Vital for Looking After the Soil’: Fears As UK Earthworm Population Declines

/by

In 2019, 15,000 children from primary schools across the UK went out to their local playing field. Instead of kicking a ball around, they dug up worms, looked out for birds, and counted them both.

“The kids were just so enthusiastic about it. It was incredible,” said Blaise Martay, lead researcher from the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO). Martay had worried about the data quality – she thought children’s counting might vary with their enthusiasm. But the results “showed exactly what we’d expect”, she said: that more worms meant a greater number of blackbirds, robins and thrushes, the birds that rely on earthworms as a vital part of their diets. The data was consistent across school groups.

Earthworms are a keystone species with potentially enormous effects on above-ground wildlife and ecosystem functioning, yet we still know little about them.

KEEP READING ON THE GUARDIAN

Restoration Is Possible: The Hunt for Scotland’s Ancient Wild Pinewoods

/by

James Rainey reads trees like most people read signposts.

The senior ecologist with the rewilding charity Trees for Life is using a small hand lens to identify a particular lichen that is wreathing the base of an aspen tree in a secluded glen on the west coast of Scotland. He is looking for “ecological clues” of species associated with the ancient Caledonian forest that once covered most of the Highlands, like this aspen, certain wildflowers, such as serrated wintergreen, and some lichens, such as black-eyed Susan and Norwegian specklebelly.

Wild pines have been growing in Scotland since the last ice age. This is a globally unique ecosystem that supports rare wildlife, including red squirrels, capercaillie and crossbills. Now less than 2% of the original growth survives, with just 84 individual Caledonian pinewoods officially recognised, having last been documented more than a quarter of a century ago.

KEEP READING ON THE GUARDIAN

We Need to Act Now on Regenerative Agriculture

/by

“Had I known that regenerative agriculture was going to come along, I would have said ‘I’m going to be regenerative, aiming to be organic’ rather than full organic,” says William Kendall.

This is certainly an interesting perspective from someone who has been involved in the organic movement for nearly three decades.

William, who has a broad take on Britain’s food and drink industry, being both a farmer, and a key player in businesses such as Cawston Press, is not alone in his thoughts though. As Penny Fagle, founder of the new Organic Cheesemakers Network recently said, consumers are questioning the value of organic, which is leading producers (especially those in dairy) to consider whether it’s worth certifying, or putting their efforts into working in a different way.

William and his wife Miranda decided to dedicate their land at Maple Farm to organic methods when they set roots 25 years ago. It was something they felt (and still feel) very passionate about.

KEEP READING ON SPECIALITY FOOD

The Miyawaki Method: Imagining a Mini-Forest’s Potential

/by
What Is The Miyawaki Method?

Most of us know the term old-growth forest, which refers to natural forests that are still mostly free of human disturbance (though not necessarily free of human presence).

These forests have reached maturity and beyond—a process that often takes centuries. As a result, they host incredible biodiversity and sustain a complex array of ecosystem functions.

The Miyawaki Method is unique in that it re-creates the conditions for a mature natural forest to arise within decades rather than centuries.

At the heart of the method is the identification of a combination of native plant species best suited to the specific conditions at any given planting site. As we’ll see, determining this combination of special plants is not always so straightforward.

KEEP READING ON CHELSEA GREEN PUBLISHING

Regenerative Agriculture: A New Value Proposition for Kenya’s Coffee Sector

/by

Coffee productivity in Kenya has been on the decline, putting over 1.5 million households, majority smallholders, at risk of losing their means of livelihoods. Between 1990 and 2020, Kenya’s acreage under coffee declined by 30%, from 170,000 to 119,000 hectares. Even worse, production dropped by 70%, from 129,00 to 40,000 Metric Tonnes. The prices of coffee have recently plummeted to as low as Ksh 20 per kilogram of cherry compared to the expected minimum of Ksh. 80 per kg, causing an uproar among the farmers, majority of whom are smallholders. The current productivity of coffee averages 475 kilos per hectare compared to 970 kilos per hectare recorded in 1963.

The low productivity can be attributed to weak coffee sector and extension systems, declining soil health, poor coffee management, adverse climatic conditions and low global coffee prices compared to a high cost of production.

The Government of Kenya has embarked on plans to revive the coffee sector through various coffee sector structural and market reforms.

KEEP READING ON ALLIANCE; BIODIVERSITY & CIAT

The Trillion-Dollar Promise Of A Landscape Restoration Industry

/by

We all count on ecosystems — and the natural resources we extract from them — to provide humanity with what it needs to survive and thrive. From fertile soils to forests and raw materials underground, nature appears to be an endless fountain furnishing all that we eat, drink, wear, live in, buy and rely on for fuel.

Yet climate change, declining biodiversity, ecosystem destruction, land degradation and pollution threaten our global life support system, putting whole societies at risk. After 20 years of working in international nature conservation, I have concluded that long-term investment in holistic landscape management and restoration is the key to future-proofing our planet while creating sustainable livelihoods for communities.

