The LIFE project developed by the Fundación Global Nature (FGN) under the name LIFE Food and Biodiversity works to accompany farmers and ranchers with actions and practical information on measures that improve biodiversity. It is a global project that wants to cross the food chain from beginning to end with the objective of promoting the inclusion of biodiversity criteria in stamps, standards or certifications in the agri-food sector. And it works, for this, on specific farms or pilot projects to which, at the same time, it offers a concrete and complete vision of the added value that this commitment to biodiversity represents in the market.
It is about understanding conservation and sustainable use not only as an environmental problem, but also fundamental for good nutrition, for the productive processes and health of the planet and citizens. And all this also goes through agriculture, through the recovery of ecosystems with concrete and personalized measures within a good biodiversity conservation strategy that leads to greater opportunities for market differentiation, added value, consumer satisfaction and strategies more efficient sourcing.
Alma del Olivo, pilot farm of LIFE Food & Biodiversity project
Since 2017 Al Alma is one of the pilot farms of LIFE Food & Biodiversity project, whose main objective is to improve aspects related to the biodiversity of stamps and labels in the agri-food industry.
Among the battery of joint actions, a series of biodiversity indicators have been evaluated through the BPT (Biodiversity Performance Tool) tool that allows analyzing the evolution of exploitation over time to promote a continuous improvement in biodiversity performance .
To this end, a Biodiversity Action Plan is proposed, with a series of concrete measures that are prioritized and executed over time. Thanks to this work, it will be possible to evaluate and measure the benefits that these good practices entail for the improvement of biodiversity at the exploitation scale.
Thus, the negative impacts of, for example, inadequate soil management are deepened and measures are proposed to reduce them such as improving their quality with contributions of organic matter in the form of compost, implementing plant coverings under olive groves or integrating into the soil Crushed pruning remains. All these measures and their benefits will be included in the Al Alma del Olivo quality mark through a protocol.
This work with pilot farms is one of the legs of the LIFE Food and Biodiversity, which carries out many other actions to involve the entire chain of the food sector, from the field to the supermarket, as well as the consumer to be able to recognize the ecological and healthy value in products. Therefore, it intends to improve this biodiversity management of standards and labels of the agri-food sector by supporting diverse organizations to include criteria and measures to improve biodiversity in the seals and promoting that the producing and distributing companies include such criteria in their supply guides .