Agricultural biological diversity

Decision III/11 and Decision IV/6. Conservation and sustainable use of agricultural biological diversity

(334) Flanders establishes or enhances mechanisms for increasing public awareness and understanding of the importance of the sustainable use of agrobiodiversity components:

• through support of non governmental organisations for safeguarding indigenous breeds of livestock (cows, sheep, goats, rabbits, poultry);
• through subsidies to farmers for indigenous breeds of livestock (cows, sheep, goats);
• through support of non governmental organisation safeguarding old fruit races;
• through support and subsidies for biological agriculture (using a broader scope of races and varieties);
• through support/subsidies for (agro)biodiversity in permanent grasslands.

Decision V/5. Agricultural biological diversity: review of phase I of the programme of work and adoption of a multi-year work programme

If a developed country Party -

(347) Belgium signed the Rotterdam Convention on 11 September 1998. The ratification progress is in process and should be completed before 31 December 2001. For Belgium, this Convention is exclusively a federal competence.

Further comments on implementation of these decisions and the associated programme of work

(333, 349, 350) The main pollinators of wild or cultivated plants belong to the Apoidea, or bees in a broad sense. There are 7 Apoidea families and more than 1000 species in Europe, of which 376 species have been identified in Belgium. Several Belgian specialists at the University of Mons, the Gembloux Agricultural University and the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences study wild Apoidea at Belgian and European levels. These experts have worked together since the 1970's to establish a common database on Apoidea, which contains nowadays more than 120,000 records on Belgian and European species. A faunal overview of European bumblebees will be published soon whereas a faunal study of the Halictidae of Belgium should be finalised by 2002. In 1993, the conclusions of an inventory report were rather alarming: populations of 31% of Belgian Apoidea species were found to be declining. Since 1993 however, no exhaustive inventory has been carried out in Belgium. Funding would be welcome to materialise research results. This could include the creation of a website providing:

• general information on pollinators and on measures to be taken for their sustainable conservation;
• information on each Apoidea species, including illustrations for each species allowing their correct identification;
• distribution maps in Belgium and Europe;
• a list of flowers on which the species gather nectar and which are pollinated, its status (common, vulnerable, endangered, etc.) in Belgium and Europe.

National inventories are currently carried out in several European countries and co-operation at European level could be considered. Partner countries could include the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland and Poland. Although these countries are characterised by considerable human resources (Apoidea specialists), research is often hampered by a lack of resources, just as it is the case in Belgium.