1. The present addendum supplements the report of the Secretary-General on integrated planning and management of land resources, from the perspective of the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity. Emphasis is placed on landscape diversity,¹ which expresses the numerous relations within a landscape, including cultural and geographical features as well as natural elements, and the functions of biodiversity, both above and below ground, in providing ecosystem goods and services, including food and biomass production. The analysis is not exhaustive but illustrates some areas where progress has been made in understanding and addressing biodiversity issues as an integral part of land resources planning and management, taking into account the strategic objectives of food security, socio-economic development and environmental conservation at the global, national and local levels.

2. Human activities are impacting on biological diversity in many ways, through the intensification and/or expansion of productive land use, the expansion of human settlements, industrialization and infrastructure, and the associated effects of pollution and wastes, on the one hand, and the creation of protected areas on the other. In addition, biodiversity is being impacted upon by climate change and by natural events, such as floods and cyclones. Human activities can be managed to a greater or lesser extent, depending on the environmental, socio-economic and political context and the capacities of all the concerned stakeholders. The impacts of natural phenomena at the local level can be moderated through appropriate risk-alleviating strategies and actions that influence land use and natural resources management. Moreover, changes in land use and vegetation cover influence climatic variability since these affect the flows and balances between the land and the atmosphere in regard to greenhouse gases, carbon, nitrogen and water cycles, as well as energy. Thus, trends in biodiversity loss can be significantly modified through appropriate land management options, which may also contribute to sustained productivity, carbon sequestration, combating degradation and other development goals.

3. Since the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), held at Rio de Janeiro in June 1992, and with progress in the implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity, there has been increased awareness and attention to biological diversity at the international and national levels, which has helped to catalyse research, monitoring and assessment activities and the development of strategies and actions at the country level in specific ecological zones or land types (drylands, coastal zones, inland water ecosystems etc.) and specific land uses (agriculture, forestry, rangelands and pastures, protected areas).

5. The most widely cited impacts of land use change on biodiversity loss are those of agriculture and forestry activities, including impacts through land cover change (loss of natural forests, grasslands, mangrove swamps, wetlands and the species they contain), as well as three main impacts at the genetic resources level: reduced species and varieties of domesticated plants and animals as a result of breeding and development strategies; loss of wild species, including micro-organisms, that support food and agriculture; and wild species that depend on the land-use system and the landscape.

6. Despite increased recognition, the expansion of agriculture and the necessary intensification of activities to meet the demands of increasing numbers of humans, involving land clearance and encroachment on forest lands, wetlands, natural rangelands and grasslands, and increasing specialization in cropping and logging operations, livestock and fish production, remain major concerns in all regions. Attention has recently been paid to the damage to the life-support system caused by intensive technologies and management practices, in addition to the impacts on habitat and species loss of unsustainable practices that are prevalent in extensive systems and smallholder systems as a result of poverty and overexploitation of resources. The agricultural biodiversity assessment that has been prepared jointly by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Convention on Biological Diversity for consideration by the fifth meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice of the Convention, to be held in January 2000, elaborates in greater depth the linkages between biodiversity and abiotic resources through its focus on landscape and ecosystem levels and on life-support functions in addition to the genetic resources level and human dimensions (see UNEP/CBD/SBSTTA/5/10 and UNEP/CBD/SBSTTA/5/INF/10).

7. There is increasing evidence that many of today’s specialized agricultural and forestry systems may be unsustainable in that they cannot maintain current levels of production indefinitely, and there is a risk of the loss of essential ecosystem services, resilience and stability. Conversely, agriculture has been shown to also provide biodiversity-rich landscapes and resilient ecosystems that would otherwise revert to lower levels of biodiversity, such as farming in dryland areas, managed meadows and home gardens. Forest biological diversity is best conserved through in situ programmes and sustainably managed forests. Moreover, agriculture, forestry and livestock breeding activities have led to the development of large numbers of landraces and improved varieties, many of which are conserved in situ or ex situ. There is a renewed focus on the opportunities for sustainably developing and/or restoring integrated production systems and management practices that sustain production through diversification and maintenance and enhancement of life support systems.

