Don’t forget to check out IISD for highlights of the “High-Level Conference on World Food Security: the Challenges of Climate Change and Bioenergy.” So you can find out what’s being achieved, besides bringing Rome to a standstill, that is. Jeremy is there, earning his keep, hence his silence. No doubt he’ll blog all about it when the dust settles.
Nibbles: Potato, Cheese, Edible landscapes, Apples, Bees, Cacao, Vegetables
- The Guardian has a leader on the potato. Please let this year end soon. And thanks, Danny.
- Lucy Appleby RIP.
- Inner city farming in the UK.
- Gary Nabhan on where apples came from, and where they’re going. And more. Thanks again, Danny!
- Tracking bees’ response to climate change by satellite.
- Mars thinks cacao biodiversity is important. No news from Earth.
- The “keyhole gardens” of Lesotho.
Talking about Vavilov
The New York Botanical Garden hosted a World Science Festival panel discussion about Nikolai Vavilov on 31 May. The moderator, Carl Zimmer, has a video of a conversation with co-panelist Peter Pringle on his blog. ((Later: Ok. actually, the video is at bloggingheads, but there’s a link from Zimmer’s blog, The Loom.)) Pringle is the author of The Murder of Nikolai Vavilov.
Later stiil: Check out the comment from Cary Fowler on Svalbard, though.
Nibbles: Oils, Mango, Agro-tourism
- Oils unpacked.
- Indian mango aficionado grafts 300 varieties on a single tree.
- Agro-tourism parks a great hit in Maharashtra.
Cities have no agrobiodiversity, it seems
UNEP and UN-Habitat announced today the publication of “case studies from around the world on cities, ecosystems and biodiversity.” I’ve had a quick look at a number of the summaries of studies on individual cities, including that on Rome, but unfortunately could find little evidence that agricultural biodiversity was even considered. That is a pity. Lots of agriculture goes on in cities, even cities in industrialized countries, in small homegardens and on terraces, in allotments and along roadside verges. ((Later: Coincidentally, this article on urban agriculture in Manila cropped up in my RSS feed today, but only after I’d written the above.)) The people involved are dedicated and knowledgeable. Often, they grow old, rare varieties and otherwise unusual species. Why not enlist them into the more general biodiversity conservation effort?