The provision of guidance for the quantitative assessment of biodiversity in live¬stock and other sectors is an emerging area of work. This document represents an initial step in which international experts with various backgrounds shared their views on biodiversity assessment. The general objective of this document was to de-velop principles applicable to different assessment methods in order to guarantee a minimum level of soundness, transparency, scientific relevance, and completeness. These principles can be used to identify crucial elements of livestock systems that affect biodiversity, to monitor changes and make improvements, and to produce assessment results for internal or external communication.

"The assessment builds on the work of the Livestock, Environment and Development (LEAD) Initiative"--Pref.

The Technical Advisory Group (TAG) on biodiversity, hereafter called Biodiversity TAG, is composed of 25 international experts in ecology, biodiversity indicators, agronomy, life cycle assessment, livestock production systems, and environmental science. Their backgrounds, complementary between systems and regions, allowed them to understand and address different perspectives. The aim of the methodology developed in these guidelines is to introduce a harmonized international approach for assessing the impacts of livestock on biodiversity. The livestock sector is a major user of natural resources (land in particular) and an important contributor to pollution (e.g. causing nutrient losses, increasing greenhouse gas emissions), which makes it one of the sectors with the highest impact on biodiversity. At the same time, livestock production is one of the few sectors with not only negative but also positive impacts on biodiversity; therefore, the sector can pull two levers to improve its biodiversity performance – mitigate harm and maximize benefits. Many environmental assessments of the livestock sector have not addressed biodiversity because of its intrinsic complexity. These guidelines strive to include biodiversity in environmental assessments, in order to increase the understanding of the impacts of livestock on biodiversity and to reveal possible synergies or trade-offs with other environmental criteria or Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Several indicators in these guidelines are also of relevance for the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.

The aim of the methodology developed in these guidelines is to introduce a harmonized international approach assessing nutrient flows and impact assessment for eutrophication and acidification for livestock supply chains taking the specificity of the various production systems involved into consideration. The methodology strives to increase understanding of nutrient use efficiency and associated environmental impacts and to facilitate the improvement of livestock systems’ environmental performance. The guidelines are a product of the Livestock Environmental Assessment and Performance (LEAP) Partnership, a multi-stakeholder initiative whose goal is to improve the environmental sustainability of livestock sector through better metrics and data. Nutrient use in livestock production systems increased over the last decades due to the increased demand for livestock production. This demand is mainly driven by the increase in the population growth, population income, and urbanization. Consequently, in livestock supply chains, nutrient losses into the environment have contributed to environmental burdens such as climate change, air and water pollution, degradation of soil quality, loss of biodiversity and human health issues. Therefore, there is strong interest in measuring nutrient flows to improve the environmental performance of the livestock sector. The objectives of these guidelines are: •To develop a harmonized, science-based approach resting on a consensus among the sector’s stakeholders; •To recommend a scientific, but at the same time practical, an approach that builds on existing or developing methodologies; •To promote a harmonised approach to assess nutrient flows and impact assessment, relevant for global livestock supply chains; •To identify the principal areas where ambiguity or differing views exist concerning the methodological framework. During the development process, these guidelines were submitted for technical review and public review. The purpose is to strengthen the advice provided and ensure it meets the needs of those seeking to improve nutrient use efficiency and environmental performance through sound assessment practice. This document is not intended to remain static. It will be updated and improved as the sector evolves and more stakeholders become involved in the LEAP, and as new methodological frameworks and data become available. The guidelines developed by the LEAP Partnership gain strength because they represent a multi-actor coordinated cross-sectoral and international effort to harmonize assessment approaches. Ideally, the harmonization leads to greater understanding, transparent application and communication of metrics, and, not least, real and measurable improvement in environmental performance.

The evaluation of the project “Livestock Environmental Assessment and Performance (LEAP) Partnership” covered the three phases of the LEAP Partnership (2012–2021). The evaluation found that the project responded to an existing demand to advance towards a science-based benchmarking of the environmental performance of the livestock sector. The LEAP partnership was a cost-effective approach that contributed to consensus building and greater understanding of the factors influencing environmental performance by providing a neutral forum for discussion and negotiation. The evaluation provides six recommendations: i) strengthen the project’s theory of change to reflect the complexity of learning and innovation, including gender perspective; ii) strengthen the multi-stakeholder partnership governance, management and procedures; iii) strengthen collaboration with other initiatives such as the Global Agenda for Sustainable Livestock (GASL) and the Global Livestock Environmental Assessment Model (GLEAM); iv) reduce the budget uncertainty through improved long-term planning and a strengthened resource mobilization strategy; v) update and improve the dissemination strategy; and vi) develop an outreach strategy with clear goals.

