Banned chemicals and silent springs
Recently I have been removing an array of chemicals, from alpha-hexachlorocyclohexane to zeta-cypermethrin, from CABI’s compendia (Crop Protection Compendium, Forestry Compendium and Invasive Species Compendium) records, as these chemicals have either been banned or severely restricted in their use. This work was sponsored by Plant Protection Station, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Japan.
Recycling for Zero Waste
I believe that waste prevention, reduction, re-use and recycling are key measures to achieve sustainability in a world which is becoming depleted of natural resources. These measures will also reduce the environmental impact of pollution, by reducing carbon emissions and might even benefit economic growth. For this reason, I attended a seminar on waste recycling…
Filling the yield gap – the answer’s in agroforestry
In his recent blog Three steps to bridging the yield gap, CABI author Prof. Roger Leakey, explains how agroforestry can help to sustainably increase the productivity of crops. In brief, these are as follows: Step 1 – Adopt agroforestry practices such as improved fallows and relay cropping to enhance crop yields. Step 2 – Diversify…
Voices from the woodlands
2012 has been an interesting year for those concerned with woods and forests. We’ve seen the outputs from the Independent Panel on Forestry and we’ve had the British Woodlands Survey - not to mention ash dieback. A recent conference gave voice to those woodland workers, owners, and managers who took part in the survey, providing a fresh…
The 2012 UN Conference on Climate Change (COP 18) – the outcome
As it has become a tradition with the UN climate talks each year, a decision or final agreement wasn’t reached until after the official end. The meeting was meant to close on Friday, 7th December 2012, but final agreements were only reached and made public on Saturday 8th.
The 2012 UN Conference on Climate Change (COP 18) – My highlights of the first week
The United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP 18) has been taking place in Doha, Qatar, for a week now (please see my previous blog). Much hope, albeit no optimism, is being pinned on these events, as scientists warned recently that the planet is heading for catastrophic levels of warming, of as much as 4-6…
Food Waste in the Supply Chain
A one-day conference held at the Dutch Embassy in London last week focussed on a topic which is emerging in response to the need to increase food production by at least 50% to feed a population of 9 billion in 2050. The topic is food waste reduction and encompasses food waste across the whole of…
The many challenges of wildlife tourism
Earlier this week I got to visit the World Travel Market in London: primarily a trade show in travel and tourism, there are also many seminars, presentations and panel discussions which were my reason for attending. Having recently come back from Namibia where the main tourism draw is wildlife, I was interested to attend a…
Climate change – will it affect spread of vector borne diseases?
Climate change is going to mean mosquito-borne diseases spread north out of the tropics right? That seems to be the story the news media are giving us. But it is really the case? Do we really need to start thinking about buying bednets to protect against mozzy bites? As editor of Global Health database I…
Ash dieback hits British countryside
Image: EPPO A disease of ash trees, first found in Poland in the 1990s (most reports suggest around 1992) but which has since spread through much of northern and central Europe, has been reported in the British countryside for the first time. The ash dieback disease was first reported in the UK in February 2012…