12. The expansion of urban and rural settlements and industrial activities as well as infrastructure development have led to substantial species and habitat loss. The pressures of urbanization are strongly felt in coastal and mountainous areas, which are important for tourism and recreation and also provide essential ecosystem services. Pressures from the resource use, pollution and waste generation in urban areas are usually much higher than in rural areas and may have far-reaching impacts. Nonetheless, gardening, urban and peri-urban agriculture and parks and reserves have maintained important levels of biodiversity in many cities. In fact, these are often vital in providing food security and shelter and in maintaining traditional species of fruits, vegetables, roots, tubers and ornamental plants. It may also provide important ecological functions, such as water cycling, climate regulation, watershed protection and wildlife habitats, as well as income-earning opportunities, recreation, aesthetic and cultural values. Despite reference to the urban/biodiversity interface in the Habitat Agenda (1996) and activities by the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat) through its sustainable cities programme and support to environmental planning and management in urban areas with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), urban biodiversity remains little known and recognized in terms of its values. Otherwise, efforts have focused on parks, gardens and zoos; combating pollution by hazardous chemicals, such as persistent organic pollutants; and reducing gas emissions that contribute to ozone depletion and acid rain.

13. Many international bodies (the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Commission on Sustainable Development, FAO, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), UNEP, the World Resources Institute (WRI) and others) are working to develop indicators for sustainable development and for biological diversity to assist in monitoring and assessing status and trends, the development or recovery of an ecosystem, and progress in promoting conservation and sustainable use, as well as for policy-making and priority-setting. These indicators should ideally facilitate monitoring at various spatial scales and provide a tool for adequate management of biodiversity at the local and national levels, as well as for regional and global overviews of biodiversity status and trends. Little progress has been made in developing indicators of biodiversity due to the low level of scientific knowledge and understanding regarding biodiversity, such as with regard to ecosystem processes and functions. A proposal for a core set of indicators on biodiversity has been prepared for consideration by the Subsidiary Body of the Convention at its fifth meeting which could lead to discussions on targets for the different work programmes (see UNEP/CBD/SBSTTA/5/12). Sustainable development indicators, developed under the Commission on Sustainable Development, currently include two indicators of biological diversity. At a recently held expert meeting, it was suggested to await the outcome of the forthcoming Subsidiary Body meeting for further elaboration of indicators of biodiversity.

14. Indicator systems have been developed and used in monitoring in North America and Sweden, for example, for boreal forests. OECD has developed indicators for energy, transport, forestry and agriculture sectors. The OECD Joint Working Party on Agriculture and the Environment is developing a set of 13 agri-environmental indicator areas. Ten of these areas — soil quality, water quality, water use, land conservation, biodiversity, wildlife habitats, landscape, farm management, farm financial resources and rural sociocultural issues — are covered in a recently published book on environmental indicators for agriculture.² Case studies have been provided by Mexico, Canada, New Zealand and others. The most significant progress has been made in regard to indicators for sustainable forest management (see E/CN.17/2000/6/Add.1). A number of international initiatives to define criteria for sustainable forest management and identify related indicators for measuring and monitoring progress towards increased sustainability are under way. All have specified the conservation of biodiversity as one of the 6 to 8 criteria of sustainability, and are in the process of identifying indicators for monitoring of ecosystem, species and intra-specific diversity. FAO and UNEP are developing technical guidelines to facilitate the implementation of criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management in dry zone Africa and the Near East and for monitoring.

