Another of those pesky blog carnivals is up for your reading pleasure. We’re in there, with Luigi’s Modest Proposal to mash walkers with missing species. There’s also an interesting link to Coffee and Conservation, a new one to me, with a close look at just what shade-grown coffee means on the slopes of Panama. Eye-opening.
A devoted gardner speaks
Michael Pollan looks at things from the point of view of agricultural biodiversity, and concludes we are all being manipulated by corn. ((Thanks to Hugh for the headsup.)) ((Sorry, the video is slightly wider than the column, but that’s down to the folks at TED, not us, and there’s nothing we can do about it other than distort Pollan.))
Wild pomegranates threatened?
Having visited when it was still very difficult to get there, and to get around once you got there, I found myself ambivalent about news of road development on Socotra. The people there could certainly do with a couple of decent roads: there were none at all when I was there in the late 1980s, and I remember a couple of really heavy walks, carrying herbarium presses to boot. The place is beautiful, and should attract tourists, but they’re going to need roads too. On the other hand, it sounds like the road system and other development may not be as well planned as it might. The only wild relative of the pomegranate is endemic to the island, but I doubt any road is going to go anywhere near the few populations left. As I remember, they were (and hopefully still are) in really inaccessible places.
BBC World to screen biodiversity documentary
People with access to BBC World TV channel, stand by for a treat. Tomorrow night (i.e. Friday 15 February 2008) at 20.30 GMT you can watch Forbidden Fruit, latest in the Earth Report series produced by Television Trust for the Environment. The programme follows two somewhat different scientists. Stefano Padulosi, of Bioversity International, works with colleagues from the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation in India to reinvigorate millets for nutrition and income. Isabella dalla Ragione runs Archeologi Arborea, an Italian organization dedicated to rediscovering, conserving and distributing long-lost varieties of fruit.
https://agro.biodiver.se/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/fruittve.movAbove (if the technology works) you should be able to see a clip from the film. (If not, consider going to the Earth Report page at TVE, and accept my apologies. Consider, too, getting a decent web browser.)
Agricultural Biodiversity Symposium
In celebration of UC Davis’ 100th anniversary, the campus will host an international conference focused on agricultural biodiversity — the concept that it is important to make use of and conserve a variety of plant and animal species in commercially viable agricultural operations.
More details of the symposium — scheduled for 14-18 September 2008 — from the web site. And, as ever, if anyone who is going wants to write it up for us, we’re always open.