Farmers' first line of defence against pests is the ecosystem in and around their fields, write Jonathan Lundgren & Scott Fausti. With widespread or indiscriminate use of pesticides essential biodiversity is lost - and the result is more frequent and serious infestations, and a decline in food security.
… Biodiversity is the best defence against corn … indiscriminate use of pesticides essential biodiversity is lost - and the result is more … and a decline in food security. Biodiversity performs critical ecosystem …
The global homogenisation of food carries costs, writes Sayed Azam-Ali - notably the world's the increasing dependence on just a few 'elite crops', creating a precarious food system vulnerable to climate change. We must diversify our diets, and the crops that that feed us.
… In a warming world, food security means crop diversity Sayed Azam-Ali | 10th October 2014 … succeed at higher temperatures. Increase the diversity of our food crops So what should we …
There's quite a fashion now for creating enormous ocean nature reserves, write Peter J S Jones & Elizabeth De Santo. The UK kicked off the trend last year at Pitcairn Island, and now the US has followed up with a 1.5m sq.km reserve around Hawaii. But while these look like big conservation gains, the more serious task is to manage sustainably the intensely exploited seas close to home.
… Under the UN's Convention on Biological Diversity, signed by almost every country in … this focus on a few big areas. The marine biodiversity target is about much more than the … and block their access to markets. The biodiversity target also specifies that the MPA …
‘We understand the value of forests beyond the price tag of timber. We recognise that our forests are crucial for wildlife to survive.‘
… have in our care and how we look after them. Diversity We absolutely must learn from … means we understand so much better the biodiversity value of these places than we did … most trees first. How each forest balances biodiversity, sustainable timber production and …
The world we inhabit is a miracle of billions of years of evolution as life has unfolded in its full beauty and diversity, writes Grant A. Mincy. But human activities - deforestation, mining, urbanisation, pollution, climate change - are tearing away at the functioning fabric of the living biosphere. A mass extinction is under way, and it must be halted, and reversed. But how?
… as life has unfolded in its full beauty and diversity, writes Grant A. Mincy. But human … of life. As we experience this modern biodiversity crisis a new epoch is being … A common principle in ecology is that diversity breeds more diversity. This grand …
Agroecology is key to retaking control over food, farming and land from the 'monstrous machine' of agribusiness, biotech, big finance and 'free trade', writes Colin Todhunter, as it represents a truly viable alternative to agriculture for corporate profit. But such are the powers ranged against the world's small farmers that it must be supported by a broad-based, global people's movement.
… diverse. There is a loss of plant and insect diversity, which threatens food security, …
New combinations of temperature, precipitation and light will drive changes in biodiversity with some unexpected consequences.
… and light will drive changes in biodiversity with some unexpected consequences. … future of our rainforest species. Rainforest diversity Dr Christopher Ellis, head of … as an indicator for rainforest diversity, he took a two-pronged approach. …
The practical evidence suggests agroforestry in the UK has got something to offer both commercial farmers and smallholders alike. The challenge now, says Ed Hamer, is how to encourage sceptical farmers that planting trees across farmland is a good idea
… practical reasons too why hedgerows contain a diversity of species. And although grazing … groundwater infiltration and increased biodiversity as the trees bring with them their … different tree species. 'We’ve found that a diversity of species increases productivity …
Coffee may be grown all around the tropics, writes Fiona Hesselden, but it originates in just one place: the 'coffee rainforests' of the Ethiopian highlands. We depend on the wild plants for new genes and varieties, yet the forests are falling fast to the advance of farmers. To preserve the forests and all their biodiversity, the original people of the forest must receive their just rewards.
… To preserve the forests and all their biodiversity, the original people of the forest … of coffee and the centre of its genetic diversity. But these forests and this gene … narrow genetic range - just 10% of the diversity found in the wild . This makes it …
New study overturns 'conventional wisdom' by finding significant tree evolutionary diversity in temperate and tropical dry forests.
… Staff Reporter | 11th May 2020 News Biodiversity Forests Science And Systems … by finding significant tree evolutionary diversity in temperate and tropical dry … discovering unique and special tree biodiversity. Conservation efforts have …
It's been another disastrous year for North America's Monarch butterflies, with the insect's population down 27% in a single year. The sudden decline is blamed on severe winter storms in Mexico, and the impacts of GMO crops, herbicides and insecticides on US farms.
… 10th February 2017 News Extinction Insects Biodiversity Farming Pesticides USA Mexico Canada … senior scientist at the Center for Biological Diversity. A recent study by the US Geological … of the monarch led the Center for Biological Diversity, the Center for Food Safety, the …
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization's definition of 'forest' includes commercial plantations of fast growing trees - often replacing biodiverse native forests relied on by local communities. FAO must stop using this mis-definition to claim that forests are expanding, when the reverse is the case.
