CBD News

New Delhi, India - The seed is the first link in the food chain - and seed sovereignty is the foundation of food sovereignty. If farmers do not have their own seeds or access to open pollinated varieties that they can save, improve and exchange, they have no seed sovereignty - and consequently no food sovereignty.

[MEXICO CITY] Slash-and-burn agricultural practices, banned by governments because of the risk of uncontrolled fires, provide better growing conditions for valuable new trees than more modern methods of forest clearance, a study suggests

LONDON, Feb. 6 (UPI) -- Meteorologists say ice-free seas in the arctic caused by global warming could explain a chill wind covering much of Europe that has killed more than 300 people.

If you stand with your back to the sun and inspect the place on the ground where your shadow is cast, you might spot the tiny larvae of the threatened Bay checkerspot butterfly.

GAINESVILLE, Fla., Feb. 6 (UPI) -- Satellite tracking of threatened loggerhead sea turtles has revealed two previously unknown feeding "hot spots" in the Gulf of Mexico, U.S. researchers say.

(Reuters) - In the village of Pithauli, surrounded by ripening mustard fields, a woman hauls a cow carcass on a trolley, drops it in an open field, then runs and hides in a nearby hut as dozens of vultures swoop down.

JAKARTA - Conservation group WWF said it spotted 18 critically endangered Irrawaddy dolphins in Indonesian waters off Borneo island Tuesday and called for greater protection of the species' habitat.

From a hill overlooking lush pastures on Chiloé Island in Chile, Gicella Saldivia and her family manage a small organic farm and restaurant.

ScienceDaily (Feb. 6, 2012) - Boise State University biologists have uncovered why the chemical defenses in birch, a common type of tree found in North America, are toxic to snowshoe hares.

ScienceDaily (Feb. 6, 2012) - Several periods of field work during 2008 have led to the discovery of a new species of bamboo-feeding plant lice in Costa Rica's high-altitude region "Cerro de la Muerte."

Ladybirds native to the UK and other European countries are declining fast as the invasive harlequin species spreads, scientists have shown.

PERTH, Australia, Feb. 6 (UPI) -- DNA testing suggests a swathe of seagrass in the Mediterranean could be the oldest known living thing on Earth, Australian researchers say.

The word 'sustainability' is on everyone's lips in the lead-up to the Rio+20 conference in Brazil in June. But if development policy is to improve, mere lip service must be replaced with binding agreements.

A decade ago Gabon set aside 10% of its land for national parks. It wanted to become Africa's version of Costa Rica - a magnet for eco-tourists. But turning Gabon's natural assets into tourist cash has been tougher than expected.

The Nagoya Protocol Implementation Fund (NPIF) - has announced its first beneficiary: a project exploring Panama's natural resources for use in the pharmaceutical and agrochemical industries.

ScienceDaily (Feb. 2, 2012) - 'Yellow biotechnology' refers to biotechnology with insects -- analogous to the green (plants) and red (animals) biotechnology.

Globalisation has strengthened the business case for sustainability and a wide range of tools are already in use to measure environmental, social and governance impacts

MARSABIT, Kenya (AlertNet) - Nomadic communities living off the dry terrain of northern Kenya have relied for generations on the powers of village elders to predict the weather. But the divinations of traditional forecasters were confounded by an unexpectedly severe drought in 2011, threatening herders' livelihoods.

Meat and cheese top the list of foodstuffs that have a negative impact on the environment, according to research

If history is anything to go by, periods of droughts and flooding rains could become more common in south-eastern Australia and New Zealand, according to a new study.