Scientific paper by Andrew Balmford & colleagues in 2012 published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B

Balmford, A., Green, R., Phalan, B., (2012) What conservationists need to know about farming  Proc. R. Soc. B. 279 2714–2724 http://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2012.0515

Abstract:

Farming is the basis of our civilization yet is more damaging to wild nature than any other sector of human activity. Here, we propose that in order to limit its impact into the future, conservation researchers and practitioners need to address several big topics—about the scale of future demand, about which crops and livestock to study, about whether low-yield or high-yield farming has the potential to be least harmful to nature, about the environmental performance of new and existing farming methods, and about the measures needed to enable promising approaches and techniques to deliver on their potential. Tackling these issues requires conservationists to explore the many consequences that decisions about agriculture have beyond the farm, to think broadly and imaginatively about the scale and scope of what is required to halt biodiversity loss, and to be brave enough to test and when necessary support counterintuitive measures.

Closing remarks: 

Conservationists have typically had limited ambitions in their approach to agriculture—looking only to influence activities which have harmful on-farm effects, rather than thinking strategically about the impacts that different approaches to farming have on overall patterns of land-use, water availability, air quality and so on. We suggest instead that there is a pressing need for conservation researchers and practitioners to proactively and ambitiously engage with farmers, plant breeders, nutrition experts, retailers and consumers, and to work open-mindedly, quantitatively, and—over large scales and broad timeframes—to identify least-cost ways so as to feed and fuel humanity into the future. Few other conservation activities will have as great an influence on the fate of wild nature.