Tag Archives: biodiversity

It’s time to turn swords into ploughshares, bombs into bread, and soldiers into good Samaritans*

Posted on 23 April 2020 by Geoff Tansey

It is blatantly obvious that there is no military response that can defeat the COVID-19 virus. It should be equally obvious that military spending can’t deal with the other two great long-term, slower-acting pandemics – climate change and biodiversity loss. … Continue reading →

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The complex world of #coffee from grower to drinker – an unexpected global insight in the Pennines

Posted on 17 June 2019 by Geoff Tansey

As a non-coffee drinker, I’m not the most likely person to go on a visit to a coffee roasters. But I’m glad I did last week. I learnt a lot from Paul Meikle-Janney and Damian Blackburn of Darkwoods coffee, a … Continue reading →

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Taking responsibility for a #sustainable #food future?

Posted on 3 December 2018 by Geoff Tansey

Whose responsibility is it to ensure we have a sustainable food future? That was the theme of this year’s food conference at Chatham House – the Royal Institute of International affairs – at the end of November 2018. The 6 … Continue reading →

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Saving and using Mexico’s fantastic #tomato agricultural #biodiversity

Posted on 9 November 2018 by Geoff Tansey

Tomatoes have spread into cuisines around the world but most commercial varieties have a narrow genetic base and only grow well in optimum conditions often in greenhouses. As climate changes and interest in the fruit’s nutritional properties grows, drawing on … Continue reading →

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Svalbard #seed vault and #seedbanks are not enough to safeguard #agricultural #biodiversity says Patrick Mulvany

Posted on 25 April 2018 by Geoff Tansey

In this interview Patrick Mulvany argues that the seed vault in the permafrost in Svalbard (Spitzbergen) and other seed banks are not sufficient to safeguard and maintain the agricultural biodiversity we need for long term food security in the face of climate change. Continue reading →

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#Climate destabilisation and #biodiversity loss threaten our future – but too little attention is being paid to the latter

Posted on 16 February 2018 by Geoff Tansey

It seems to be a year of anniversaries for me. It’s 50 years since I went to university intending to study chemistry but then changing to study soil science. Soils are really complex physical, chemical, biological systems. Their health is … Continue reading →

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Cutting #livestock consumption to prevent further wildlife extinction

Posted on 13 October 2017 by Geoff Tansey

There was a major conference on Extinction and Livestock in London last week, 5-6 October 2017.  The contributions will be put up on line in due course but I took the chance to interview some of those present. Here’s a … Continue reading →

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Transforming #agriculture to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (#SDGs)

Posted on 12 October 2017 by Geoff Tansey

Hans Herren, CEO of the Millennium Institute, Washington DC and founder of Biovision Foundation for Ecological Development in Zurich, argues that the Sustainable Development Goals offer the way to reshape agriculture in a way that will help meet these goals, … Continue reading →

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Find, #eat and share the world edible #plants – an interview with Joseph Simcox, the Botanical Explorer

Posted on 2 June 2017 by Geoff Tansey

Earlier this week I had a visit from Joseph Simcox, the self-styled Botanical explorer. A dynamo of a man, he’s travelled the world to over 100 countries to find, eat and share as many of the huge range of edible … Continue reading →

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Great new guide to global #soil #biodiversity from #EU on show @ESOF2016

Posted on 29 July 2016 by Geoff Tansey

My first degree was in soil science and it was great to see this beautifully illustrated Global Soil Biodiversity Atlas on display at the EuroScience Open Forum (ESOF2016) in Manchester earlier this week. Despite all our lives depending upon soil, … Continue reading →

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