biodiversity
Vermont introduces regenerative soil bill
A bill in the Vermont Senate calls for a statewide soil regeneration program, with regular soil testing to certify that farms are improving the health of their soil through carbon content and depth of topsoil. The bill is part of a sweep of similar legislation in California, Oklahoma and Utah.
Arctic thaw sends water into entryway of ‘doomsday’ seed vault
An unexpected thaw of Arctic permafrost let water into the famed "doomsday" seed vault 1,000 kilometers from the North Pole, reported Reuters. The water, halted in the entrance hall of the seed repository, "had no impact on millions of seeds of crops including rice, maize, potatoes and wheat that are stored more than 110 metres inside the mountainside," said the news agency.
Great Barrier Reef in ‘terminal’ stages
Back-to-back coral bleachings in 2016 and 2017 have left only the southern third of the Great Barrier Reef untouched, and experts are predicting the death of the entire ecosystem.
U.S. losing grasslands faster than deforestation in Brazil
The grasslands of the Great Plains, stretching from Texas into the Canadian prairies, are disappearing faster than the forests of Brazil as farmers try to cash in crops such as corn, wheat and soybeans. In a report released today, the World Wildlife Fund says 3.7 million acres of grassland were converted to cropland in 2015, more than twice as much as the 1.4 million acres of forestland in Brazil leveled for crops and livestock.
Small-scale farmers embrace monoculture in rain forest
Just like the operators of large-scale plantations, small-scale farmers in Southeast Asia chop down rain forests to plant oil palm trees, says a study led by a researcher from Lund University in Sweden. “For the great majority of small farmers, chopping down diverse forests and investing in a single species of tree – monoculture – is the simplest and quickest path out of poverty," says the researcher Yann Clough.
Scientists: Eat your lionfish before its too late
Invasive lionfish have made it to the Mediterranean, says Scientific American. A report set to be published in the journal Marine Biodiversity Records found that in just one year, lionfish have colonized nearly all of Cyprus’ southeastern coast.
Seed banks should do more for wild plants, says study
Seed banks aren’t doing enough to protect the wild relatives of our key food crops, says a new study out in the journal Nature Plants.
“More resilient” agriculture vital to future food supply-FAO
Around the globe, "food systems need to be more sustainable, inclusive and resilient," says the head of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. In a speech in Paris, Director-General Jose Graziano da Silva said...
Genetic diversity is a tool for climate change, says FAO
Genetic resources in crops and livestock can play a crucial role in feeding the world and "much more needs to be done to study, preserve and utilize the biological diversity that underpins world food production," said the UN Food and Agriculture Organization...
Public role fades in crop and livestock breeding programs
The "slow atrophy of public funding" for plant-breeding programs "means that farmers have been left with fewer and fewer seed choices over the years and are ill-prepared to meet 21st Century needs," says the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition.
Encroachment, climate change risk to forest diversity-FAO
Half of the forest species - trees, shrubs, palms and bamboo - routinely used by countries around the world are threatened by climate change, over-exploitation and encroachment by pastures and farmland, said the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.