IRES Seminar Series
Time: 12:30pm to 1:30pm (every Thursday)
Location: AERL Theatre (room 120), 2202 Main Mall
Harmonizing Conservation with Agricultural Production Across Working Land
IRES Seminar Series
Time: 12:30pm to 1:30pm (every Thursday)
Location: AERL Theatre (room 120), 2202 Main Mall
Harmonizing Conservation with Agricultural Production Across Working Landscapes
Abstract: A critical challenge for this century is transitioning towards sustainable food systems that are productive and secure for both nature and people. Yet conservation scientists and practitioners have traditionally fixated on protected areas and overlooked opportunities for pursuing conservation in working landscapes. In Costa Rica, I found that diversified agricultural systems— with multiple crops and patches of native vegetation— sustained remarkable concentrations of biodiversity. Conserving biodiversity also benefited farmers. Maintaining forests and their associated birds near farms halved infestations of coffee’s most damaging insect pest, preventing US$70-US$310/ha in damage. In California, however, wildlife is being systematically eradicated from farms, following a deadly 2006 E. coli outbreak in fresh spinach that was loosely linked to wild pigs. My work has documented how such food-safety scares can reverberate through socio-ecological systems, causing rapid changes in agricultural practices and ecosystem services. For example, I found that the now widespread practice of removing nearby non-crop vegetation (perceived as wildlife habitat) is 