Agricultural biodiversity or agricultural biological diversity includes activities in the fields of agriculture, animal husbandry, fisheries and forestry (including the management of wildlife and protected areas) in an integrated and holistic manner. This involves consideration of different levels of agricultural biodiversity (ecosystems, species and genetic levels), and different sectors and sub-sectors (crop and wild plants, domestic and wild animals, insects, forestry and fisheries genetic resources and microbial organisms).
The Convention on Biological Diversity through its emphasis on the ecosystem level of agricultural biodiversity, offers a challenge for developing sustainable agricultural systems at the national and local level. In this context, it is recognized that more attention should be given to understanding and enhancing the genetic variety, within and between harvested and non-harvested plant, animal and microbial species. Also, more attention should be given to enhancing the complementary and synergetic relationships between species, and the sustainability, as well as the productivity (which has hitherto received more attention), of agro-ecosystems. This implies that a range of best practices should be identified and made available, with a view to their further development in an integrated manner in specific local situations.
Humankind is going to have to utilize sustainably every type of agricultural biodiversity at all levels, genetic, species and agro-ecosystem, if, as is required for universal food security, sustainable food production is to be achieved across the whole range of production environments.