Status: 02.10.2022 17:36
Churches and farming associations are concerned about biodiversity and ecosystems. Farmers must contribute to the protection of biological diversity – but all consumers are also in demand.
On the occasion of the harvest festival, church associations, rural women and the German Farmers’ Association called for the preservation of biological diversity. Appreciative consumer behavior, the use of regional and seasonal food as well as short supply chains and direct marketing offer the opportunity to promote and protect biodiversity.
At the same time, the organizations recalled the catastrophic food situation in the world’s poorest countries and the food crisis caused by the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine.
“dealing with nature”
“Biological diversity is the basis for stable ecosystems, agriculture and our living space. In the ecological balance, plants and animals are linked to the soil, the rivers and seas and to the climate,” emphasize the Catholic Rural People’s Movement in Germany and the Evangelical Church in Germany , the German Rural Women’s Association and the German Farmers’ Association in a joint statement.
“Every year it becomes more urgent to shed light on how we treat nature.” The world is currently in the sixth great extinction of species: through building, sealing and homogenizing natural habitats, through deforestation, intensification, climate change, overfishing and through pollutants in the soil, water and air, people are contributing to the fact that more and more species are becoming extinct.
Nature and species protection
It is said that agriculture is therefore required to make nature and species protection a mainstay of farming activities. It is part of the solution for environmental, climate and species protection. “Nature conservation measures that are both ecologically effective and fit into the management concepts of modern farms can support the preservation of natural resources and biodiversity.”
It is important to meet the global demand for food and feed as well as renewable raw materials and at the same time to keep a close eye on the transformation process.
Ukraine war shows supply problems
The associations emphasized that Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine shows in a dramatic way “that security of supply cannot be taken for granted”. Wars that create additional suffering and food shortages must end. “We also ask everyone involved in the production and distribution of food to be aware of their responsibility for creation and its protection.”
In several towns and communities, initiatives, food banks and church groups asked for food donations for the needy. They pointed out that more and more citizens and refugees were having problems feeding themselves adequately due to high prices.