Interview: FAO stresses key role of biodiversity for food security

Biodiversity is essential to food security, said Fernando Soto, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) representative in Mexico.

Because biodiversity translates into varied plant life, it is directly linked to balanced nutrition, Soto told Xinhua on the sidelines of the ongoing 13th Conference of Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP13) in Cancun, Mexico.

"With the destruction of biodiversity, humanity is losing the potential to adapt ecosystems to new challenges, such as population growth and climate change. Achieving food security for all is intrinsically tied to maintaining biodiversity," said Soto.

The good news is "we are starting to see an awareness and a consensus among all the world's countries in caring for the planet," he said.

Current production models and consumer patterns apparently "cannot be sustained over the next 30 to 50 years, so the objectives of sustainable development, natural resources and biodiversity are being taken more seriously," said Soto.

However, consumers, producers and distributors all have the responsibility to demand that their right to biodiversity be protected, he stressed

"It's not just a matter of governments, but of an economic and social system, I mean it is a matter of the private sector, of civil society and social movements. It is a matter of legislators," explained Soto.

While humankind has cultivated some 7,000 species of edible plants, it is the world's forests that are the richest sources of plant life, as well as wildlife and microorganisms, and as such must be protected, added the FAO official.

Coastal marine ecosystems are similarly rich in biodiversity, he noted.

Soto urged Mexico, one of the world's most biodiverse nations, to work to protect its ecosystems and native plants such as beans and maize, which "have always been the foundation of its diet."

"It is the foundation of a good diet belonging to a millenary civilization, and has been scientifically proven ... It is necessary to return to the consumption of beans, chickpeas, peanuts, as they are part of recovering a healthy diet," said Soto, noting Mexico's growing struggle with obesity and diabetes.

"Some 72 percent of adults over 20 in Mexico" are overweight or obese, "and that leads to diabetes and hypertension," which impact quality of life and productivity, he said. Endi