Biodiversity

A “Rosetta Stone” for Conducting Biodiversity Assessments

By Zakri Abdul Hamid
This month saw an important milestone reached by the U.N.’s young Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES): Publication of its first public product.

The Bahamas’ New Motto: “Sand, Surf and Solar”

By Kenton X. Chance
When it comes to tourism in the 15-member Caribbean Community (CARICOM), The Bahamas -- 700 islands sprinkled over 100,000 square miles of ocean starting just 50 miles off Florida -- is a heavyweight.

Final Push to Launch U.N. Negotiations on High Seas Treaty

By Thalif Deen
The United Nations will make its third - and perhaps final - attempt at reaching an agreement to launch negotiations for an international biodiversity treaty governing the high seas.

Caribbean Youth Ready to Lead on Climate Issues

By Desmond Brown
At 24 years old, Stefan Knights has never been on the side of those who are sceptical about the reality and severity of climate change.

More Than Half of Africa’s Arable Land ‘Too Damaged’ for Food Production

By Busani Bafana
A report published last month by the Montpellier Panel - an eminent group of agriculture, ecology and trade experts from Africa and Europe - says about 65 percent of Africa's arable land is too damaged to sustain viable food production.

Integrated Farming: The Only Way to Survive a Rising Sea

By Manipadma Jena
When the gentle clucking grows louder, 50-year-old Sukomal Mandal calls out to his wife, who is busy grinding ingredients for a fish curry. She gets up to thrust leafy green stalks through the netting of a coop and two-dozen shiny hens rush forward for lunch.

Family Farming Eases Food Shortages in Eastern Cuba

By Patricia Grogg
Meat and vegetables are never missing from the dinner table of Damaris González and Omar Navarro, since they get almost all of their food from their farm, La Revelación, on the outskirts of the city of Santiago de Cuba, 765 km east of the Cuban capital.

Organic Farming in India Points the Way to Sustainable Agriculture

By Jency Samuel
Standing amidst his lush green paddy fields in Nagapatnam, a coastal district in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, a farmer named Ramajayam remembers how a single wave changed his entire life.

OPINION: Understanding Education for Global Citizenship

By Kartikeya V. Sarabhai
Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) brings together concerns about the environment, economic development and social aspects. Since 1972, when the first U.N. Conference on the Human Environment was held in Stockholm, Sweden, there has been increasing awareness of the intricate link between conserving the environment and human development.

Climate Change Threatens Quechua and Their Crops in Peru’s Andes

By Fabiola Ortiz
In this town in Peru’s highlands over 3,000 metres above sea level, in the mountains surrounding the Sacred Valley of the Incas, the Quechua Indians who have lived here since time immemorial are worried about threats to their potato crops from alterations in rainfall patterns and temperatures.

REDD and the Green Economy Continue to Undermine Rights

By Jeff Conant
Dercy Teles de Carvalho Cunha is a rubber-tapper and union organiser from the state of Acre in the heart of the Brazilian Amazon, with a lifelong love of the forest from which she earns her livelihood – and she is deeply confounded by what her government and policymakers around the world call “the green economy.”

Aboriginal Knowledge Could Unlock Climate Solutions

By Neena Bhandari
As a child growing up in Far North Queensland, William Clark Enoch would know the crabs were on the bite when certain trees blossomed, but now, at age 51, he is noticing visible changes in his environment such as frequent storms, soil erosion, salinity in fresh water and ocean acidification.

OPINION: How Shifting to the Cloud Can Unlock Innovation for Food and Farming

By Andy Jarvis
The digital revolution that is continuing to develop at lightening speed is an exciting new ally in our fight for global food security in the face of climate change.

Glaciers and Fruit Dying in Peru with no Response from COP20

By Milagros Salazar
Snow-capped mountains may become a thing of the past in Peru, which has 70 percent of the world’s tropical glaciers. And farmers in these ecosystems are having a hard time adapting to the higher temperatures, while the governments of 195 countries are wrapping up the climate change talks in Lima without addressing this situation facing the host country.

OPINION: Climate Change and Inequalities: How Will They Impact Women?

By Susan McDade
Among all the impacts of climate change, from rising sea levels to landslides and flooding, there is one that does not get the attention it deserves: an exacerbation of inequalities, particularly for women.
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