European Commission wants to slash use of chemical pesticides by 50% by 2030

The European Commission wants to cut the use of chemical pesticides in half by 2030, as part of its latest plan on sustainability and biodiversity. The EU institution’s announcement, a piece of its ambitious Farm to Fork strategy, aims to make food systems more healthy and environmentally-friendly. The Commission said it does not want to […]

Aseer to be awarded World Region of Gastronomy 2024

The Aseer region (Saudi Arabia) will be officially awarded the title of World Region of Gastronomy 2024 by IGCAT. They will be the first region outside Europe to earn this important accolade that recognises Aseer’s commitment to local sustainable development. After evaluating the bid book, Marhaban Alf – Aseer the Region of a 1000 Welcomes, […]

The Biodiversity Crisis Needs Its Net Zero Moment

Climate change isn’t the only major crisis facing the world. We’re in the middle of a mass extinction, and we’re missing all of our biodiversity targets. October 2021 was an important month for crisis meetings. There was the big one, COP26, where decisionmakers descended on Glasgow to spend two frenetic weeks figuring out how to […]

Pesticides in the EU: A Creeping Costly Venom

In November, three organizations, Pollinis, Le Basic and Terre Solidaire jointly published a shocking study about the hidden socio-economical costs of pesticides, where we learn that the European Union is one of the biggest consumer of pesticides in the world. This publication adds to the long list of recent controversies regarding pesticides in the EU. […]

To make good, healthy cheese you need natural, diverse meadows

In Italy stable meadows are disappearing through the abandonment of the countryside and soil consumption. Across Europe they occupy a surface area as large as France, and the most flourishing meadows are found in Ireland, Spain and Portugal. They’re fundamental for maintaining biodiversity, be it vegetal or animal, and for the diet and well-being of […]

FAO report maps insights from and threats to Indigenous Peoples’ food Systems

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), together with the Alliance of Bioversity International and The International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) released a new study identifying hundreds of diverse plant and animal species that Indigenous Peoples around the world depend on and care for to generate food sustainably and enhance biodiversity – and […]

New report shows Indigenous and Tribal Peoples ‘best guardians’ of forests

Deforestation rates are significantly lower in Indigenous and Tribal territories where governments have formally recognized collective land rights, according to a new report. Jointly published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Fund for the Development of Indigenous Peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean (FILAC), Forest Governance by Indigenous […]

Biodiversity at risk, threatens human survival, UN forum hears

The Director-General of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Audrey Azoulay opened the UNESCO Forum on Biodiversity by pointing out that one year after its emergence, the COVID-19 pandemic has confirmed what we had already known; “by threatening biodiversity, humanity is threatening the conditions for its own survival”. “The pandemic demonstrated that human health depends on the […]

Nature-based Solutions can save the planet, but only if we change our diets too

Natural ecosystems, such as forests, grasslands and oceans, do a pretty good job of storing carbon and supporting biodiversity. It’s therefore no surprise that Nature-based Solutions (NbS) – actions to protect, sustainably manage and restore natural or modified ecosystems, for the benefit of people and nature – are being widely discussed by NGOs, multi-stakeholder platforms and coalitions of countries as […]

Historic UN Summit on Biodiversity

Recognizing that the continued deterioration and degradation of the world’s natural ecosystems were having major impacts on the lives and livelihoods of people everywhere, world leaders called for increased resolve to protect biodiversity at the UN. A record number of countries – nearly 150 countries and 72 Heads of State and Government – addressed the […]

Asia-Pacific nations must ‘work together’ to save their ocean

The Asia-Pacific region is one of the world’s most ethnically and culturally diverse regions. It is also one of its most biodiverse. Yet local marine ecosystems are nearing a tipping point as a result of various environmental stresses caused by unsustainable human practices. In a newly released report, The Changing Sails: Accelerating Regional Actions for Sustainable Oceans […]

How Peru’s potato museum could stave off world food crisis

With a climate changing faster than most crops can adapt and food security under threat around the world, scientists have found hope in a living museum dedicated to a staple eaten by millions daily: the humble potato. High in the Peruvian Andes, agronomists are looking to the ancestral knowledge of farmers to identify genetic strains […]