Agrobiodiversity - biological resources that directly and indirectly contribute to crop and livestock production - is arguably the single most important natural resource in worldwide efforts to intensify agriculture while protecting the environment. Agrobiodiversity is key to transforming agricultural systems that are currently wreaking havoc on wildlife and human health and is also essential to boosting yields to satisfy the world's growing appetite for food, fiber, and other crop and livestock products. This report highlights case studies in which modern and traditional agriculture have been successfully transformed to enhance biodiversity without sacrificing yield. Lessons learned from this review help identify sound practices for designing and monitoring agricultural projects so that they improve rural incomes while safeguarding environmental assets, particularly biodiversity. The successful protection and deployment of biodiversity hinges on a favorable policy environment and on agricultural research and extension activities that stress farmer participation and greater sensitivity to the off-site impacts of agriculture. Suggestions for sound practices, therefore, include modification of the policy environment, and ways to strengthen research institutions and extension services so that agriculture can be intensified while better protecting and managing biological resources.
