Saving diversity for the future



We can rescue biodiversity, but not by just fencing it off and keeping people away. Locking nature up in parks, protected areas, and laboratory gene banks is not enough - because islands of nature will not survive in a sea of devastation.

Picture of a cotton plant


The many wild relatives of cotton have contributed to the commercial crop. African and northern American varieties confer resistance to pests and diseases; Australian and Mexican strains increase yarn strength.

Instead we need to follow the example of people like the Chinampa farmers in Mexico, who have learnt that if they plant a wide range of different crops in the same field, they can produce more food and minimize risks of disasters such as crop failure. Agriculturalists are now finding that if they combine traditional techniques like this with modern scientific discoveries, they can greatly improve crop production and at the same time conserve biodiversity and natural resources such as soil and water.

Farmers all over the world have experimented with cross-breeding species that can grow in hostile conditions. A strain of millet has been developed that can survive abnormally high temperatures. Tomatoes have been bred to grow in saline soils: developing other salt-tolerant plants could bring large areas of degraded land back into production.

We should also investigate other plants that could be used to feed people. The Asian wax gourd, for example, has a thick waxy covering which allows it to be stored, unrefrigerated, for up to a year. It grows rapidly and so produces several harvests each year. Southeast Asia' s winged bean contains more protein than potato and cassava, and the nutritious yeheb nut thrives in very dry conditions.

Mixed vegetation helps keep soils moist and reduces the need for irrigation. Growing nitrogen-fixing crops like clover and alfalfa alongside other crops helps fertilize them, while hedgerows offer wind protection and provide homes for pest-eating insects.

Food production is not the only field in which we can profit from nature' s variety: reeds, rushes, and water hyacinths work together to help clean organic waste from water. Sewage treatment plants can therefore grow combinations of these species to help purify water naturally. Scientists are investigating a multitude of other ways in which natural systems can be used as models for industrial processes.

Picture of a girl
Tomorrow' s technology will have its roots in nature.



Copyright 1996, The World Wide Fund For Nature