Linking biodiversity conservation with agriculture

With close to twenty participants from the FCLC and the Ministry of Environment, the workshop focused on the importance of integrating biodiversity conservation into agricultural practices.

“I appreciate the time you have taken to be here today and I am delighted that you as Fiji Crop and Livestock Council are discussing matters that are important while learning, sharing and exchanging the information that you have.” Mr Wycliffe shared.

The FCLC is the national umbrella body for Fiji’s non-sugar agricultural sector. Launched in 2010, FCLC is the peak industry body for crop and livestock producers across the country and is comprised of 12 national commodity associations and seven sub-sector/regional associations that were set up to represent almost 60,000 farmers across the agricultural industry.

The workshop sparked interest amongst the participants with a few acknowledging how eye-opening it was.

“The workshop today is an eye-opener to most of us, as it is the first time that we are introduced to the topic of ‘biodiversity’ and to realize that we are the main player or actor in the agriculture value chain and sector. Apart from coastal fisheries, we are the main sector contributing to the acceleration of the loss and decline of biodiversity and ecosystem in Fiji”, Mrs Jiu Daunivalu, Chief Executive Officer of FCLC highlighted.

The workshop was organised by the BIODEV 2030 project, a project implemented by IUCN in close collaboration with the Ministry of Environment that aims to halt the decline of biodiversity by 2030 and supports its restoration by 2050.

IUCN Oceania Regional Programme Coordinator Mr Andrew Foran delivered the welcoming remarks, thanking the donors and partners, the French Development Agency (AFD), Expertise France and WWF, thanking the Fiji Ministry of Environment for their ongoing support for the BIODEV 2030 pilot project, and thanking the participants for their time and travel to attend. He also noted that “according to the IUCN Red List Index, Fiji’s species are declining and its biodiversity is being degraded, so the workshop provides an awareness session on the Biodiversity of Fiji, its importance, the threats and main change drivers, and the solutions and opportunities”

The awareness workshop provided a platform to inform the Fiji Crop and Livestock Council on the project results of the biodiversity assessment while at the same time collating feedback and exploring opportunities of working together with agricultural businesses to reduce biodiversity loss.