The European Commission defines the bioeconomy or bio-based economy as all economic activity involving the production of renewable biological resources and the conversion of these resources and waste streams into value added products, such as food, feed, bio-based products and bioenergy. Its sectors and industries (i.e., agriculture, forestry, fisheries, food and pulp and paper production, as well as parts of chemical, biotechnological and energy industries) have strong innovation potential due to their use of a wide range of sciences, enabling and industrial technologies (i.e., life sciences, agronomy, ecology, food science and social sciences, biotechnology, nanotechnology, information and communication technologies (ICT), and engineering), along with local and unspoken knowledge.
Bioeconomic activities have been established as old as humanity and provide raw materials from plants, animals, and microorganisms for human life. However, not all bioeconomy activities are sustainable, and they can have both positive and negative effects on the planet’s climate and biodiversity. Most marine resources are already fully utilised, many are over utilised. Many forests are being exploited faster than they can recover. Agricultural land is degrading in many parts of the world. Therefore, now the main goal of bioeconomy activities is sustainable knowledge-based bioeconomy.
Human has a poor track record when it comes to the management of natural resources. Experts estimated the rapid loss of species due to human activites to be between 1,000 and 10,000 times higher than the natural extinction rate. In fact biodiversity is important to humans for many reasons. It provides functioning ecosystems that supply oxygen, clean air and water, pollination of plants, pest control, even raw materials for consumption and production. Reduced biodiversity, simply means millions of people face a future where food supplies are more vulnerable to pests and disease, and where fresh water is in irregular or short supply. Therefore, the transition to bioeconomic activities that promotes biodiversity conservation is no longer a discourse but something that has started and must continue to run consistently.
Global population growth by 2050 is estimated to lead to a 70% increase in food demand, which includes a projected twofold increase in world meat consumption. This further reinforces the urgency that biodiversity conservation has a strong role in supporting sustainable bioeconomy. Through this opportunity, the scientific forum as a consolidation of biologists in the homeland in carrying out the mission of “Biodiversity Conservation for Sustainable Bioeconomy” is declared through 10th INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON GLOBAL RESOURCE CONSERVATION (10th ICGRC 2019).
