Berger Iris, Kamble Ajit, Morton Oscar, Raj Varsha, Nair Sayuj R, Edwards David P, Wauchope Hannah S, Joshi Viral, Basu Parthiba, Smith Barbara, Dicks Lynn V
Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
Conservation Research Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
Nat Ecol Evol. 2025 Sep 19. doi: 10.1038/s41559-025-02849-7.
The Global Biodiversity Framework promotes agroecological farming approaches, yet rigorous system-wide evaluations of agroecological programmes are urgently needed to balance the intertwined but partially competing Sustainable Development Goals of curbing food insecurity, improving human well-being and tackling biodiversity loss. Here we focus on the largest agroecological transition globally-the 64,000 km government-incentivized zero budget natural farming (ZBNF) programme in India-to co-analyse socio-economic and biodiversity impacts. ZBNF more than doubled farmers' economic profits and maintained comparable crop yields. Bird biodiversity outcomes were improved, with the densities of bird species and functional guilds involved in pest control and seed dispersal increasing; however, natural forests remain essential to sustaining populations of forest-specialized species. Trade-offs between bird densities and landscape-scale yields and profit were substantially less pronounced in ZBNF than in conventional, agrichemical-based farming systems, underscoring the benefits of agroecological interventions with aligned protection of natural ecosystems.
《全球生物多样性框架》倡导采用生态农业的耕作方式，然而，迫切需要对生态农业项目进行全面而严格的系统评估，以平衡遏制粮食不安全、改善人类福祉和应对生物多样性丧失这几个相互交织但又存在部分竞争关系的可持续发展目标。在此，我们聚焦于全球最大的生态农业转型项目——印度政府激励的6.4万公里零预算自然农法（ZBNF）项目，对其社会经济和生物多样性影响进行综合分析。零预算自然农法使农民的经济利润增长了一倍多，同时保持了相当的作物产量。鸟类生物多样性得到改善，参与害虫控制和种子传播的鸟类物种及功能类群的密度增加；然而，天然森林对于维持森林特有物种的数量仍然至关重要。与传统的基于农用化学品的耕作系统相比，零预算自然农法中鸟类密度与景观尺度产量和利润之间的权衡要小得多，这凸显了在保护自然生态系统的同时进行生态农业干预的益处。