16. The increased focus, in recent years, on holistic, systemic approaches has improved knowledge and understanding of effects of changing land use and management practices on biological diversity from a focus on intra- and inter- species diversity to including diversity at the landscape level. Advances have been made, in particular in understanding the importance of sustaining ecosystem functions and life-support systems, such as the nutrient, hydrological and carbon cycles, climatic regulation, and pest and disease management processes that operate at local as well as watershed/landscape levels.

17. The Convention on Biological Diversity has adopted the ecosystem approach as the primary framework of action under the Convention, and is developing a usable definition and guidance for application. This is a strategy for integrated management of land, water and living resources through promoting conservation and sustainable use in an equitable way. It focuses on the essential processes and functions of ecosystems, including the interactions among organisms and their environment, and on the goods and services flowing from such processes, functions and interactions.³ It recognizes that humans and their cultural diversity are an integral component of ecosystems. The approach has been developed through a series of meetings under the Convention on Biological Diversity process, including a recent Norway/United Nations conference on the ecosystem approach for sustainable use of biological diversity (Trondheim, September 1999), which built on the earlier Malawi Principles. Based on that conference and a Convention on Biological Diversity liaison group meeting, five points of guidance for the application of the ecosystem approach have been identified, namely to:

· Focus on the functions of biodiversity in ecosystems;

· Promote the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits derived from the functions of biological diversity in ecosystems;

· Use adaptive management practices;

· Carry out management actions at the scale appropriate for the issue being addressed, with decentralization to the lowest level, as appropriate;

· Ensure intersectoral cooperation (e.g. inter-ministerial bodies and networks).

The Subsidiary Body of the Convention will discuss this issue at its fifth meeting.

18. The Ecosystem Conservation Group was revitalized in July 1998 on the initiative of UNEP, and a number of key priority areas have been identified for attention by its members (FAO, UNEP, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the World Bank, the World Conservation Union (IUCN) and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)) concerning the structure and functioning of the Earth’s ecosystems. As a result, three issue papers have been prepared, entitled "Large-scale ecosystem management, with special reference to the marine and coastal environment", "Biodiversity and the urban environment" and "Monitoring and assessment of ecosystems".

20. Increased attention is being placed on the role and importance of land-use diversity within a landscape, for example for pest and disease management, pollinator and plant reproductive processes, and watershed and water resources management and the maintenance of wetland ecosystems, as well as in regard to recreation and aesthetic values. A challenge is to promote appropriate policies and institutional partnerships that can scale up and replicate across rural landscapes, ecologically based agriculture and land use to provide multiple goods and services and ecosystem functions.

22. By adopting multiple-use strategies, many local and indigenous resource users and farmers manage, in situ, a continuum of agricultural and natural systems, obtaining a variety of products as well as ecological benefits. Diversified systems, such as those based on inter-cropping and agroforestry, and crop/livestock or crop/fish combinations, and those that manage the "associated biodiversity" of soil biota, pest- and disease-modulating organisms and others, may prove to be more sustainable and have been the target of considerable research. The favourable attributes are related to the higher levels of "functional" biodiversity and effects on the stabilization of agro-ecosystem processes, focusing on species composition rather than species number per se. The challenge is to manage the agro-ecosystem so as to maintain or enhance key ecological services, such as nutrient cycling, biological pest regulation and water and soil conservation. Many traditional and local systems and management practices have developed over years and generations to exploit such relationships between species and interlinkages between biological and land resources.

23. The use of livestock, for example, is essential to recycle nutrients and maintain ecosystem resilience in the traditional extensive agropastoral systems developed over generations in the drylands of Sahelian Africa, as well as in the modified intensive systems using stallfed animals in Java, Indonesia and other parts of Asia, where population pressures are high. Building on sustainable traditional systems, the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) and national research bodies have been researching ways to modify such mixed agro-ecosystems so as to improve nutrient recycling and productivity since long-term studies in Nigeria, Burkina Faso and elsewhere have shown that fertilizers alone lead to reduced organic carbon and cation exchange capacity. Similarly, agroforestry systems in which trees and shrubs are grown in association with crops or pastures for improved soil fertility management and reduced soil erosion have been well researched and documented by the International Centre for Research in Agroforestry (ICRAF) and various national research bodies.

