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Spain's ingenious water maze

Invented by the region's Moorish rulers 1,200 years ago, Valencia's irrigation system is now a model for sustainable farming.

Sowing the Seeds of the Climate Crisis in Odisha

“Everybody is doing it. So we are too,” said Rupa Pirikaka, somewhat uncertainly.It’ is genetically modified (GM) Bt cotton seeds, now easily bought at the local market, or even in one’s own village. ‘Everybody’ is countless other farmers like her in the village of and across the rest of south-w ...

South Africa: WWF Programme Seeks to Reduce Cape Wine Farms' Strain On Floral Kingdom Biodiversity

As a result of increased agricultural activity brought about by the expansion of the wine industry, the biodiversity of the floral kingdom is under threat in the Cape Winelands. A conservation programme by the WWF is now helping to ensure that wine farms decrease their impact on the environment.

South Africa: Food and Clean Water Start With Soil Biodiversity - Learning More About It Is Urgent

Although soils are vital for agriculture, biodiversity and clean water, this below-ground world is often overlooked. The loss of life below the ground due to intensification of agriculture, climate change, erosion and compaction, among other things, is one of the biggest global threats to soils.

Somali Government, with the support of FAO, Launches Regional and National Food Systems Summit Dialogues

FAO Somalia and The Federal Government of Somalia have launched the first of a series of virtual regional and national Food System Summit dialogues in preparation for the United Nations Food Systems Summit, to be convened by the Secretary-General in September 2021.

Solving multiple challenges while considering biodiversity and human rights

Strict social and environmental safeguards must be followed to prevent harm to biodiversity or human rights while advancing the scope of nature-based solutions in climate mitigation, a new report says.

Soil — dull and dirty? Think again…

To mark World Soil Day, we’re taking a look at the humble resource beneath our feet that nourishes entire ecosystems and keeps the world fed.

Soil is the solution

What do you think of when you hear the word “desertification”? Sand dunes slowly encroaching on bountiful farmland? The Sahara and Gobi taking over Africa and Asia?

Soil erosion control requires special attention

Soil is one of the most vital non-renewable resources that many organisms on the planet depend on, as it ensures food security of the nations; so that it needs urgent attention, ISNA quoted Seyed Mohammad Mojabi as saying on Sunday.

Small farms outdo big ones on biodiversity — and crop yields

Large-scale farms account for most of the global food supply, but smallholdings protect species and are just as profitable.Small farms tend to be more productive and biodiverse than large ones, and are roughly as profitable and resource-efficient.

Small ecological farms to regenerate rural areas

An ageing population of farmers, huge barriers to land ownership and an unprecedented environmental crisis sparks renewed investment in small, ecological farms.

Small and Medium Forest Enterprise Development for Poverty Reduction: Opportunities and Challenges in Globalizing Markets

23 - 25 May 2006, Turrialba, Costa Rica

Sixth meeting of the Ad Hoc Open-ended Working Group to Enhance the Functioning of the Multilateral System of Access and Benefit-sharing (ITPGRFA)

13 - 17 March 2017, Rome, Italy

Sixth Global Meeting of the Indigenous Peoples’ Forum at IFAD

9 - 13 February 2023, Paris, France

Sixth Extraordinary Session of the Comission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture

24 - 30 June 2001, Rome, Italy

Sicily's farmers go tropical in the face of climate change

limate change has slowly damaged traditional crops. Now farmers on the Italian island of Sicily are looking for innovative alternatives to survive and even thrive.

Should we abandon ‘monoculture’ farming to protect biodiversity and slow climate change?

How we farm can guard against climate change and protect critical wildlife — but only if we leave single-crop farms in the dust, according to a new Stanford study.

Should We Eat Less Rice?

“Your Bowl of Rice Is Hurting the Climate Too” reads a Bloomberg headline from June.

Shifting the needle on cocoa production practices worldwide

Did you know that, typically, less than 7 per cent of the price of your chocolate bar goes to cocoa producers? Or that large amounts of global cocoa production are associated with illegal deforestation and biodiversity losses?

Sheep dung: Fertilizing Rajasthan’s fields

Rajasthan’s grazing sheep help protect biodiversity and combat desertification. But nomadic pastoralism is risk of dying out due to climate change, growing populations and increasing farmland.

Seventeenth Session of the Committee on Agriculture

31 March - 4 April 2003, Rome, Italy

Seed saving movement calls for seeds to be publicly owned

Seeds need to be brought back into public ownership, rather than belonging to a small group of agrochemical companies, say campaigners, after a year in which seed-swapping and saving has reached new heights of popularity.

Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity Launches Initiative on Global Biodiversity Impact Indicators for Commodity Production

Pyeongchang, 16 October 2014. Understanding that the impacts of agricultural commodity production on biodiversity are immense and that food commodity production has the largest environmental impact of any human activity, the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity launched the Ini ...

Second meeting of the Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) on Article 17 (GLIS) of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA)

13 - 14 June 2017, Rome, Italy

Second meeting of the Compliance Committee of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA)

21 - 22 February 2017, Rome, Italy

Second World Biodiversity Congress (organized by The Century Foundation Bangalore, India)

8 - 12 September 2011, Kuching, Malaysia

Second Global Conference of the International Partnership for the Satoyama Initiative (IPSI)

12 - 14 March 2012, Nairobi, Kenya

Sea vegetables are the future of farming

Seaweed salad has never appealed to me. I was incredibly skeptical when I first read that kelp is the new kale. How could a slimy saltwater plant replace the curly crowd-pleaser that foodies take home from farmers markets in bagfuls?

