Biodiversity, traditional landscapes and agroecosystem management

Biological organisms are the basis of life on our planet. Following recent evaluations, only 1/20 to 1/60 of the planet species have yet been described and most of these will be lost if the rate of destruction of our environment continues at the present rate. Most of the terrestrial environment, up to 95%, is affected by human activities, including agriculture, and this terrestrial habitat provides up to 98% of human food on the planet. Sustainable strategies in food production in agriculture improve the existing biodiversity and include the following items: increased porosity of the landscape through natural vegetation, proper management, better use and recycling of organic residues, introduction of integrated farming systems, reduced tillage, rotation, biological control, increased number of biota involved in human foodwebs. Attention must be paid to non-conventional food such as insects and other terrestrial invertebrates in Western countries. Such microlivestock, like the case of palm weevils in Papua New Guinea, can offer a model of sustainable use of rain forests in which most of the diversity on the planet represented by insects is concentrated.