Building a regional network for linking science, policy, and practitioners to enhance biodiversity in agricultural ecosystems

Background/Question/Methods

Farming systems replace native habitats, but they rely upon access to the ecological services provided by native ecosystems notably pollination and pest suppression. Evidence suggests that increasing functional biodiversity in farming systems can enhance these ecosystem services and provide broader conservation benefits such as wildlife habitat.  However, a number of challenges including a lack of regionally specific applied research and monetary and regulatory disincentives hinder widespread biodiversity improvements.  Effectively addressing these challenges requires a coordinated effort among researchers, policy makers and practitioners.  We believe a good example of such a coordinated approach is the Functional Agricultural Biodiversity Work Group (FABWG).  The FABWG is a collaborative forum for practitioners such as farmers and conservationists, applied researchers, and policy experts from both government and non-governmental organizations.  Its goal is to foster regionally specific research and outreach, better communication between stakeholders, and improved policy driven incentives to enhance the biodiversity of agricultural ecosystems in the western U.S.  The group uses a participatory and active learning approach that involves all stake holders in the decision and planning process.  Here we report on the lessons learned and impacts of the group’s efforts since its inception in 2007. 

Results/Conclusions

The FABWG has successfully created a regional network that is translating the needs of practitioners and policy makers into appropriate applied research and effective advocacy.  A key tool for building this network has been a series of short courses held annually on farms in OR, WA and ID.  These courses used active learning to explore the benefits of on-farm biodiversity as well as techniques for actually implementing biodiversity improvements.  Participants included over 200 farmers, industry representatives, researchers, conservationists, policymakers and regulators. The courses also used group discussions to help identify information gaps that make it difficult to effectively implement or manage biodiversity on farms.  The discussions also identified roadblocks that industry and regulatory policies place on farmers who utilize functional agricultural biodiversity practices.  The FABWG members used the information gained from the short courses and from annual work group member meetings to develop several collaborative research, education, and outreach projects that total over $500,000 dollars.  These early successes suggest that the FABWG provides a good general model for building a regional knowledge network that can effectively integrate science, policy, and on the ground implementation of biodiversity.