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How a global farmers’ bank works to preserve biodiversity

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Secteur Privé & Développement

Private Sector & Development #35 - Preserving biodiversity: the private sector in action

To mark the COP 15 of 2021, the 35th edition of Private Sector & Development imagines the role of the private sector in financing biodiversity and proposes steps to better involve businesses in the restoration of the natural environment.

How can farmers produce food for 10 billion people, while preserving biodiversity – the foundation that food systems rely on? This is a key question guiding the work of Rabobank, one of the world’s biggest banks focused on food and agribusiness. The answers to this question are Rabobank’s sustainability policy, direct engagement with farmers, partnership with nature conservation organization WWF, and innovative programs.

Biodiversity means diversity of life. And it all starts with soil. Every farmer knows soils are alive. Thousands of insects and earthworms, millions of bac-teria and fungi are hard at work on farmlands. They keep the soil aerated, hydrated, fertile, and capturing carbon. Healthy soil can sustain small farmers and their families and can turn large-scale farmers into global market players. The soils are a form of natural capital, really, beneath the surface. When soils are farmed too intensively, the bio- logical system can break down. This can lead to the farmer using more aggressive inputs, aiming for short-term benefit, while depleting the soil and polluting waterways, losing natural capital in the long term. When farmers expand to find more healthy soils, this can lead to conversion of forests. The dietary choices of our growing global population1 result in unintended scaling of such deforestation. According to the Living Planet Report 2020 by WWF2, habitat loss remains the biggest threat to wild species.