- Luxury brands discover biodiversity: “There is no champagne without grapes, no ready-to-wear without silk and cotton, no perfume without flowers…”
- What about global food and agriculture companies though? Let’s find out, shall we?
- TV can help where companies won’t.
- Of course, you can set up your own company, as these Tunisian women did.
- Imagine a company helping to move a species to “green status.” Imagine.
- They could sign the Zero Hunger Pledge for the Private Sector while they’re at it.
- But meanwhile, on Ojibwe land…
Nibbles: Genebanks in Brazil, Tunisia, Ghana, Ethiopia, Goan rice, Wheat adoption, Peruvian hot peppers & cacao, Amazonian fruits and nuts, Dates, Great Hedge of India, Conservation genetics presentation
- Safety duplicating a chickpea collection.
- Tunisia’s genebank in the news.
- Ghana’s genebank trying to save taro.
- Using a genebank to improve Elephant grass.
- On-farm conservation of rice in Goa.
- Molecular tools show that a couple of varieties account for about half the wheat acreage in Bangladesh and Nepal. Hope all the landraces are in genebanks, and safety duplicated.
- Celebrating Peruvian pepper diversity.
- Peru’s cacao diversity doesn’t need help, apparently.
- However, the Amazon’s wild-extracted fruits (including cacao and a wild relative) could be in trouble. Hope they’re in genebanks, just in case.
- How the date came to the US. Including its genebanks.
- India had a precursor of the Green Wall of Africa but nobody remembers it. Glad it wasn’t used as a genebank of sorts.
- Conservation genetics (i.e., most of the above) explained in 48 slides.
Investing in biodiversity
What do investors think of biodiversity? Well, a new report from Credit Suisse and Responsible Investor says that they’re increasingly interested, but that they are not (yet) putting their money where their mouths are. The reason?
Investors are struggling to identify and consider biodiversity-linked investment opportunities. Biodiversity needs to be made more digestible and measurable for investor concerns to translate into investment action…
More digestible? Now there’s an opportunity for agricultural biodiversity at least.
The challenge of protecting wildlife and nature has fallen behind many other sustainability issues for investors and governments alike. Part of the explanation likely lies in the complexity of biodiversity and its loss. “Diversity is the opposite of investors’ desire for standardisation and comparability of things,” says Piet Klop, Senior Advisor Responsible Investment, PGGM. “Biodiversity is challenging because it really is the anti-commodity.”
Ah yes, functioning ecosystems and food as anti-commodities. Can we not muster some decent arguments against this pernicious view?
Nibbles: New Roots for Restoration Biology Integration Institute, Olive genebanks, Saving old grapevines
- New institute to restore ecosystems, including agricultural ones, gets money.
- Some olive-based ecosystems certainly need restoration, good thing there are genebanks.
- Sometimes, restoring ecosystems means digging up old grapevines and moving them down the road.
Nibbles: Seeds, Hazelnut double, Perry pears, Bananas in Puerto Rico
- Save food diversity, chef says.
- All well and good, but Nutella is driving hazelnut monoculture in Italy.
- Let them make wood vinegar!
- No doubt perry pears will be next for the monoculture treatment.
- Bananas are way ahead of pears, perry or otherwise.