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Posts Tagged ‘climate-change’
Importance of Traditional Food Crops for Community Resilience in Zimbabwe
Photo: Luciano Ghersi
A recent study titled “Traditional food crops as a source of community resilience in Zimbabwe” by researchers from Cornell and Rhodes universities and the Sebakwe Black Rhino Conservation Trust found that traditional food crops, such as mubovora (pumpkin) and ipwa (sweet reed), are an important source of community resilience in Zimbabwe—including resilience to climate change and economic turbulence.
Read more here.
‘Trees of life’ are vital food source
The “famine food” of trees can keep drought-hit communities alive when all other food crops fail, says Miranda Spitteler. In this week’s Green Room, she argues that policy makers need to recognise the important role trees play in providing emergency food aid.
Read more: news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8181510.stm
Prestigious Prize for Agrobiodiversity Researcher
Dr Andy Jarvis, a researcher with CIAT and Bioversity International has been awarded the Ebbe-Nielsen Prize for his achievement in agrobiodiversity research. Andy has produced groundbreaking studies on the importance of conserving underutilized crops and crop wild relatives, and has used geographic modeling to predict the impact of climate change on agriculture. Using this novel technology, Andy and his team also mapped the distribution of hundreds of important underutilized species, evaluated their state of conservation, and provided practical suggestions for their long-term conservation. The studies resulted in some unsettling predictions of what climate change will do to these wild species, many of which have valuable genetic traits that can be used to improve domesticated crops and enhance global food production.
Congratulations, Andy, from the team at Crops for the Future!
Read more in CIAT’s Newsletter.
The use of agrobiodiversity by indigenous peoples and rural communities in adapting to climate change
17-20 June 2009 – The Platform for Agrobiodiversity Research together with Bioversity International and Chiang Mai University organized an international workshop on “The use of agrobiodiversity by indigenous peoples and rural communities in adapting to climate change”. 25 participants from the NGO, CSO, Academia and Indigenous Peoples constituencies attended elaborating a series of ideas on research projects to collectively engage in to assess and substantiate the crucial function of agrobiodiversity and indigenous peoples/traditional rural communities in dealing with change/uncertainty.
Underutilized species have many features that give them great value in this context (see the working definition of underutilized species).
Proceedings of this event along with all the documentation that was shared amongst participants will soon be made available on the web site dedicated to the Platform’s project on climate change. For further information you may want to visit the project’s web site and/or get in contact with the Platform’s secretariat.
Platform for Agrobiodiversity Research
Secretariat
c/o Bioversity International
Via dei Tre Denari 472/a
00057 Maccarese
Rome, Italy
Tel: (39) 06 6118 302
Fax: (39) 06 619 79661
Email: email hidden; JavaScript is required
PAR-CC: climate.agrobiodiversityplatform.org
We are on delicious: delicious.com/par_cc/
Secretariat provided and hosted by Bioversity International
Call for adapting to climate change in PNG
From: PAPGREN blogPapua New Guinea requires a multi-pronged strategy to adapt to climate change and mitigate its impacts on agriculture and food security in the country. NARI Director-General Dr Raghunath Ghodake says PNG must look after its own interests against the backup of global uncertainty and financial recession now that the world is going through global climate change along with food shortages and the worldwide economic crisis.
Government of Denmark & UNESCO’s Frontlines Forum is funding local projects on climate change impacts and adaptation
With assistance from the Government of Denmark, the Frontlines Forum is now calling for community-level projects focusing on local experiences with climate change impacts and adaptation.
Background
Despite broad recognition that small island, Arctic, high altitude and other vulnerable communities are on the frontlines of climate change, community voices have remained on the margins of global climate change debates. It is these voices, however, that most need to be heard. They provide first hand evidence, experience and expertise on climate change impacts and adaptation.
In response to this concern, the global internet forum On the Frontlines of Climate Change was launched in June 2008 by UNESCO, in partnership with the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Secretariat of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues and the Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights.
The goals of the Frontlines Forum are to:
- Draw international attention to the knowledge and experiences of indigenous communities and peoples living in small island, Arctic, montane, desert margin and other vulnerable environments;
- Seek community-level observations on climate change impacts, as well as local efforts to cope with and adapt to these changes;
- Provide an opportunity for communities to voice their observations, experiences and concerns, and to share and exchange them with other communities;
- Build up a global database of local observations, experiences, practices and coping strategies;
- Support community-level research and educational activities related to climate change, highlighting the role of local knowledge, practices and coping strategies;
- Heighten the profile of local and indigenous peoples in international climate change debates, to build recognition of their unique knowledge and expertise.
New regional programme supports adaptation to climate change
Wednesday, 4 February 2009, Secretariat of the Pacific CommunityA new regional project will help three Pacific island countries, Fiji, Tonga and Vanuatu, cope with the effects of climate change.
The Euro 4.2 million project is being funded by GTZ (German Technical Cooperation) and will be based at SPC’s (Secretariat of the Pacific Community) Land Resources Division in Suva. For some time now, SPC has been systematically integrating climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies into its policy, technical and advisory services. Read more »