The 8th Global Forum of Leaders for Agricultural Science and Technology (GLAST2026) on New Pathways for International Cooperation on Digital Agriculture and Biodiversity was held in Sanya city, Hainan province on November 3. The conference was jointly organized by the State Key Laboratory of Efficient Utilization of Arable Land in China，led by the Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning (IARRP), CAAS, and the Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture. The opening ceremony was co-hosted by Ai Chao, deputy general director of the IARRP, and Stephan Weise, Managing Director for Asia of the Alliance and CIAT. Wu Wenbin, general director of the IARRP, and Stephanie Speck, global director of the alliance and CIAT, attended the opening ceremony and delivered speeches. 

Wu Wenbin pointed out in his speech that the integration of digital agriculture and biodiversity was a key direction for leading the future transformation of agriculture. As a national research institution in agricultural resources and environmental studies, the IARRP has consistently focused on ensuring the efficient use of agricultural resources and ecological safety. It has made significant achievements in agricultural remote sensing, digital agriculture, soil improvement, and efficient land use, strongly supporting China's green agricultural development and contributing to global technological innovation in arable land. The IARRP is committed to deepening international collaboration, building an international network for the coordinated monitoring of digital agriculture and biodiversity, facilitating data linkages, implementing practical technologies, and pooling cooperative strengths to contribute to global food security and sustainable agricultural development.

Stephanie Speck stated that the alliance has accumulated global experience and resources in agricultural biodiversity conservation, stress-resilient crop genetic resource management, and cutting-edge scientific innovation. It complements the strengths of developing countries like China in germplasm resource development and utilization, arable land health research, and smallholder digital tool validation scenarios. The alliance is willing to leverage the joint working framework to promote the collaborative application of digital technologies in agricultural biodiversity conservation and sustainable land use.

Academician Liu Xu from the Chinese Academy of Engineering delivered a keynote report entitled "Crop–soil Diversity Underpins Global Agricultural Sustainability." It summarized China's practical explorations in crop, soil, and microbial diversity conservation and digital empowerment. Liu proposed three initiatives for building a global agricultural ecological digital partnership: Addressing the digital infrastructure gaps in developing countries, co-creating and sharing standards for agricultural biodiversity data and digital public goods, and establishing a transnational collaborative monitoring network. Liu emphasized that the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences would adhere to the principles of openness, inclusiveness, and voluntary participation, working with global partners to innovate digital technologies, safeguard agricultural biodiversity, and strengthen the foundation of global food security.

During the conference, the IARRP and the alliance jointly released the "Sanya Initiative", themed "Digital Technology Driving Agrobiodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Land Use." The initiative highlights the fact that agricultural biodiversity and farmland health are the foundations of food system resilience. Digital technologies provide new means for the ecological monitoring of farmland and its optimized management. What’s more, it advocates that the development of digital agriculture must be advanced in coordination with biodiversity conservation. The initiative called on all parties to rely on the alliance's joint working framework. That’s to leverage the research foundations of Global South countries like China, to jointly create biodiversity demonstration models, continuously optimize policy support and deepen public-private partnerships. It’s also to enhance data governance capabilities in developing countries, and to explore collaborative pathways to support global food security and sustainable agricultural development. 

The conference included two roundtable discussions focusing on topics such as building a transnational agricultural biodiversity monitoring network through digital platforms and constructing a global agricultural ecological digital partnership based on the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. More than 60 experts and scholars from the alliance, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and countries including China, Australia, Italy, Switzerland, Bangladesh, and Ghana attended the conference. Overall, the conference is said to have helped promote dialogue and exchange among scientists from various countries. It also advanced the coordinated development of digital agriculture and biodiversity, and boosted global food security and the development of sustainable agriculture.