Category: Policy

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Did wild relatives get a boost at Nagoya?

I think I may have Nibbled the fact that IUCN released a few days ago at Nagoya the results of a massive study of the global pattern of threat to vertebrate diversity. Here’s the money map:

Also to coincide with Nagoya, IUCN collaborated with Kew and the Natural History Museum, London on a global analysis of extinction risk for the world’s plants.

And of course, the A-Z Guide of Areas of Biodiversity Importance was launched at a side event at COP 10. The press release is on the UNEP website.

Compare and contrast with this map Julian Ramirez of CIAT has kindly sent me, showing the richness of wild relatives of a dozen or more major crops. Question for anyone who was at Nagoya: were livestock and crop wild relatives discussed during the proceedings?

I ask because in a recent posting on the Crop Wild Relatives discussion group, Nigel Maxted suggests that launching an initiative to “(establish) … a Global Network of CWR Protected Areas is now a real priority, along with systematic ex situ conservation!”

So what happened?

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Nibbles: CBD COP, Biofortification, Foodie potatoes, Dates date, Reintroductions, Quercus, Nomenclature, Maize, P, Agroforestry, Weeds, VIR, Lactose intolerance, Yersinia

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MEPs to save bees

Bee pollination accounts for 76 per cent of food production and 84 per cent of plant species.

OK, I know it is Friday and I am tired, but what on earth does that sentence mean? Quite apart from the spurious accuracy of 76 1 and 84. I’m glad to know that MEPs back plans to combat decreasing bee numbers, as reported by The Parliament, and that “the European parliament’s agriculture and rural development committee voted through a resolution on the issue on Thursday”. Alas, the report tells me nothing about the resolution and how it will actually help bees and beekeepers, nor where I can find out more.