Scientists find ways to improve cassava, a 'crop of inequality' featured at Goalkeepers

Today, as world leaders gather for the UN General Assembly, hundreds of emerging leaders focused on fighting global inequality came together at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's third annual Goalkeepers event in New York City. Among them, University of Illinois scientist Amanda De Souza high ...

Scientists Call for Policies to Buffer Agricultural Runoff

Agricultural land uses, including both crop and livestock production, are known to have myriad detrimental effects on streams and rivers. According to the EPA, agricultural runoff is a major source of surface water pollution—the excess nutrient runoff from fertilizer and livestock manure causes ...

Science and Technology for Managing Plant Genetic Diversity in the 21st Century

12 - 16 June 2000, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Saving the world's most endangered food

The Ark of Taste aims to rescue traditional foods at risk of extinction. Its catalog already numbers more than 5,000 products from around the world, and is open for more nominations.

Saved Seeds are Seeds of Resilience

People have a right to define their own food system. This includes which seeds they use. Last week, farmers in Nakuru County, Kenya, celebrated the launch of “Ten rich, underutilized crops,” a publication and documentary that capture their efforts to promote and sustain the varieties they grow.

Save the Bees means save our food (and planet)

Let’s start with a simple fact: bees and pollinators play a crucial role for the planet, for the protection of biodiversity and for agriculture. They are an integral part of our food system because they pollinate the cultivated plants that end up as food on our tables.

Saline soil: a matter of agricultural and environmental concern

On his tour to Yellow River estuary starting from Wednesday, Chinese President Xi Jinping checked on the local government's efforts in managing the saline-alkali soil caused by sea water erosion along the coast.

SUSTAINABLE USE OF BIOMASS – A CHANCE TO ADDRESS BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION

Sustainable produced biomass is being addressed as part of the Agriculture Programme of Work under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). The side event will help to - Provide an opportunity for discussions among the Parties, the private sector, government and civil society the challenges ...

SECURING SUSTAINABILITY THROUGH THE CONSERVATION AND USE OF AGRICULTURAL BIODIVERSITY

The objective of this event is to present the outcomes, information generated and technical assistance provided to developing countries by UNEP GEF projects on conservation and sustainable use of agricultural biodiversity. This side event will provide an opportunity to demonstrate the tools, pra ...

SCBD commemorates FAO's World Food Day 2004 - "Biodiversity for Food Security".

Executive Secretary Hamdallah Zedan welcomes the initiative of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations to dedicate World Food Day 2004 to the theme of "biodiversity for food security.”

Rémy Martin's vineyards being kept sustainable for years to come

Once you have a glass of your favourite spirit or cocktail in your hand, you rarely think about how it was produced.But climate change is a reality, as is the environmental sustainability of the crops and vineyards that we rely on for our food and drink.

Road to apocalypse

If extreme climate events were to occur due to rising global temperatures, Himalayan biodiversity might collapse. This eventuality could devastate our agriculture, leading to an apocalypse for Nepal.

Right to Food Forum (FAO)

1 - 3 October 2008, Rome, Italy

Rice paddies and biodiversity

Presentation of the function of rice paddies to preserve biodiversity. Rice paddies can develop peculiar ecosystems, enable sustainable agriculture for several thousand years, and provide ecosystem services such as watershed protection, prevention of soil erosion and local climate stability, as ...

Recommendation XIII/1

Review of implementation of the programme of work on agricultural biodiversity

Returning land to nature with high-yield farming

The expansion of farmlands to meet the growing food demand of the world's ever expanding population places a heavy burden on natural ecosystems. A new IIASA study however shows that about half the land currently needed to grow food crops could be spared if attainable crop yields were achieved gl ...

Rethinking Food Systems

Over decades, as populations have grown, more people are consuming – and wasting more food – than ever before. Unsustainable food production and consumption patterns are a common thread, running through many of the greatest challenges facing humanity today.

Respecting Natural Resources

Intensive agriculture is putting extreme pressure on the natural resources of the planet, or rather, destroying them – as a matter of fact, it is primarily responsible for the loss of biodiversity and climate change.

Researchers discover a novel chemistry to protect our crops from fungal disease

Pathogenic fungi pose a huge and growing threat to global food security. Currently, we protect our crops against fungal disease by spraying them with anti-fungal chemistries, also known as fungicides.

Request for submissions of information on experiences on the development and application of tools relevant to the sustainable production and use of biofuels

Reference: SCBD/STTM/JM/RH/64589 (2008-100)
To: Parties and other Governments, indigenous and local communities, and relevant stakeholders and organizations

I invite you to submit information on experiences on the development and application of tools relevant to the sustainable production and use of biofuels as well as relevant information from research on, and monitoring of, the positive and negative impacts of the production and use of biofuels on ...

Request for Additional Information on the Implementation of Climate Regulation and Carbon Sequestration Components of the Agricultural Biodiversity Programme of Work

Reference: SCBD/STTM/JW/jm/59493 (2007-101)
To: CBD National Focal Points and SBSTTA Focal Points

Recommendation XII/5 of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice requests the Executive Secretary, when preparing the in-depth review on the programme of work on agricultural biodiversity, to conduct an analysis of (i) the extent to which climate change impacts and r ...

Recommendation XVI/15

Reports on collaborative work on biodiversity and agriculture, forests, and biodiversity and health