Agrobiodiversity Zones - Peru's flagship initiative at COP-16

Authors: Marleni Ramirez, Sarah Jones, Natalia Estrada Carmona, Cristina Quintana and Elizabeth Fernandez

At the COP16 on Biodiversity, last October in Cali, Colombia, Peru presented its in-situ/on farm agrobiodiversity conservation model during a prime-time side event titled “Agrobiodiversity Zones, Millenary agricultural conservation for Peru and world food security”, led by INIA, the Institute of Agrarian Innovation in the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation of Peru, MIDAGRI. This event presented the steps being taken by the government to officially recognize and support the silent effort of original people’s and rural communities in the conservation of the magnificent agrobiodiversity of Peru, fundamental for food security, climate change adaptation and sustainable development for the country and the world.

Splendid agrobiodiversity
Peru, a megadiverse country is also distinguished by its outstanding agricultural biodiversity, the result of the interactions between humans and its surroundings over millennia. Peru is located in one of the eight ‘Vavilov centers of domestication, where agriculture first arose, and is a center of crop diversification. Home to 180 food species and thousands of farmer varieties maintained in-situ/on farm by the 2 million of small holder farmers that grow them. Crops such as potatoes boast over 2,000 varieties, while hundreds are recognized for quinoa, and scientists have grouped maize in over 50 racial groups to get a handle on its diversity. The five species of domesticated Capsicum sp.(chili) peppers are found in local markets in an array of colors, pungency and shapes that boggle our tastebuds and minds. Cacao, of Amazonian origin, shows their greatest genetic and organoleptic diversity in the Peruvian territory, and evidence of its early importance among human groups is observed in archaeological artifacts dating to more than 5,000 years BP. The in situ on farm conservation of this magnificent agricultural biodiversity has been in the eye of researchers and the Peruvian government for more than five decades. The process of crop evolution under domestication continues to this day in traditional farmer’s fields, hence their huge importance for world’s food security and adaptation to climate change.

The model
Since 2016 the government has officially recognized geographic spaces dedicated to the preservation and sustainable use of native crops, landraces, crop wild relatives and livestock, or Agrobiodiversity Zones (ABD Zones). The first ABD Zone was recognized by MIDAGRI in 2019 upon the technical recommendation from INIA and fulfillment of a series of conditions. The recognition is granted upon the request of communities which evidence the maintenance of significant agrobiodiversity, traditional agronomic practices, and observe socio-cultural norms and beliefs that favor its maintenance. Peru’s government agencies such as MIDAGRI, through its research branch INIA, and the Ministry of the Environment (MINAM), through its Biodiversity Directorate, are working hand in hand to undertake the various tasks, from the creation of ABD Zones according to protocols that have been established anew, to the search for funding to support their implementation. So far management plans for six ABD-Zones have been developed and four more are in the offing. Many challenges remain, among the most urgent, the application of robust governance mechanisms and retribution schemes to maintain the momentum and respond to the expectations of the communities.

Alliances to support implementation of ABD-Zones
During the side-event, INIA  graciously shared with the international community its model, highlighting the need to develop alliances with rural communities, civil society, academia and international cooperation. The creation of the ABDZ is happily bringing together stakeholders that have not worked together before such as conservation organizations like the Wildlife Conservation Society, WCS-Peru, and the Resilient Andes Project of Helvetas-Peru.

The Alliance, through Bioversity International, has collaborated with INIA since 1976 in many aspects of ex-situ, in-situ, and on-farm conservation research on numerous crops and agricultural systems; as well as with MINAM on pioneer work implementing on-farm incentives to conservation of agrobiodiversity. Now, the Alliance, in collaboration with Kew Gardens, continues its support through the application of the Agrobiodiversity Index to the Agrobiodiversity Zones to help show measures of the nutrition, biodiversity, land, climate adaptation and mitigation, and socio-economic values of these zones. The idea is to be able to analyze the diversity and outcomes across all the zones in a comparative manner and provide clear messages on the value of these zones. The Agrobiodiversity Zones are being proposed for inclusion as Other Effective Conservation Management (OECMs) to contribute to Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) Target 3.

Community representatives of Andenes de Cuyo-Cuyo in the department of Puno, the first ABD Zone recognized by the government in 2019, and Paymakis, department of Apurímac, recognized in 2022, expressed their pride in this recognition, indicated their expectations for the future, including the creation of new opportunities for indigenous youth to settle in the ABD Zones rather than emigrating. A broad invitation was extended to the interested public and researchers to come, visit and celebrate the riches of the agrobiodiversity zones.