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…
Urban trees – an air pollution solution?
Image: Unsplash, Pixabay.com One of a series of blogs written by CABI editors for One Health Day – November 3rd 2016 November 3rd 2016 will be host to the first ever One Health Day, an international campaign that aims to bring attention to how planetary health challenges are addressed. It may not be obvious, but public…
One Health working will improve health and well-being of us all: plant, animal, human and ecosystem!
For One Health Day November 3, 2016, CABI editor Wendie Norris blogs about "One Health beyond early detection and control of zoonoses" an RSTMH 2016 talk by CABI author Esther Schellling (Swiss Tropical Public Health). Describing research projects on nomadic pastoralists in Chad and Rift Valley Fever (RVF) control in Kenya, Esther drew attention to the need for interdisciplinary studies to include an evaluation of One Health working, involvement of social scientists, engagement of key stakeholders. Tellingly she provided a cost-benefit analysis to society of controlling zoonoses when the disease is in its animal host before it infects human beings.
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…
Author of the Month Blog: Sustainable Water Management in Smallholder Farming, Sara Finley
This month, Sara Finley puts the spotlight on popular education tools for sustainable development. Her new book, Sustainable water management for smallholder farming: Theory and Practice is now available in the CABI bookstore. Can I speak to the manager? Fundamentally, water management is not really about managing water, it’s about managing people. Water in nature…
World Water Week 2016 kicks off in Stockholm
Today marks the third day of the 26th World Water Week (28 August – 2 September), an annual event which is hosted and organized by the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI). It is aimed at addressing global water issues as well as concerns related to international development. Each year, the event focuses on a different…
The U.S. National Park Service – 100 years old this week
On Thursday 25 August, the U.S. National Park Service celebrates its centennial. While national parks have been around for much longer – the first national park, Yellowstone, was signed into law by President Grant in 1872 – the National Park Service which oversees them today was created by the National Park Service Organic Act in…
Forestry and farming can deliver food security, says new report
A report published earlier this week by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) suggests that improving co-operation between the forestry and agricultural sectors could help to improve food security as well as reducing deforestation, highlighting the successful efforts of Chile, Costa Rica, Georgia, Ghana, Vietnam, Tunisia and the Gambia. According to the FAO,…
The recognition of Mycetoma: much needed attention finally given to long neglected tropical disease (NTD)
In May 2016 at the 69th World Health Assembly, mycetoma was added to the World Health Organization's list of neglected tropical diseases. I did not know that mycetoma is a destructive fungal (eumycetoma) or bacterial infection (actinomycetes) of the foot that results in disfigurement and social stigma, and is linked to poverty. I did not know there was a mycetoma belt with most cases reported from India, Mexico, Sudan, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Somalia and Yemen. If mycetoma was unfamiliar to me, how many other people had never heard of this disease?
Improving crop yield: Looking to the sources and sinks
This week I had the pleasure of heading down to the south coast to attend the Society for Experimental Biology’s main meeting in Brighton. The flagship meeting attracts an international audience covering topics across the animal and plant sciences and also cell biology. For me, the main focus was to attend a plant biology…