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Resources
Organic & Biodiversity News
Photos courtesy USFWS &
Taylor F. Lockwood
Biodiversity Conservation and the Organic Rule
The USDA National Organic Program (NOP) rule mandates that
organic farmers conserve biodiversity. Specifically, they are required
to maintain or improve soil, water, wetlands, woodlands and wildlife.
The NOP formally acknowledged the importance of biodiversity conservation
within organic agriculture in 2005 when the National Organic Standards
Board (NOSB) adopted questions related to biodiversity into their model
Organic System Plan (OSP). At that time, some certifiers began using questions
from the model OSP or ones they had developed independently. While these
steps represent considerable progress, a number of inspectors have yet
to check for biodiversity compliance as part of the inspection process.
Supporting evidence for the benefits of biodiversity conservation to farms
and their surrounding ecosystems is plentiful. Patches of native vegetation
on farms, whether conserved on road edges, in tracts too marginal for
good yields, in riparian forests or wetland areas, helps to capture excess
nitrogen before it off-gases or pollutes our waterways, filters pathogens
like E. coli to make our food safer, slows water down for better groundwater
recharge, and provides food, cover and corridors for wildlife. Farms that
preserve or plant native species that flower throughout the growing season
benefit from native bees, which augment honeybee pollination and in some
cases surpass it. Economic values can be realized, when habitat is present
for beneficial insects, rodent-eating predators, and insectivorous birds
and bats.
Good News! The Organic Program
Votes in Favor of
Biodiversity Conservation
In May 2009, the NOSB adopted recommendations that build
on their earlier decisions favoring biodiversity. They include that:
1) Biodiversity be considered when reviewing materials
for use on organic farms,
2) Biodiversity conservation be more fully developed and implemented
in the Organic System Plan (OSP) by:
a) Producers outlining their strategy for biodiversity
conservation in their OSP,
b) Inspectors being trained in biodiversity conservation,
c) Certifiers verifying producer’s efforts to address the NOP's
requirements for biodiversity, and
d) NOP emphasizing biodiversity conservation in its trainings and
revising its checklist used to audit certifiers so that questions
about the NOP's biodiversity standards are in every audit.
Wild Farm Alliance believes it is critical for all players within organic
agriculture, including farmers, inspectors, certifiers, the NOSB and the
NOP, to do their part in ensuring that biodiversity conservation is fully
developed and implemented. Many organic farmers have already implemented
practices that conserve biodiversity as the NOP Rule intended, which is
undoubtedly saving a large number of individual species and supporting
ecological functions that reduce the impacts of global warming, water
pollution, and the pollination crisis. Following the recent approval of
this comprehensive recommendation, the advantages of biodiversity conservation
within the organic community and their respective ecosystems stand to
become more widespread. In addition, certifiers and inspectors will be
better equipped to address the intent of the Rule and assist farmers in
benefiting from all that nature provides.
National Organic Standards Board Incorporates
Biodiversity Conservation
Until recently, the organic community has had no common understanding
of what the National Organic Program's biodiversity 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. Download 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.
Biodiversity Compliance Assessment
for Organic Systems
The Preamble to the National Organic Program rule states "Compliance
with the requirements 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.
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