Threats

May 22, 2009June 28, 2009

Down with the invader!

Happy International Day for Biological Diversity! This year’s theme: invasives.

Invasive alien species exacerbate poverty and threaten development through their impact on agriculture, forestry, fisheries and natural systems, which are an important basis of peoples’ livelihoods in developing countries. This damage is aggravated by climate change, pollution, habitat loss and human-induced disturbance.

Next year we’ll do something special on this day, we promise…

May 22, 2009May 23, 2009

Nibbles: Biodiversity loss, Mapping, Mongolia, Ag origins, Polynesian voyaging, Hybrid fruits, Apricots, Bedouins, Donkeys, Chile, Cuba

How should journalists report biodiversity loss?
Ireland maps its threatened species, including a crop wild relative or two.
Eat like a nomad.
Why agriculture was such a bad idea.
“The heightened voyaging from A.D. 1000 to 1450 in eastern Polynesia was likely prompted by ciguatera fish poisoning.”
Is Floyd Zaiger the most prolific fruit breeder in the world? Read about his “designer fruits.”
“It is truly the apricots that have kept me interested and focused at this job for the past 22 years.”
Jordan’s Bedouins struggling to cope.
Donkeys running for their lives in Ghana.
Chile’s winemakers move south.
The continuing success story that is Cuban urban agriculture.

May 20, 2009May 20, 2009

Nibbles: Pathology, Aquaculture

Local plant clinics are a hit in Uganda.
African catfish is a hit in Cuba, kinda.

May 16, 2009May 15, 2009

Press alerted as to importance of agrobiodiversity

USDA had a nice press release out yesterday about the importance of conserving crop diversity. The example used is the Russian wheat aphid threat to the United States back in 1986. But why do this just now? In preparation for the Third Session of the Governing Body of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture? But that’s two weeks away. Maybe for the International Day of Biodiversity? That’s still a week away, though. I don’t get it. I like it: the time is always right to bang on about plant genetic resources conservation. But I don’t get it.

May 15, 2009May 28, 2009

Finnish genebank attacked

Something else to add to the long list of problems that can afflict field genebanks:

Hordes of moles have penetrated into the MTT Agrifood Research Finland plant gene bank in Laukaa during the winter.

A lot of damage was done to fruit tree saplings in particular. Fortunately, there is a back-up site, but not all material is safety duplicated. More protective measures are to be introduced. Also, there seems to be a lot of cryopreservation work going on at Laukaa, so maybe in time there will be an added level of protection. MTT Agrifood research have a nice pamphlet on Finnish agrobiodiversity and its conservation.