“Holistic” is the key word here. There is no point in restoring one tributary of a polluted river without tackling the whole basin — the problem will only resurface, and the investment will be rendered futile. From a risk perspective, it’s essential to consider the entire living system rather than pulling it apart.

KEEP READING ON FORBES

On Your Farm – Regenerating Lives and Land

/by

The Apricot Centre in Devon is a farm which combines wellbeing and therapy with regenerative farming practices. Farmer Marina Brown O’Connell and her psychotherapist husband Mark O’Connell brought their livelihoods together to create a farm that not only helps regenerate the land, but regenerates lives too. Having adopted their children and brought them up on their farm, the pair saw first-hand how beneficial being in nature can be, and how the simple act of digging your hands into the soil can help you feel connected.

They’ve recently opened the farm up to asylum seekers, offering a space to farm the land, pick vegetables and cook together, creating a community and helping overcome trauma. They’ve also started training the next generation of regenerative farmers, as a means to pass on the land and skills they’ve accumulated over the years.

CONTINUE READING ON SOUNDS

Reflections From Debates on Regenerative, Organic, Agroecology

/by

Regenerative. Organic. Agroecology. Like any ecosystem—there is both mutality, collaboration and competition. Sorting out where there is mutuality, shared principles and purpose, and where there are conflicts and competition, was the task of several innovative debates and “fishbowl” discussions at the world’s largest organic food expo, BIOFACH. Some 40.000 companies, farmers, organizational leaders, researchers, and policy makers were gathered there.

I want to share some points from my input, speaking as board member at  IFOAM – Organics International, and some gold from debates:

Stand together

First, my “sense of the room (s)” was that we can all draw inspiration from each other. And above all, organic, agroecological and serious regenerative actors and movements must stand together. For together we are THE alternative and primary challenger to current degenerative food systems.

As a stand-alone term “Regenerative” begs the question: “which regenerative definition are we talking about? Syngentas? Bayers? Nestles? Or that of credible actors like Climate Farmers  or Regeneration International  ?” We must ask this question wherever “regenerative agriculture” is proposed as the solution. Just as we have with “Sustainable.” Andre Leu, International Director at Regeneration International has found one solution: “When uncertain if practices are regenerative or degenerative, we use the descriptions of organic principles of health, ecology, fairness and care.”

KEEP READING ON HOLMBECK ECO CONSULT

Understanding Why Regenerative Agriculture is the Fastest-Growing Green Theme

/by

Products with Regenerative Organic Certification (ROC) are experiencing significant growth in today’s marketplace while sales linked to other sustainability certifications are decelerating.

According to the SPINS 2024 trends report, sustainability has not yet reached a tipping point for consumers. Shoppers still view sustainability as an optional “initiative” and not as an imperative movement.

Skepticism is also running rampant as consumers and regulators push back against the rising tide of companies utilizing unsubstantiated green claims, or “greenwashing,” to drive sales.

These factors, along with ongoing economic pressure, have triggered sales deceleration across many sustainability certified products in today’s marketplace.

Among labeling initiatives that continue to gain traction, however, Regenerative Organic Certification is the top performer.

But what’s behind this certification — and what makes it stand out?

KEEP READING ON THE FOOD INSTITUTE

The Costs Of The AfDB’s Feed Africa Initiative To Farmers: A Deep Look At The 40 National Compacts

/by

The African Development Bank’s Dakar II initiative, titled “Feed Africa: Food Sovereignty and Resilience,” is the latest and most ambitious addition to the Bank’s long-standing “Feed Africa” program. This initiative aims to transform African agriculture and make Africa a breadbasket for the entire world. Implemented as part of the national agricultural development plans of 40 African countries, the initiative has sparked significant debate about its approach and its potential effects. The initiative aims to industrialize African food systems with a proposed budget of $61 billion, primarily from the private sector and development institutions. However, this strategy has been criticized because it risks marginalizing smallholder farmers, harming biodiversity and fostering dependence on multinationals for the purchase of seeds and agrochemicals.

To better understand the Dakar II initiative, the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA) analyzed each of the 40 “national pacts”, that is to say the global agricultural development plans drawn up by consultants for the program. We examined critical factors, including finance, land allocation, seeds, use of agrochemicals, technology and people, to assess their collective implications for Africa’s smallholder farmers. In this report, we present the main findings and the concerns they raise.

Critics of the initiative, including the Irish president, have expressed concerns about its unique approach and its emphasis on large-scale monoculture, formal seed systems and high-tech solutions such as climate-smart agriculture, digital and precision agriculture, and chemical inputs. These methods are considered beyond the reach of small farmers due to their cost, environmental risks and the threat they pose to their autonomy and traditional practices.

KEEP READING ON AFSA