25. The functional importance of biodiversity for the maintenance of soil fertility remains one of the most fundamental gaps in current understanding of terrestrial ecosystems, as noted in the UNEP Global Biodiversity Assessment, 1995, and losses of below-ground genetic and species diversity from human impacts remain largely undocumented. The conversion from forest to grassland or cropland can cause major changes in the nutrient pool and soil biota, as well as infiltration, run-off and soil erosion rates. Land management and tillage practices also affect the soil biota, fertility, structure, aeration and hydrology in various ways. The effects of heavy use of pesticides, soil fungicides and fumigants on soil biota may be dramatic as they kill bacteria and bacteria-feeding organisms and upset the balance between pathogens and beneficial organisms, allowing disease-causing organisms to escalate. It is likely that declining soil biodiversity could weaken the resilience of the soil and its capacity to recover from disturbance after a fire, flood or excessive tillage. It could also make the soil more susceptible to disease as the natural defence systems will be disrupted.

26. A typical healthy soil may contain several species of vertebrate animals and earthworms or termites, 20 to 30 species of mites, 50 to 100 species of insects, tens of species of nematodes, hundreds of species of fungi and algae, and thousands of species of bacteria and actinomycetes. In undisturbed ecological systems, soil-water-plant relationships ensure nitrogen fixation and inorganic transformation processes; the bacterial and fungal biomass provides a stable nutrient pool. Following mechanical or chemical disturbance, these interactions may be reduced or lost and artificial fertilizers may be required to restore harvested nutrients.

27. Efforts in conventional agricultural and forestry systems have focused on soil and water management on the surface and through tillage practices to minimize soil and water erosion, and on the use of appropriate rotations and replenishment of nutrients through artificial fertilizers, manures, green mulches and crop residues in order to restore productivity. The role of the diverse soil biota in regard to the total food web has been greatly underestimated and undervalued. The functions and importance of different species and the composition of soil biota are still inadequately studied or understood. The Convention on Biological Diversity, recognizing its potential importance for the functioning and sustainability of agricultural systems, identified soil biodiversity as an area deserving special attention. A number of case studies have been conducted on soil biota and effects of land management practices and different land use systems.⁵ The interactions are known to be extremely complex, not only because of the enormous population sizes and diversity in a healthy soil but also because there are both beneficial and harmful soil biota. However, as is the case for above-ground pests and predators, the harmful ones can be controlled biologically by other soil organisms.

28. Increasing attention is being paid to land husbandry or land-care approaches, which focus on the health of the land as a living entity and the holistic management of soil, water and biological resources, both above and below ground. In contrast to conventional approaches that replace harvested nutrients through fertilizers and control pests and diseases through agrochemicals, appropriate land management practices enhance the activities of soil biota and the natural processes of nutrient cycling, nitrogen fixation, soil regeneration and pest-predator relationships, as well as improving the effective use of water. The focus is not just on the resources but on making optimal use of interactions among different animals and plants, as well as the soil- plant-water relationships.

29. The first comprehensive effort in the tropics has been initiated through the DIVERSITAS⁶ tropical soil biodiversity and fertility strategy programme, which is reviewing the role and importance of soil biodiversity and a balanced soil ecosystem in the sustainable management of biological diversity in agricultural and forest systems. As with the now well-publicized and widely promoted integrated pest management programme, the aim of the soil biodiversity programme is to identify ways and means of managing soil populations so as to favour beneficial interactions and minimize negative actions. Through this work as well as that by CSIRO-Australia and others, bio-indicators based on soil biota and simple tools are being developed to monitor and quantify the biological health of soils, to assess the effects of land management practices and to provide an early warning of soil degradation.

