This paper summarizes the potential contribution of organic farming to biodiversity conservation through an assessment of its impact on the World Wildlife Fund's conservation priorities: 238 global priority ecoregions and six global themes (living water, forests for life, toxics, species, endangered seas and climate change). Organic production (the production methods as well as the movement) has contributed to biodiversity conservation by: (1) identifying production systems with ambitious and comprehensive principles for sustainable agriculture; (2) demonstrating that alternative methods of production are commercially and economically viable; and (3) galvanizing an important and rapidly growing demand in the marketplace for more sustainably produced products. The lack of science-based indicators to measure environmental impacts of organic production, however, limits our ability to assess its impacts on biodiversity conservation. The safety of natural compounds should be investigated scientifically and not assumed. To identify truly sustainable production methods and move beyond statements of principles to measurable conservation results, robust, scientifically-based measures or indicators are needed to assess impacts and evaluate trade-offs between different kinds of production systems, including organic, on environmental criteria.
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