… the structural, functional and biological diversity of non-tree elements that make up a … forest, complemented by their use of a rich diversity of non-timber forest products. True … other forest-dependent groups with a rich diversity of ways of living. Without …
A new paradigm of forest conservation is gaining ground, writes Isaac Rojas: 'financialising' them and the climate and ecological services they provide to global investors. But this is a false solution - and one that excludes the local and indigenous forest communities who can truly be relied upon to sustain their sylvan heritage.
… key committee to the Convention on Biological Diversity meets in Montreal this week , it … to deforestation, forest degradation, biodiversity loss and climate change. A … decision-makers seek solutions to biodiversity loss and climate change they too …
Naomi Klein famously called for a 'grand coalition' of the progressive left to fight climate change and Earth-destroying capitalism, writes Alexander Reid Ross. And now it's happening, drawing together diverse strands that encompass the fight for social and racial justice, the right to work, health, clean air and fresh water, and our freedom to be alive and thrive on this our one planet.
… droughts. They are destroying the complex diversity that the web of life requires to … how to understand and appreciate both biodiversity and human diversity, how to live together amongst both …
Among the risks of fracking are fragmentation of wildlife habitats, groundwater depletion, surface water pollution. The risks are compounded by a failure among companies and regulators to record or disclose essential information - from the chemicals used, to the time and place of toxic spills.
… occur in regions of exceptional biological diversity. For example, the Devonian and … areas of amphibian and freshwater fish diversity in the United States. Each of the …
A coalition of fishing, consumer, and environmental groups are suing the FDA for its 'unlawful' approval of Aquabounty's GM salmon, as it relied on treating the fish as an 'animal drug' under a 1938 law, and ignored serious risks to wild salmon and fishing communities.
… fisherman and the Center for Biological Diversity's Alaska representative. "This kind … Food & Water Watch, Center for Biological Diversity, Friends of the Earth, Cascadia …
The latest salvo in the battle over Africa's seed systems has been fired, writes Stephen Greenberg, with the Gates Foundation and USAID playing puppet-masters to Africa's governments - now meeting in Addis Ababa - as they drive forward corporation-friendly seed regulations that exclude and marginalize the small farmers whose seeds and labour feed the continent.
Grabbing Africa's seeds: USAID, EU and Gates Foundation back agribusiness seed takeover Stephen Greenberg Oliver Tickell | 23rd March 2015 News Africa Farming Seeds Corporations USA EU maria banda …
Russia’s zapovedniks are some of the world’s most pristine wildernesses. For 70 years they were protected ruthlessly by the Soviet system, but recently they have fallen prey to Putin, the World Bank and ecotourists. Paul Webster reports on their plight
… Development Consumerism World Bank Diversity Forests Natural World … plight They form a patchwork of dizzying diversity that includes the largest … World Bank and the UN, granted $20m for a biodiversity conservation project aimed at …
Japan is living under the shadow of US militarism, write Taisuke Komatsu & Semanur Karaman - and most of all in Okinawa, the nation's southernmost archipelago. Against overwhelming local opposition but backed by Japan's government, the US is building a new military base that is seizing land and threatens the unique ecology of Oura Bay with its seagrass beds, dugongs and coral reefs.
… an MA in Human Rights and Cultural Diversity at the University of Essex and a …
The Atlantic rainforest of Brazil is a biodiversity treasure, writes Miranda Dyson - as exemplified by the discovery of seven minute and beautiful frogs. But with the forest already reduced to under a tenth of its original extent, and going fast, they and countless other species may not survive much longer.
… | 9th June 2015 News Forests Brazil Biodiversity Science golden-frog-cut.jpg The Atlantic rainforest of Brazil is a biodiversity treasure, writes Miranda Dyson - as … which these animals live, suggests the actual diversity in the genus is considerably higher. …
Forest foods are a vital source of nutrition for millions of people, writes Bhaskar Vira, and we need to make them an even bigger part of our diets for the sake of health, biodiversity, local economies, and to increase food global security in a warming world.
… part of our diets for the sake of health, biodiversity, local economies, and to increase … diets. Forests are key to protecting biodiversity , and for mitigating the effects of …
The winter Olympics at Sochi have trashed the National Park that contains Russia's richest biodiversity, writes Igor Chestin. Worse, the gutting of key environmental laws means that it can happen all over again, and again.
… Park that contains Russia's richest biodiversity, writes Igor Chestin. Worse, the … the Sochi National Park . The greatest biodiversity in Russia This is a region that contains the greatest species diversity of anywhere in Russia and is …
Fragmentation is one of the biggest threats that our wild habitats face today. But new research can help mitigate its effects and revive degraded landscapes.
… we know that fragmentation adversely affects diversity, we do not yet understand how this …
As land rights of indigenous peoples are increasingly being violated, writes Tim Radford, new research shows that the planned destruction of the Amazon rainforest is a major threat not only to cultural identity but also to the global climate.
… essential for their own survival, their biodiversity, and the carbon they contain. But … terms of biological, cultural and linguistic diversity, these areas are exceptional. They … Amazon rainforest is a unique resource in biodiversity and is also a carbon sink of global …