30. A healthy soil will tend to naturally break down agricultural wastes and other pollutants as long as the contamination is not severe. A soil management strategy relies on soil biota for the clean-up of organic pollutants, which can be degraded and detoxified by certain soil organisms. FAO assists countries, such as Central and East European countries, in restoring severely contaminated soils, and provides technical support to evaluate problems and help identify and promote appropriate solutions.

31. A dynamic, flexible and participatory approach that takes into account changes in land use, land resources and the pressures upon them and the socio-economic environment has been shown to be essential for the management of land and biological diversity. The aim is to attain the dual goals of sustaining livelihood systems and appropriate production goals at the level of the resource user, as well as sustaining ecosystem functions at the watershed level and meeting national goals. This requires an interactive process driven by both the needs of resource users and the provision by the national and local government of an enabling environment through appropriate policies, incentives and support.

33. The extent to which land resources planning and management takes into account biodiversity depends on (a) the status of national biodiversity strategies and action plans and the degree to which these are mainstreamed with national environmental action plans and national sustainable development strategies, as well as sectoral strategies, such as national forest programmes; (b) the extent to which land-related policies, legislation and related incentive and benefit-sharing measures address biodiversity issues, such as security of tenure and access to land and other natural resources, land markets and land values; and (c) the extent to which concerned stakeholders and their biodiversity concerns are addressed and supported through institutional and legal support measures and planning processes.

34. UNEP, the World Bank and UNDP, as implementing agencies of GEF, have assisted countries in preparing biodiversity country studies, national biodiversity strategies and action plans and the first national reports to the Convention on Biological Diversity in association with other relevant organizations (WRI, IUCN, WWF etc.). GEF has supported a number of projects addressing agricultural biological diversity through land resources management, such as a regional project on the conservation and sustainable use of dryland agro-biodiversity of the Fertile Crescent, covering Lebanon, Jordan and the Syrian Arab Republic, in collaboration with several institutions.⁷ The Sundarbans biodiversity conservation project in Bangladesh, co-financed by GEF, the Asian Development Bank and the Nordic Development Fund, aims to achieve the development of a sustainable management and biodiversity conservation system for the Sundarbans reserved forest resources on the basis of rational plans and participation by all stakeholders. Since 1996, the World Bank, FAO and other partners have been implementing a regional environmental information management project in Central Africa. This project aims at improving and strengthening of planning and management of natural resources in the countries of the Congo Basin by providing the various stakeholders with appropriate environmental information.

35. FAO has also been involved in project formulation for a West Africa pilot community-based natural resource wildlife management project (Burkina Faso and Côte d’Ivoire), a biodiversity conservation project (Argentina) and more recently a project on the sustainable management of the Bay of Bengal large marine ecosystem (second phase of the GEF/UNDP/FAO East Africa biodiversity project executed by FAO).

36. Increasing attention is also being paid to integrating forest biodiversity and land management. An example is the now completed UNEP Taiga model forest project for the promotion of sustainable management and conservation of biological diversity in boreal forests of the northwest Russian Federation. A project on evaluation of impacts of forest management practices on biological diversity in Central Europe has also been launched by UNEP, Poland and the Netherlands. In addition, pilot model projects on Himalayan ecosystems⁸ have led to the identification of viable options for integrated management and sustainable development of the Himalayan ecosystem, helped demonstrate to policy makers and planners the key factors contributing to sustainable land use in mountain ecosystems, and trained local communities and farmers to use and manage natural resources sustainably. FAO, IPGRI, ICRAF and several other national, bilateral, regional and international partners are joining efforts to promote integrated approaches and the development of regional strategies and action plans for the conservation, management, sustainable utilization and enhancement of forest genetic resources. Outputs of regional workshops held during the development of plans of action (held to date for Sahelian Africa, 1998; South Pacific Islands, 1999) include regional syntheses on the status of forest genetic resources and the identification of major tree species and activities amenable to regional cooperation.

