Agroecological Restoration - Overview

Overview

Farms cannot be restored to a purely natural state because of the negative economic impact on farmers, but returning processes, such as pest control to nature with the method of intercropping, allows a farm to be more ecologically sustainable and, at the same time, economically viable. Agroecological restoration works toward this balance of sustainability and economic viability because conventional farming is not sustainable over the long run without the integration of natural systems and because the use of land for agriculture has been a driving force in creating the present world biodiversity crisis. Its efforts are complementary to, rather than a substitute for, biological conservation.

"...biodiversity is just as important on farms and in fields as it is in deep river valleys or mountain cloud forests."

FAO, 15 October 2004

Agriculture creates a conflict over the use of land between wildlife and humans. Though the domestication of crop plants occurred 10,000 years ago, a 500% increase in the amount of pasture and crop land over the last three hundred years has led to the rapid loss of natural habitats. In recent years, the world community acknowledged the value of biodiversity in treaties, such as the 1992 landmark Convention on Biological Diversity.