Local Travel Means Sustainable Travel
How I Spent my Summer Vacation: Hunting for Bears in my Backyard By Sara Dubois How does an animal welfare scientist and wildlife biologist spend their annual vacation? Well as I have been working in this field for almost 20 years now, these days I spend most of my time behind a computer, in team…
The palm oil debate continues
Nowadays palm oil has become ubiquitous as an ingredient across our supermarket shelves, from peanut butter to crackers it is in almost everything. It is also found in nearly half of all household products in developed countries. However, this is a relatively recent trend and given that the demand has increased so quickly, you…
This World Environment Day it’s time to beat plastic pollution
World Environment Day, held annually on 5th June, is considered to be the UN’s most important day for promoting global awareness and action to protect the environment. This year’s theme is one that shines a spotlight on what has become a particularly hot topic over the last year – plastic pollution. Coincidentally, it was also…
Climate change and its implication on Biological Control: Case studies from Latin America
Dr Yelitza Colmenarez, CABI Brazil Centre Director & Plantwise Regional Coordinator – Latin America and Caribbean, recently presented at the First International Congress of Biological Control in Beijing, China, on the fascinating issue of climate change and the impact on the Biological Control of agricultural pests and diseases in Latin America. Here we present Dr Colmenarez’s…
Mapping out ‘Biological control for a healthy planet’ – notes from a China conference
By Dr Sivapragasam (Siva) Annamalai, Regional Director/Plantwise Regional Team Leader at CABI More than 1000 biological control researchers and practitioners from 46 countries came together in Beijing, China during the week of 14 to 16 May 2018 to participate in this First International Congress on Biological Control (ICBC-1). The theme of the Congress was “Biological…
To bee or not to bee
This Sunday the UK celebrated World Bee Day (May 20th); the first year of the now to be annual UN awareness event aimed at increasing our sensitivity to the global importance and increasing struggle of pollinators. Whilst the event hopes to increase understanding of pollinators generally, including butterflies, moths, birds and bats, the focus is…
‘Walkshops’ and ‘Talkshops’ on Sri Lanka’s Holy Mountain
Back in the 1980s, in the midst of Sri Lanka’s civil war, an initiative by the NGO Save the Children Norway, sought to promote ethnic and religious harmony through what they called ‘walkshops’ and ‘talkshops’ on the holy mountain, Adam’s Peak.
Making progress on the biological management of Red Palm Weevil at KhairPur – Sindh
By Riaz Mahmood and Naeem-ul-Haq, CABI Central and West Asia (CWA), Rawalpindi Date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) is of high economic importance for livelihood for hundreds of farmers families in Pakistan. Fruit and tree parts are of many uses. Date palm trees are spread over 98,000 hectares across Pakistan making it the fifth largest date…
It must be Halal, right?
The world Halal food market is valued at $700 billion. Pakistan only contributes $28 million, less than 0.5%, to this market despite having the second largest Islamic population in the world. In Pakistan, although roughly 97% of the population follows Islam, there is not a single Halal certified food chain in the country. A recent…
International Day for Biological Diversity 2018
This year the 22nd of May will be a celebration of the progress made since the implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity 25 years ago. The International day for Biological Diversity was designed to overlap with the UNs post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals and the date chose to commemorate the adoption of the Convention of…