Nibbles – Page 497 – Agricultural Biodiversity Weblog

Norwegian wood

Guitar makers and Greenpeace get together to save rare woods.

IHSH

The new Chronica Horticulturae is out.

June 7, 2007June 7, 2007

Sheep weed vineyards

A novel use for highly trained sheep: weeding vineyards.

Documenting field data

From LEISA, methodologies and experiences in documenting field data.

Maple syrup forever

Never mind about peanuts and potatoes, maple syrup trees are even more threatened by climate change.

1. In the UK, Herefordshire’s Museum of Cider is picking up national recognition for its genebank of heritage apple trees. The BBC’s canonical autumnal apple story comes a little early this year.
2. Speaking of iconic apples, Kazakhstan is scaling up efforts to bring back the Aport, the giant heirloom that once made Almaty famous. No word of museums, though. Or cider.
3. Over in the Philippines, Department of Environment and Natural Resources is beefing up its rattan genebank to keep pace with demand, with forest stewards in Bukidnon planting seedlings to match. Furniture makers need genebanks as much as cider makers.
4. Sri Lanka’s pre-Green Revolution heirloom rice varieties, purana haal, are being eyed for their resilience and disease-management potential. Good thing they’re in the national genebank.
5. Saudi Arabia’s Jazan terraced coffee farms are turning into rural and ecotourism hotspots, proving not all agrobiodiversity needs to be in a genebank to survive. But it helps.
Published on August 9, 2026