Metals, excess nutrients, and sediment are processed and filtered out as water moves through forests, wetlands, natural grasslands and riparian zones. It is usually easier to prevent pollution harnessing the forces of nature than to clean up the mess with costly technology.
Today, the International Day for Biological Diversity, is the ideal day to spend the coffee break mulling over the relationship between water, biodiversity, and agriculture in some of the world’s most critical life raft ecosystems
Food, nutrition and health of small-scale farming families throughout the world depend to a major extent on the benefits obtained from nature, ranging from the provision of a wide diversity of food resources, fuel-wood for cooking and medicinal plants, to the sustenance of agriculture and disaster risk reduction.
Over-reliance on a single crop species, particularly at large scales, threatens food security in the same way that over-reliance on a single password threatens computer security.
A good introduction to World Wetlands Day in Rotterdam was paying 10€ to park in the open space of a former industrial plant, which has been converted into a “green” conference center. Here ecosystems, especially wetlands, are business.
The Sudd wetland of South Sudan is one of the largest tropical wetlands in the world. However, despite covering an area twice the size of Spain in the wet season, very little is known about the number of people it supports or the current state of its biodiversity.
In his new book, The Human Quest, scientist Johan Rockström and photographer Mattias Klum explore ways that humans can live within the planetary boundaries.
In a massive review of more than 1000 research papers on ecosystem services in Latin America – justifiably subtitling itself “the state of the art” – it is clear that across nine countries and Puerto Rico, the subject is booming.
During a recent visit to the International Water Management Institute, Johan Rockström discusses the Planetary Boundary Framework with the Water, Land and Ecosystems team.
Water, the primary resource for irrigated agriculture, is demanded by domestic, industrial, environmental and agricultural sectors within a catchment. In other words, water of varying quality is demanded by multiple sectors and in varying quantities by multiple users within a catchment.
