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Organic & Biodiversity News

Photos courtesy USFWS & Taylor F. Lockwood

New Biodiversity Compliance Assessment for Organic Systems

The Preamble to the National Organic Program rule states "Compliance with the requriements to conserve biodiversity requires that a producer incorporate practices in his or her organic system plan that are beneficial to biodiversity on his or her operation." This document was created to assist farmers and certifiers in assessing compliance. A quick one-page overview examines the most problematic biodiversity issues, while the rest of the document provides a slate of beneficial practices that comply with the rule. Download Biodiversity Compliance Assessment in Organic Agricultural Systems.

National Organic Standards Board Incorporates Biodiversity Conservation

The USDA National Organic Program Rule requires the conservation of biodiversity, and the maintenance or improvement of natural resources, including wetlands, woodlands, and wildlife. Until recently, the organic community has had no common understanding of what these requirements mean. With the help of the Wild Farm Alliance and others, the National Organic Standards Board approved biodiversity conservation additions into their Organic System Plan Template in August 2005.

The Wild Farm Alliance has biodiversity guides available for farmers and certifiers which lay out a range of farm management possibilities for a variety of situations that maintain and enhance biodiversity at the farm level and contribute to biodiversity conservation outside of farm borders at the regional or watershed level. Down load summary,

complete farmer guide, complete certifier guide, or

contact us, if you would like to receive a hard copy of one or both of the guides.