When Food and Biodiversity Compete

26 October 2021, by Julika Dörffer

Photo: James Wheeler via Unsplash

Securing global food supplies and preserving biodiversity: both are so-called sustainable development goals, but the two don’t always go hand in hand. In many places, there is competition for the same areas. What’s more, rising temperatures and more frequent extreme weather events threaten biodiversity and harvests alike. How can we produce enough food and also designate sufficient protection areas under these conditions? Dr. Kerstin Jantke and her colleagues investigate these questions and develop solutions.

“We use crop-growth models to simulate how, despite climate change, sufficient food could be produced while at the same time reducing greenhouse gas emissions,” says Jantke. “We also investigate various future scenarios. After all, how and where particular crops are produced as well as how they are distributed are key factors. Added to this is the question of what people’s diets will look like in the future.”

In order to identify suitable areas for preserving biodiversity, Jantke and her team have developed a system for evaluating potential sites. According to Jantke: “We will only be able to make agriculture, nature conservation and climate protection more effective and sustainable if we take into account – and reduce – conflicting interests, so-called trade-offs.”