Sustainability - a challenge to animal production and breeding

Prospects of sustainable animal breeding are briefly reviewed from the animal breeding point of view. The aspects of sustainability included are: ecological sustainability such as environmental sustainability and maintenance of biodiversity as well as ethical and economical sustainability. Environmental degradation can be reduced by intensive production at least on intermediate production levels. Biodiversity of livestock breeds can be maintained with globally diverse breeding goals containing several traits and with national conservation schemes for rare local breeds. Ethical sustainability can be taken into account by improving health and longevity traits. Production must also be economically profitable, otherwise it is not sustainable. In optimising all these aspects, the animal breeders have to lay down criteria for conservation programmes and re-evaluate breeding goals so that sustainability is taken into account.