The Guardians of Diversity

Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2013, Ruth Raymond and Amanda Dobson, Bioversity International,   "The Youth Guide to Biodiversity" 1st Edition (Chapter 9) Youth and United Nations Global Alliance. Reproduced with permission.

Chapter 9. Verbatim.

Adelaida Castillo displays a plaque

naming her a Champion Custodian

of Diversity, an honour she was

awarded for her quinoa collection.

© A. Camacho/Bioversity International (Top)

Mitsuaki Tanabe and his sculpture

of wild rice that he donated to the

Global Crop Diversity Trust. (Middle)

© Global Crop Diversity Trust

Valeria Negri with her garlic, peas

and tomatoes. (Bottom)

© T. Tesai

All over the world there are people who dedicate their lives to safeguarding agricultural biodiversity and to using it to improve their lives and the lives of others. They are the Guardians of Diversity: individuals whose passion for diversity is helping – in small ways and large – to create a healthier, more food-secure world.

The Guardians of Diversity are farmers, researchers, writers and artists. They include Adelaida Castillo, who conserves 80 varieties of quinoa on her farm in the Peruvian Andes in memory of her son who died tragically in a motorcycle accident. They include well-known Japanese artist Mitsuaki Tanabe, who uses his art to communicate the urgent need for conserving wild rice and protecting the habitats where it grows. And they include Valeria Negri, a plant scientist at the University of Perugia in Italy, who has devoted her life to rescuing endangered Italian crop diversity. 

How You Can Be A Guardian of Diversity 

Talk to your parents and grandparents about the foods they used to eat when they were your age. Ask them to tell you about their food memories. Do any foods have particular meaning for them? Is it still possible to find the fruits and vegetables they used to enjoy when they were young? Write down everything they say in a notebook and compare the results with your schoolmates, who will have also interviewed their older relatives. Discuss the similarities and differences in the answers, and think of some of the reasons that people might have given different answers.

Try to find the seeds of one or more of the fruits or vegetables mentioned in the interviews with your parents and grandparents. Grow it in your garden or on a windowsill. Find out as much as you can about the plant: how it grows, how it is used, how it is eaten. With your classmates, create a book of recipes using only local, traditional plants. Eat local foods whenever you can. Be inspired by the stories of the Guardians of Diversity at www.diversityforlife.org. 

Learn more

           :: A gricultural Biodiversity Weblog: agro.biodiver.se

:: Bioversity International: www.bioversityinternational.org

 :: The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety: http://bch.cbd.int/protocol

:: The Global Crop Diversity Trust: www.croptrust.org

:: The International Year of the Potato: www.potato2008.org