Sustainability
To cut emissions from cattle ranching, beef up the soil, study says
Flying this November into a remote region of the Orinoquía savanna in Vichada, Colombia, environmental biologist Jacobo Arango could spot the Hacienda San José cattle ranch that his team was using as an open-air laboratory. From the sky, he could see the farm’s greener hue of grass standing out against neighboring pastures. There, he and […]
In Patagonia, a puma’s life is decided by political borders
“As a boy, my father killed pumas,” says Vincente Navarra, whose family has been raising sheep against the backdrop of Argentina’s Patagonian wilderness for generations. Navarra, a 71-year-old rancher who raises livestock on Patagonia’s Chilean side was the first in his family to cross the border to produce wool there. Not many people can endure […]
In Brazilian Amazon, mining harm comes from beyond just the mines, study shows
Opening up protected areas to mining in the Brazilian Amazon could have an even bigger impact than previously thought, according to a study published in Nature Sustainability earlier this year. The study focused on the nine protected areas that make up most of the National Reserve of Copper and Associates (RENCA) in the Amazonian states […]
Looking to the oceans for answers to the climate crisis
Three new reports examine the potential of blue carbon pathways to act as natural climate solutions. By Kristin Kleisner, Monica Moritsch and Jamie Collins To address the climate crisis we need to explore every avenue possible, investigate innovative solutions, and even look to the oceans for answers. The oceans already serve the planet as a […]
Read MoreAvocado farming is threatening Colombia’s natural water factory
“We always grew native products that come from here, like corn, beans, potatoes or lulos,” says Don Danilo, a longtime farmer near Sonsón, a small municipality in the Colombian state of Antioquia. But since losing the land he was cultivating, he has switched to beekeeping and fish farming. Don Danilo is just one of the […]
Biofertilizers cut costs and GHG emissions for Brazilian soybean producers
Brazilian soybean producers have been highly successful in using genome technology to benefit their crops, with huge economic and environmental gains, a new paper highlights. Currently, the growers are using biofertilizer on 80% of their crops and their benefits are pushing scientists to develop new bioproducts for other crops as well. Scientists in Brazil have […]
The Climate-Resilient Fisheries Toolkit can help you build resilience now
By Jeff Young Climate change and overfishing are increasingly straining fisheries and marine ecosystems, putting marine biodiversity, the nutrition of people in coastal communities and global food supply at greater risk. Fishers, community leaders and practitioners worldwide are poised to take action, but often grapple with uncertainty, limited data or insufficient resources. Meanwhile, the journey of […]
Read More‘More responsible forest management is needed’: Q&A with FSC’s Kim Carstensen
Forests are an integral part of Earth’s ecosystems as they provide essential social, economic and environmental benefits, such as forest products, biodiversity, and carbon storage and sequestration. However, large swaths of forests are being razed at alarming rates due to agricultural expansion, logging, burning, and livestock grazing. To address the problem, forest certification emerged in […]
Regenerative agriculture in Mexico boosts yields while restoring nature
NUEVO MEXICO, Mexico — Standing in her cornfield in Chiapas state, surrounded by mountains and dry tropical forests, Maria Luisa Gordillo Mendoza looks concerned. “They said we were pigs for sowing like this,” she says of the other farmers’ reaction to her fields covered with sticks and old corn husks and dotted with lanky trees. […]
We’ve crossed the land use change planetary boundary, but solutions await
Just weeks after visiting a patch of Malaysian rainforest, Mongabay founder Rhett A. Butler learned it had been logged for wood chips to supply a paper plant. A teenager at the time, Butler recalls being devastated. “This place of wonder and beauty was lost forever,” he wrote in a 2018 story. “The orangutan, the hornbills, […]