Blog for People, Food and Nature

Yesterday was Terra Madre Day, which celebrates local food traditions and agrobiodiversity. Today, the Landscapes Blog explores an example of this in practices. Landscapes Initiative Co-Organizer, Bioversity International discusses new research on how to support farmers and local institutions in the conservation and use of traditional agricultural biodiversity. The framework pr ...

Yesterday launched the first day of the 18th Conference of the Parties (COP18) for the UNFCCC. Already, references to agriculture have been made  at the Subsidiary Body on Scientific and Technical Advice (SBSTA), with adaptation  needs carrying considerable weight especially in developing countries. Adaptation is also the topic of today’s blog post from Bioversity In ...

As the Landscapes Blog digs deeper into the role of agricultural landscapes in climate change mitigation and adaptation this month, it is important to consider the many facets of the issue. Last week, the Blog considered the concepts of agroforestry and sustainable intensification. Following a similar vein, the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) published [&hell ...

Climate-smart beyond the farm gate The impact of climate change on agriculture is an issue of monumental importance. Climate-smart (CSA) is a term that describes the vision for agricultural systems that strive to not only sustainably increase production, but also reduce or sequester greenhouse gas emissions, build resilience to climate change impacts, and achieve national [&hel ...

Trees, a topic never too far from discussions on climate change mitigation, are also important features in agricultural landscapes. As we move from the food security and development events of the past couple of months, and into the period around the UNFCCC COP18 in Doha, trees are critical pieces to building resilience to climate change […] ...

Measurement and assessment of impacts from management practices is an important component of incorporating sustainability into agricultural businesses and supply chains. Building off of their post on the necessity of business engagement, Michael Zrust and Sophia Gnych of the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) offer a snapshot of how their Biodiversity and Palm Oil Project [&hel ...

As the second day of the tenth Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) comes to a close (Singapore is 8 hours ahead of GMT), Landscapes Initiative Co-Organizer World Resources Institute (WRI) has just released two new mapping tools to further sustainability efforts in Indonesian palm oil production. The tools help determine the best possible locations […] ...

The Landscapes Blog has been focusing attention on biodiversity this month and in the lead-up to the Convention on Biological Diversity in October. Dr. Tobias Plieninger, Head of the Ecosystem Services Research Group at the Berlin-Brandenberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Germany, rejoins the Landscapes Blog to report on a recent article on landowner motivations to [& ...

With the IUCN World Conservation Congress complete and the Convention on Biological Diversity still ahead, the Landscapes Blog turns toward focusing on issues of agriculture and biodiversity. A new study in the journal Ecology Letters describes the bird diversity within Costa Rican agricultural landscapes. Lead author Daniel Karp, a doctoral candidate at Stanford University, sh ...

This past month the Landscapes Blog has largely focused on water – from the stresses agricultural systems face to actions on the ground that improve water use efficiency. One critical component to many of the solutions proposed for improving agricultural productivity is an increased need for water resources. Dr. Paul West, Chief Collaboration Officer at University [&hell ...