Plans  and  priorities  for  improving  stakeholder  awareness,  involvement  and  collaboration

10.4.1 Strengthening  the  institutional  setting  to  improve  stakeholder  engagement    

The Norwegian Genetic Resources Centre's strategic plan and its sectoral action plans lay out the many activities that are being undertaken to improve stakeholder awareness, involvement and collaboration in the conservation and sustainable use of animal, plant and forest genetic resources.

To broaden its outreach, the Centre’s competence and activities could be expanded to include other sectors of genetic resources, such as micro-organisms and invertebrates of relevance to food and agriculture.

111As of 1 July 2015, the Norwegian Forest and Landscape Institute is part of the Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research or NIBIO (Norsk institutt for bioøkonomi).

The government is currently in the process of drawing up an action plan to halt the loss of biodiversity and to implement relevant national goals, including those related to the Aichi biodiversity targets (Norwegian Ministry of Climate and Environment, 2014). This action plan should contribute to improving stakeholder awareness, involvement and collaboration in the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity for food and agriculture.

The goal of the Norwegian Biodiversity Information Centre (NBIC) is to serve as a national source of information on species and ecosystems in Norway, and to make up-to-date information on biodiversity widely available and easily accessible to society. NBIC’s knowledge is continuously expanding through interaction with the scientific community, and close cooperation with

policymakers, managers and other data users. A perfect example in this respect is the process that has been followed to date to revise the 2010 Norwegian Red List for Species.

10.4.2 Supporting  the  role  of  farmers,  pastoralists,  fisher  folk,  forest  dwellers,   dependent  on  local  ecosystems  

The Árbediehtu project that is run by the Sámi University College collects, documents and systematizes the traditional knowledge and methods Sámi have been using for generations to manage the natural resources that are key to their livelihood. The findings of this ongoing project are useful to the work Norway undertakes to implement the conventions and declarations in support of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities.

Local museums contribute to strengthen the knowledge and recognition of the role of farmers, fishermen and foresters, as well as of indigenous peoples and local communities in the

conservation and use of biodiversity for food and agriculture. Among others, museums like these teach schoolchildren and the broader public alike about food production and related traditions (Akershusmuseet, Årsrapport 2009). Farm field trips also continue to be important awareness raising tools in this respect (http://www.torvabarnehage.no/index.php?artID=1225&navB=80).

The increasingly popular Community Supported Agriculture (Andelslandbruk) contributes to linking producers and consumers and to raising awareness on what it takes to produce food. In this form of agriculture, farmers sell their produce directly to the consumer who buys a share of the farmers' production for a determined period of time. The risks related to annual weather variation and crop yields are shared between the farmers and the consumers

(http://andelslandbruk.origo.no/?ref=checkpoint).

10.5 Key  findings  and  remaining  challenges  

Key findings

a. Norway aims to achieve a number of environmental targets in its production systems that will contribute to meet Aichi targets 6, 7 and 13 of the UN Strategic Plan for Biodiversity.

The Norwegian Genetic Resource Centre plays a particularly important role when it comes to achieving Aichi target 13. Its strategic plan and plans of action provide a framework with priorities and activities to conserve and use cultivated plants, farm animals and forest trees native to Norway. With respect to plant breeding programmes there is extensive

cooperation between the Nordic plant breeding companies. Norway's tree and commercial livestock breeding programs are broad in scope and focus on maintaining high genetic variation within the breeding populations.

b. The government plans to expand the area of protected areas in the marine environment.

c. In 2013, the Ministry of Climate and Environment published a report entitled Natural benefits-on the value of ecosystem services. This report includes recommendations that could positively contribute to the future management of biodiversity for food and agriculture and ecosystem services.

d. In 2014, the Norwegian Forest and Landscape Institute (now NIBIO) published the first status report on the sustainable management of forests in Norway. The findings and annual updates of this report will serve as a basis for the formulation of policies that will contribute to the implementation of the Sustainable Forest Management approach in Norwegian forests.

e. The government is determined to increase the production and consumption of organic food to 15% by 2020.

Remaining challenges

a. Regarding the national environmental targets linked to Aichi target 6, it remains challenging to develop an integrated ecosystem-based management regime for marine resources. In the Barents Sea-Lofoten area, the target of maintaining or restoring populations of threatened species to viable levels has not yet been achieved. In the Norwegian sea the status of a number of endangered and vulnerable species continue to show negative trends.

b. Regarding the national environmental targets linked to Aichi target 7, it is a challenging task to reconcile the national target of ensuring viable wild stocks of anadromous salmonids with the objective of ensuring that the aquaculture industry grows sustainably. The

authorities, the industries and interest groups will have to cooperate to find solutions to reduce the overall pressure on wild fish stocks.

c. Regarding the national environmental targets linked to Aichi target 13

d. AnGR: It is a challenge to safeguard the conservation and use of commercial native livestock breeds, which is currently being managed by a small number of cooperative-run

companies. Moreover, while the status of endangered native livestock breeds has in general improved, the native horse breeds are all critically endangered.

e. PGR: the number of plant breeding programmes in Norway has declined over the last decades. The current programmes focus on commercial and semi-commercial crops.

f. FGR: The genetic resources of fifteen of the 34 native forest tree species are considered to be exposed or threatened either at the local or national level.

g. The government is expected to follow up on the recommendations of the report Natural benefits-on the value of ecosystem services. Setting priorities will be challenging.

h. The government is expected to use the recommendations of the report Bærekraftig skogbruk i Norge for the sustainable management of forests in Norway.

i. Increasing the production and consumption of organic food from approximately 5% today to 15% by 2020 is a highly ambitious and perhaps no longer a realistic goal.

11 CONCLUSIONS  AND  RECOMMENDATIONS  

Species, breeds and varieties of an uncountable number of organisms contribute either directly or indirectly to the production of food and forest products. These organisms need to be conserved and used to ensure sustainable food production for present and future generations. In the agricultural sector, most of the management practices or actions that are of benefit to the use of biodiversity for food and agriculture are not necessarily put in place with that objective.

Even if the awareness on the importance of associated biodiversity to food production and food security is increasing, safeguarding associated biodiversity in and around production systems needs to move higher up on the political agenda. This will require the development of awareness raising activities targeting decision-makers, farmers and consumers to enhance their recognition on the importance of these components of biodiversity to sustainable food production.

This section includes a number of recommendations on how to improve the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity for food and agriculture in Norway.