential were presented in a paper published in the journal Ecological Indicators and led by Lynn Dicks, professor at the University of Cambridge and a contributor to the Cool Farm Alliance.
“[The tool] can be used by farmers and supply chain members across the world to give rapid, biome-specific, management recommendations and to quantify the current state of agricultural restoration for biodiversity. It allows farmers to score points to demonstrate the good they are doing, helping to incentivise engagement,” the paper said.
“The farm scale is important because it’s the scale at which change can happen, incentivised by supply chains and markets, but implemented by farmers, farm managers, and advisors,” Dicks added on LinkedIn.
With the demand for measuring farm-scale biodiversity continuing to grow, the Cool Farm Biodiversity metric is regarded as a valid instrument for identifying additional actions needed to enhance farmland biodiversity.
ACTION SCORE
The more positive actions farmers take to support biodiversity, the higher the score. Scores are based on the Conservation Evidence database developed by scientists from Cambridge, a tool designed to summarise evidence from the scientific literature about the effects of conservation actions.
The majority of the world’s agricultural production occurs across nine of the total 14 biomes. These have been combined by the tool under five biomes with similar types of agriculture.
Researchers analysed results from two of them, the “temperate forest” and “Mediterranean and semi-arid”, showing that actions with the highest scores were mainly related to production practices and small habitat creation and management in areas not used for production.
As of Apr. 27, 2023, a total of 4,355 individual farm assessments from 105 different countries had been made using the Cool Farm Biodiversity metric.
“Sustainability strategies employed by individual farms, corporate supply chains, and government-led policies all need to incorporate greater action to conserve biodiversity within productive farmland,” the paper said.
As the UN Environmental Programme has underlined, the global food system is the primary driver of biodiversity loss, with agriculture alone being “the identified threat” of more than 85% of the 28,000 species at risk of extinction.
Despite the emergency, a small number of software tools are currently available to measure and drive improvement in the biodiversity performance of farms, the authors stressed.
“The Cool Farm Biodiversity metric provides a valuable sustainability tool … that has the potential to drive an increase in the application of biodiversity-friendly practices in agricultural areas in many parts of the world,” researchers concluded.
By Giada Ferraglioni – giada@carbon-pulse.com
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