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 …
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, …
A new book by David Boyle and Andrew Simms of the New Economics Foundation charts the rise and fall of major British brands. Matilda Lee talks to them about banking reform, brands and greening capitalism
… you get imbalance, frailty and vulnerability. Diversity of scale, size and range and type of … an insurance policy against disaster. Optimal diversity delivers greater resilience. That's … Germany the US - where there is a huge diversity of banking and local banking. I …
The zealous participation of European Greens in the campaign to thwart Rocco Buttiglione is indicative of the capture of green politics by an unreconstructed, unreformed and unelectable left
… Greens would emphasise decentralisation, diversity (both ecological and cultural), … institutions that emphasise locality and diversity. Green politics would be about … the Greens to emerge as the party of genuine diversity and choice in real contrast to the …
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 …
Myth number 7: Industrial agriculture benefits the environment and wildlife
… News Industrial Agriculture Natural World Diversity Agribusiness Factory Farming Natural … the largest single threat to the earth’s biodiversity. Massive chemical use and row-to-row … mammals on farmlands and ensure biological diversity for the planet. In sum, in terms of …
Localisation can lead to a sustainable and more fulfilling future for people and our planet.
… with other people and the natural world. Diversity and meaning Rather than demanding … chains do), local markets require a diversity of products, and therefore create … for plastic packaging, more space for wild biodiversity, more circulation of wealth within …
BP is in trouble. Big trouble. But others are to blame for the ongoing oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico, and the US Mineral Management Service is at the top of the list...
… blast. According to the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), the resultant oil spill is … already endangered - in an area of rich biodiversity in the fragile Mississippi River … Friday (14th May) the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) filed a formal notice of …
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 …
If it is not to be choked by debt and taxes, Ireland must return to the self-sufficient, localised vision of one of its founding fathers
… – part of a move towards a world of currency diversity. In his 1992 book The Growth … and cosmopolitan one, however, welcoming a diversity of cultures and lifestyles; green …
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 …
In an exclusive Ecologist interview, David Boyle and Andrew Simms of the New Economics Foundation advocate a more sustainable banking sector for Britain
… frailty and vulnerability,’ said Simms. ‘Diversity of scale, size and range, and type … an insurance policy against disaster. Optimal diversity delivers greater resilience.’ Boyle …
The World Bank has released a report encouraging the Indonesian government to create vast timber plantations that would damage local ecosystems and livelihood, in order to encourage economic growth.
… Indonesia Deforestation World Bank World Bank DiversityDiversity Politics And Economics Science And …
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 …
Is the constitution inherently undemocratic, or will it make the EU more accountable to European voters? Is greater coordination at the European level essential for promoting environmental safeguards, or will it merely serve the interests of big business Marc Glendening and Richard Corbett discuss
… electorates. We need to respect the political diversity of our continent, not impose more … but there are also many differences among us. Diversity is written into the constitution as … defines the motto of the EU as ‘united in diversity’: a motto which, I believe, neatly …
The US Fisheries Service has repeatedly failed to give highly endangered Right whales adequate protection. Now wildlife groups are suing the Agency to demand a more than tenfold expansion of 'critical habitat' to protect the species along the US's Atlantic coast.
… the United States, the Center for Biological Diversity, Defenders of Wildlife and Whale and … attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity. "The whales face an ocean dense …
With Monarch butterfly numbers down by 90% in 20 years - largely as a result of GMO crops in key feeding areas - the US Fish and Wildlife Service is reviewing the insect's status with a view to granting it legal protection under the Endangered Species Act.
… to a petition by the Center for Biological Diversity , Center for Food Safety, Xerces … senior scientist at the Center for Biological Diversity, added: "The Endangered Species Act …
Federal Agencies have capitulated to an armed militia protecting a Nevada rancher running his cattle on 100s of 1,000s of acres of public land reserved for 'threatened' Desert tortoises - despite multiple court orders and over $1 million in unpaid fines.
… senior scientist at the Center for Biological Diversity. "Instead it is allowing a … In April 2012 the Center for Biological Diversity filed a notice of intent to sue the …
The over-enrichment of waters and ecosystems with waste nutrients from industrial corn farming is one of America's greatest environmental problems, writes Donald Scavia. And it's a problem that can be solved - by eating less meat and sugar, by adopting rational energy policies, and by demanding sustainably-grown food.
Industrial corn farming is ruining our health and polluting our watersheds Donald Scavia | 29th April 2015 Comment Food Farming USA corn-farm-cut.jpg The over-enrichment of waters and ecosystems with …