This brochure presents FAO’s work on mainstreaming biodiversity as a cross-cutting theme in the agriculture, fisheries and forestry sectors. It provides examples of on-the-ground activities and highlights relevant international mechanisms. It shows how biodiversity and ecosystems benefit people in countless ways by providing food, clean water, shelter and raw materials for our basic needs. Agriculture is a major user of biodiversity but also has the potential to contribute to the protection of biodiversity. Occupying more than one-third of land in most countries of the world, if managed sustainably, agriculture can contribute to important ecosystem functions. These include maintenance of water quality, erosion control, biological pest control and pollination. Our ability to benefit from ecosystem services in the future will depend critically on how we understand, value and manage them today, both within and outside agricultural production systems. To achieve this objective, the different sectors need to work together.

This report is the outcome of a consensus-building project to agree on best practices for environmental and nutritional Life Cycle Assessment (nLCA) methodology, and identify future research needs. The project involved 30 nutritional and environmental LCA researchers from 18 countries. It focused on the assessment of food items (as opposed to meals or diets). Best practice recommendations were developed to address the intended purpose of an LCA study and related modeling approach, choice of an appropriate functional unit, assessment of nutritional value, and reporting nLCA results. An nLCA study should report the quantities of as many essential nutrients as possible and aim to provide information on the nutritional quality and/or health impacts in addition to nutrient quantities. Outstanding issues requiring further research attention include: defining a minimum number of nutrients to be considered in an nLCA study; treatment of nutrients to limit; use of nutrient indexes; further development of Impact Assessment methods; representation of nutritional changes that may occur during subsequent distribution and food preparation in cradle-to-gate nLCA studies; and communication of data uncertainty and variability. More data are required for different regions (particularly developing countries); for the processing, distribution, retail, and consumption life cycle stages; and for food loss and waste. Finally, there is a need to extend nLCA methodology for the assessment of meals and diets, to consider further how to account for the multi-functionality of food in a sustainability framework, and to set nLCA studies within the context of environmental limits. These results provide a robust basis for improving nLCA methodology and applying it to identify solutions that minimize the trade-offs between nourishing populations and safeguarding the environment.

The Encyclopedia of Food Security and Sustainability, Three Volume Set covers the hottest topics in the science of food sustainability, providing a synopsis of the path society is on to secure food for a growing population. It investigates the focal issue of sustainable food production in relation to the effects of global change on food resources, biodiversity and global food security. This collection of methodological approaches and knowledge derived from expert authors around the world offers the research community, food industry, scientists and students with the knowledge to relate to, and report on, the novel challenges of food production and sustainability. This comprehensive encyclopedia will act as a platform to show how an interdisciplinary approach and closer collaboration between the scientific and industrial communities is necessary to strengthen our existing capacity to generate and share research data. Offers readers a ‘one-stop’ resource on the topic of food security and sustainability Contains articles split into sections based on the various dimensions of Food Security and Food Sustainability Written by academics and practitioners from various fields and regions with a “farm to fork understanding Includes concise and accessible chapters, providing an authoritative introduction for non-specialists and readers from undergraduate level upwards, as well as up-to-date foundational content for those familiar with the field

For decades, the livestock debate has focused on how to increase production in a sustainable manner. However, the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development has shifted the emphasis from fostering sustainable production per se, to enhancing the contribution of the sector to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This publication examines the sector’s interaction with each of these Goals, as well as the potential synergies, trade-offs, and complex interlinkages. This global report is intended to serve as a reference framework that Member States and stakeholders can use as they engage in the transformation process of the livestock sector towards sustainability. It calls for an integrated approach towards livestock sustainable development, highlights the effective adaptation of the SDGs into specific and targeted national policy action as the major challenge ahead, and flags the steps in the implementation road map.

Emerging Issues in Climate Smart Livestock Production: Biological Tools and Techniques furnishes a detailed reference on livestock sustainability and the role of biotechnology for creating more sustainable livestock production systems. The book is a collection of scientific techniques, including genetic engineering used to modify and improve animals, fishes, and microorganisms for human benefit. The book is particularly attractive for scientists, researchers, students, educators, and professionals in agriculture, veterinary, and biotechnology science. This book promotes several biotechnological approaches that can easily be evaluated in the field for quality assurance programs beneficial to producing livestock products and overall public health. Biotechnology has the potential to improve the productivity of animals via increased growth, carcass quality and reproduction, improved nutrition and feed utilization, improved food quality and safety, improved animal health and welfare, and reduced waste through more efficient utilization of resources. - Identifies and explores biotechnological approaches for sustainable livestock and fish production - Focuses on strategies for enhancing livestock and fishery productivity and sustainability - Presents the latest research on modern methods and technologies