Note: The May/June 2009 issue of World Wildlife Fund published an article called “Reducing the Impact of the World’s Largest Industry.” I chose this as my Earth Day, Every Day offering number 5, but decided to use more current information from their website: www.worldwildlife.org/agriculture. I thought the organization focused only on animals,but am happy it also includes plant life, on which many wild animals feed.
Here are some highlights copied from their website:
Agriculture
Agriculture is the world’s largest industry. It employs over one billion people and generates over $1.3 trillion dollars worth of food annually.
***In turn, there are serious impacts from the industry on people and places. Over the last 150 years, half of all agricultural topsoil has been lost as a result of unsustainable farming practices.
WWF works to:
- identify and implement better management practices for agriculture
- create financial incentives to encourage conservation
- improve agricultural policies
- discover new income opportunities for producers
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Why it matters
Agriculture is the world’s largest industry, employing over one billion people and generating over $1.3 trillion dollars’ worth of food annually The resulting impacts on people and spaces are cause for concern – over the last 150 years, half of all agricultural topsoil has been lost as a result of unsustainable farming practices.
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What we are doing
WWF is identifying and implementing better management practices for agriculture, creating financial incentives to encourage biodiversity conservation, improving agricultural policies and identifying new income opportunities for producers.
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Delivering results
Together producers, research and extension organizations, NGOs, and governments can have a greater impact than any one group alone.
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To read more about each of these practices, please go to the website: www.worldwildlife.org/agriculture