Regional approach to preservation of food related biodiversity

PURPOSE: Strategy and major results of the Environmentally Sustainable Socio-Economic Development of Rural Areas (ESSEDRA) project are presented. The project relies on collaborative network involving 8 Balkan countries (including Turkey) with leading partnership of Slow Food International and European Forum on Nature Conservation and Pastoralism (UK). The overall purpose is to involve local communities in protecting the environment, especially in safeguarding agrobiodiversity and related traditional knowledge, to mitigate the impact of climate change and to secure the sustainable development of rural areas. METHODS: The activities aim at advocating the role of small-scale farmers in biodiversity protection, promoting targeted models and actions to preserve biodiversity, and exchanging best practices and knowledge at a multiregional level. RESULTS: Outcomes from the first stage of the project are presented and in the overall Balkan agriculture tendencies is discussed focusing on the current problems in Bulgarian small-scale agriculture. CONCLUSIONS: Steps for common approach for community-based regional development, biodiversity conservation, policy influencing, advocacy and capacity building in the field, collaboration between stakeholders are proposed.