An Action Plan to join the organic agriculture and nature conservation movements was announced on 23rd May 1999 in Vignola, Italy.  The Plan resulted from a three-day meeting convened by IUCN, IFOAM, and AIAB, attended by 70 participants from 24 countries.  The Vignola meeting was part of an ongoing dialogue between IUCN the World Conservation Union, and IFOAM the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements.

The Action Plan recognises the link in expertise and experience between nature conservation and organic agriculture, and provides a guide for accelerating the growth of organic agriculture that should be implemented by all levels of the private and public sectors.

VIGNOLA DECLARATION
Organic agriculture puts the concept of multi-functionality into practice, including biodiversity, animal welfare, food safety, market-oriented production, rural development and social and fair trade aspects. Organic farming is fundamental to sustainable rural development and crucial for the future development of agriculture and global food security.

Agriculture that is not based on sound practices and is dependant on heavy inputs of chemicals and other synthetic products has accelerated the degradation of our natural ecosystems. This negative impact can be seen by the decline and disappearance in the diversity of species and cultivars. The impact of such agriculture can also be seen world-wide in landscapes where it has contributed to transforming rich biological and landscape diversity into deserts of monoculture.

We embrace the objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD): to conserve biological diversity, to ensure the sustainable use of biological resources, and to share equitably the benefits arising from the use of genetic resources. These objectives apply to agro-ecosystems as well as to other types of ecosystems.

We urge the organic and nature conservation movements to work much more closely and more intensively together.

We ask environmentalists, farmers, politicians, industry and international institutions to support and develop organic agriculture as the most ecologically-sound agricultural system.

We invite consumers to support organic agriculture by consuming certified organic products of high quality, such as food, textiles, aquaculture and wooden products.

We conclude that organic agriculture is essential for conserving biodiversity and nature.
 
 ACTION PLAN

In order to fully benefit from the potential of organic agriculture in the context of conserving nature and biodiversity we propose the following:

General points

• IUCN should inform its members about the value of organic agriculture for biodiversity, encourage all conservationists to consume organically grown products, and expand its project activities linking organic agriculture with biodiversity -- working in partnership with IFOAM members wherever possible -- and include these issues into policy considerations within IUCN.

• IFOAM and IUCN should continue to work with the private sector in standard setting and establishing a common international guarantee system for organic agriculture. The role of the public sector should be restricted to enforcement mechanisms, where those are appropriate.

• IFOAM and IUCN should collaborate in developing guidelines to increase biodiversity and cultural heritage in organic practices.
•  In supporting information, education, training and capacity building, IUCN and IFOAM should base their activities on local traditions, knowledge and experiences in order to create opportunities for organic agricultural practices, capable of conserving biodiversity and meeting social and economic needs of all humankind.
•  IUCN should encourage organic agriculture in protected area categories where such land use is permitted, and in the land around protected areas in bioregions established to encourage sustainable forms of land use; and IFOAM and IUCN should identify best practices in protected areas and agricultural lands with a view to disseminating these more widely.

• IUCN and IFOAM should urge national governments and international organisations to reallocate public funds from supporting high-input agriculture to enhancing the supply of food, environmental goods and services through organic agriculture, biodiversity conservation and their integration into rural development.
• IFOAM and IUCN should urge governments to promote private investment in businesses that directly benefit integrated agricultural and conservation programmes, through incentives and risk mitigation measures.
• IUCN and IFOAM should encourage their members to enhance local consumption of organic products and international fair trade, and influence national delegations to WTO and other relevant international negotiations to incorporate biodiversity conservation into their positions.

• Because organic agriculture generates public goods benefits through conserving biodiversity, public funding should be provided to further develop the multifunctional potential of organic agriculture.
• IUCN and IFOAM should work together to identify the information that is required to incorporate organic agriculture concerns into the work of intergovernmental institutions.
• IUCN and IFOAM should encourage their members and partners to consume organic food produced in their region. This will limit transport costs and energy waste and will increase the commitment of consumers to the farmers who produce their food and fibres as well as the landscape where they live.

•  IUCN should recognise genetically modified organisms (GMOs) as a threat to biodiversity, and therefore should join IFOAM and its constituency on adopting an unconditional ban on GMOs, and should promote this position among IUCN`s Members.
•  IFOAM and IUCN should promote the use of local cultivars and breeds by influencing legal instruments to enable farmers to use their own seed and to exchange seed among themselves.

 IUCN and IFOAM should encourage their members and respective national and international institutions to promote the sharing of local knowledge about the importance of biological diversity.