The editors of this book have brought together a range of studies from around the world that examine the relationships between biodiversity and agricultural livelihoods. The studies are concerned specifically with public and private systems of regulation, market-based incentives and property rights' regimes, and with how these affect the maintenance and use of agrobiodiversity.

The first two parts of this book introduce the importance of agrobiodiversity in farming systems, review the role of international and national regulatory regimes, and present three different case studies on aspects of the maintenance and use of agrobiodiversity in both developing and developed country agriculture. The third section looks at how different market-based mechanisms (e.g. certification, Geographical Indications) can help agrobiodiversity maintenance, and at the analysis and co-ordination of value chains. A fourth section explores the growing field of payment for ecological services in an agro-ecological context.

The questions they address are important. Millions of small-scale farmers in the developing world still depend significantly on agrobiodiversity and improving the sustainability of farming is likely to involve its increased use. This book provides some useful additional material on the services provided by biodiversity to agriculture and agricultural communities and joins a growing number of texts on the maintenance and use of agrobiodiversity. However, much of the material is available elsewhere and readers will have to decide whether this particular compilation is useful for their own needs.