Common ground dialogues

Farming provides livelihoods for billions and harnesses nature’s resources to give us food, feed, fibre and energy. Yet, excessive expansion and intensification of agriculture are also drivers of soil and biodiversity degradation and contribute to climate change, undermining the agricultural sector’s own future.

It is therefore not surprising that the dialogue between the conservation and agricultural sectors is too often antagonistic, focusing on seemingly irreconcilable aims and competition for space. IUCN’s Common Ground Dialogues aim to reframe the dialogue between the agricultural sector and the conservation community around the ‘common ground’ of shared solutions.

IUCN is committed to reinforcing the common ground between the agriculture and conservation sectors, believing that mutually beneficial action will result. With understanding based on this Common Ground, there is great potential for widespread adoption of sustainable agricultural practices that can meet our needs for food, feed, fibre, and energy. More widely, sustainable agriculture can contribute to food, water security, climate regulation and other objectives, supporting progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals and other international targets for climate change, biodiversity and land degradation.