Biodiverse and Wildlife-Friendly Farming and Ranching is sometimes simply called Wild Farming and includes many production practices that protect other natural resources as well such as water, air, soil, and climate. These practices help preserve the ecosystem services that more biologically based food production depends upon — services such as pollination, pest control, fertility, water holding, etc. As the climate changes, we will be even more dependent on these ecosystem services to keep agriculture viable and resilient. We also have an obligation to protect and restore wildlife and biodiversity especially as it comes under greater pressure from climate change. We see the development of sound sustainable food systems as an invaluable tool in addressing the interrelated issues of biodiversity, wildlife, and climate change.
Using Local Food to Protect Wildlife and Restore Biodiversity
- Choose Wildlife-Friendly food—wise food choices are almost exactly the same as for climate-friendly foods and there are a number of specific ecolabels available like salmon-safe if you can’t buy local.
- Include Biodiversity and Wildlife issues in the same, analogous ways that climate should be included in community planning and monitoring: see Addressing Climate Change with Local Food.
Key Resources
- Observing Indicators of Foodshed Health
- HCFS Tool Booklet: Biodiverse and Wildlife-Friendly Food Systems
- HCFS Tool Booklet: Climate-Friendly Food Systems
- HCFS webpage: Wild School Gardens and Resources
- Wild Farming, Gardening, Ranching Practices: Wild Farm Alliance
- Wild Farm Alliance Briefing Papers: Wild Pollinators, The Conservation Value of Farming with the Wild, Water, Grazing for Biodiversity, Integrating Wild Margins, Using Conservation Easements to Support Biodiversity
- Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation
- CitSci’s Citizen Science Project List
