CABI Books on Livestock Breeds and Breeding Are Essential Resource for Education, Research and Policy Influencing
This article focuses on the following three books 1. “Mason's World Encyclopedia of Livestock Breeds and Breeding: 2 volume pack”, edited by V Porter, L Alderson, S Hall, D P Sponenberg, March 2016, Hardback, 9781845934668. Volume 1: Asses, camelids, cattle, goats, horses and pigs, Volume 2: Sheep, water buffalo, yak and other livestock 2. “Mason's World Dictionary of Livestock Breeds, Types and Varieties,” published in August 2002; DOI: 10.1046/j.1439-0388.2002.00353. 3. “A World Dictionary of Livestock Breeds, Types and Varieties” by Ian Lauder Mason, 1996 (ISBN 0851991024) [previous editions: 1988, 1969 1957 (reissued with Supplement), first published in 1951) In March 2016, CABI published “Mason's World Encyclopedia of Livestock Breeds and Breeding”, which was written by co-authors (Porter, Hall and Sponenberg). This is a major international and much expanded reference book based on Ian Mason's original book, which includes breeds of domestic livestock. This version covers conservation of animal genetic resources,…
World Environment Day 2017 – “Connecting People to Nature”
First held in 1974, World Environment Day (WED) is considered to be the largest global event for positive environmental action, with participation from over 143 countries. It takes place on 5th June each year and is a flagship campaign for driving change and raising awareness on emerging environmental issues, from climate change and wildlife crime, to resource consumption and marine pollution. This year's host country is Canada and the chosen theme is 'Connecting People to…
World Biodiversity Day focuses on Sustainable Tourism
The United Nations has proclaimed May 22 the International Day for Biological Diversity (IDB) to increase understanding and awareness of biodiversity issues. This year, to coincide with the observance of 2017 as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development as proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly, sustainable tourism has been chosen as the…
Rainforest biodiversity – provider of services and hope against climate change
Multiple climate records were broken in 2016, according to a report published by the World Meteorological Organization this morning. Hearing about record high global temperature, exceptionally low sea ice, and persistent sea level rise was admittedly not the best start for celebrating the fifth International Day of Forests. Yet we need to be reminded…
Indigenous knowledge to enlighten sustainable development
Indigenous peoples are characterised by having their own land to which they are connected at various levels, and protecting this special relationship has attracted a great deal of media attention recently. Demonstrations have resumed demanding a stop to the construction of Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines for oil transportation as campaigners and experts say…
How soil health is integral to One Health
One of a series of blogs written by CABI editors for One Health (#OneHealth) Day on November 3rd 2016 "It is difficult to rate the importance of the different soil functions, since all are vital to our well-being to some extent. However, the function of supporting food and agriculture worldwide is fundamental for the preservation and advancement of…
Author of the Month: Climate Change Impacts on Urban Pests, Partho Dhang
A survey revealed that “climate change” remains a top recognisable and used phrase in the first two decades of this century. Today, climate change generates enormous interest socially and has become an agenda in major meetings governing varied subjects such as national security, trade, economics, agriculture, public health and the environment. Evidence of climate…
How crop diversity could help secure our future food supply
Diversity within maize. Image source: Sam Fentress, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1293212 16 October is World Food Day (#WFD2016); this year’s theme is ‘Climate is changing. Food and agriculture must too.’ Jennifer Cunniff, plant scientist in CABI’s editorial team looks at how harnessing crop diversity is vital for us to meet the challenge. Of the wide…
School expedition gathers data on biodiversity in Mexico
Scuba quadrats. Image credit: David H. Williams, Rye St Antony Our guest blogger this month is David Williams, who is the Head of Science at Rye St Antony School, Oxford. He recently led a group of schoolgirls on an Operation Wallacea expedition to Mexico, where they took part in a conservation project which involved conducting mammal surveys…
A fifth of the world’s plants under threat, as report says 391,000 species now known to science
A ground-breaking report from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, has produced an estimate of the number of plants known to science. By searching through existing databases, the researchers have estimated that there are now 390,900 known plant species, of which around 369,400 are flowering plants. But this figure is only those species currently documented: new…