37. Ongoing GEF projects on biodiversity conservation and dryland rehabilitation include the participatory rehabilitation of degraded arid and semi-arid transboundary areas of Mauritania and Senegal; management of indigenous vegetation for the rehabilitation of degraded rangelands in the arid zone of Africa; a pilot community-based natural resources and wildlife management project in West Africa; the conservation and sustainable use of dryland agrobiodiversity of the Fertile Crescent in Lebanon, Jordan and the Syrian Arab Republic, and biodiversity conservation and sustainable livelihoods options in the grasslands of East Mongolia. GEF also funds biodiversity protection projects in mountain areas in some 21 countries, as well as protected areas management and sustainable use in a number of countries. Regarding urban and peri-urban areas, the UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves promotes green belts around cities (e.g., Sao Paolo and Rio de Janeiro), and the World Heritage Convention supports the conservation of valuable city environments.

38. UNDP, with the Inter-American Development Bank, is supporting regional strategies for the conservation and sustainable management of natural resources in the Amazon through assistance in developing national strategies and legislation, biodiversity information centres and capacity-building activities. The project has contributed to the conservation of tropical forests and their biological and cultural diversity, lowering carbon emissions caused by forest burning, enhanced economic opportunities to local communities and strengthened capacity to manage resource use in indigenous lands. It has also enhanced sustainable development efforts in the region through standardizing ecological and economic zoning in eight countries and helping to formulate zoning strategies and legislation, a geographical information systems information base for four countries and a model for monitoring.

40. Increased efforts are required to speed up the transition to more sustainable land use and environmental management through, inter alia, addressing the synergies between biodiversity conservation, sustainable production and carbon sequestration, and combating desertification and drought. This requires the identification and promotion of the most appropriate and sustainable land management options that impact positively on these dimensions and that contribute to the sustainable production of goods and services to meet human needs. It also requires an enabling environment that allows stakeholder involvement, including civil society engagement through harmonized policies, local governance, security of tenure, incentive measures and strengthened capacities and opportunities, especially at the local level, to exchange, monitor and learn from experience. Guidelines, mechanisms and tools, as well as capacity-building, can assist countries in identification, assessment, priority setting and planning processes for the promotion of sustainable management systems and practices.

41. Substantial progress can be made through promoting the further development and application of landscape and ecosystem approaches for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, including genetic resources for food and agriculture, and the natural resource base. These include approaches that address interactions among biological and land resources and human management activities, and that focus on ecosystem functions and services. Special attention is drawn to promoting diversification of land-use systems, the importance of maintaining a healthy and functioning soil, increasing understanding of soil biota and ensuring the effective management and use of valuable and limited water resources.

42. A challenge in the years to come will be to place a value on ecological functions and services as an incentive for their maintenance. These may include creation of markets for the carbon storage functions of different land-use types, for example as provided by the Kyoto Protocol (see E/CN.17/2000/6/Add.1), watershed functions, biodiversity conservation, pollution abatement services, and services to agriculture and forestry, such as crop pollination and biological control.

43. Greater attention is needed to enhance recognition, improve information and knowledge of biodiversity and the goods and services sustained by urban and peri-urban environments, and to develop participatory supporting strategies, plans and actions. Environmentally friendly policies, technologies and practices are needed, especially in coastal zones and small island States that are particularly subject to heavy urbanization and which also have an impact on marine habitats and species diversity through pollution and overfishing.

44. Further efforts are required to ensure the effective participation of concerned stakeholders in all levels of priority-setting and decision-making regarding biodiversity and land resources planning and management. This requires improved cross-sectoral cooperation and inter-institutional collaboration, including among government bodies, civil society groups and intergovernmental organizations. Attention is drawn to the need for the incorporation into policy-making and the implementation of flexible methodologies and practices that provide feedback through monitoring, and that allow learning by doing, in order to build on experience.