Bushfires: Can Ecosystems Recover from Such Dramatic Losses of Biodiversity?

By Darren Evans, The Conversation

All species are embedded in complex networks of interactions where they are directly and indirectly dependent on each other. A food web is a good example of such networks. The simultaneous loss of such large numbers of plants and animals could have cascading impacts on the ways species interact – and hence the ability of ecosystems to bounce back and properly function following high-severity wildfires.

We are Nature’s Best Guardians, Not the State

By Gabriella Rutherford, Intercontinental Cry

Located in the Bocas del Toro region of Panama, the Naso have held steadfast to their goal. Like the nearby Ngäbe-Buglé kingdom, they want to create a comarca indígena or demarcated territory that would cover 160,000 hectares of their ancestral homeland. Unfortunately, they have encountered some resistance; because their vision of a secured territory conflicts with the  government’s interests in the land the Naso call home.

On Endangered Species Day — and Every Day — Here’s How to Save the Animals

By Maggie Dewane, Medium.com

If you’re already toting a canvas bag or your home is running on renewables, you need to do more. And if you’re brand new to the world of conservation, welcome to the fight.

Hedgerows

By Brian Kaller, Restoring Mayberry blog

Hedgerows offer fields a needed balance, a wild river through human land that can soak up our excesses and give us a reservoir of food and fuel for lean times. They give your garden a third dimension, a vertical salad bar that middle-aged and elderly can reach with a minimum of back pain.

Safeguarding Native Genetics

By Christopher Price, Sustainable Food Trust

We need the diversity that rare breeds represent. Today’s generation needs to understand how relevant traditional breeds are to modern food production.

To Solve Climate Change and Biodiversity Loss, We need a Global Deal for Nature

By Greg Asner, The Conversation

In a new study titled “A Global Deal for Nature,” led by conservation biologist and strategist Eric Dinerstein, 17 colleagues and I lay out a road map for simultaneously averting a sixth mass extinction and reducing climate change.

Bees Brought Bavarians Together. And They Have a Lesson for us All

By Christian Bock, The Guardian blog

Bavaria’s remarkable campaign to save the bees can give us all cause for optimism. Where politicians failed to protect the environment and put corporate profits first, Bavarians stood up

Bison are Back, and That Benefits Many other Species on the Great Plains

By Matthew D. Moran, The Conversation

Today some 500,000 bison have been restored in over 6,000 locations, including public lands, private ranches and Native American lands. As they return, researchers like me are gaining insights into their substantial ecological and conservation value.

My Great-Great-Grandfather, a City Park and Some Monarch Butterflies

By Adrian Ayres Fisher, Ecological Gardening

There is enough land, more than enough land, throughout the Midwest (and beyond) to support monarchs and still grow more corn and soy than we need. There is enough land, along the highways, in the grassy green circles and triangles of interchanges, in yards and parks, on campuses, in vacant lots—anywhere, really—to grow a patch of three-season-blooming wildflowers, including milkweed.

Insects are Disappearing. Why Should We Care? What Can be Done?

By Ryan Sandford-Blackburn, Permaculture Association

The sudden loss is a sign of ecosystem health, or should that be illness? A warning sign. So, why should we care? Plain and simply, as far as we know, this planet is the grand sum of life in the universe. We have a duty to cherish and nurture it.

Nations Won’t Reach Paris Climate Goal Without Protecting Wildlife and Nature, Warns Report

By Ashley Braun, DeSmog Blog

The Paris Climate Agreement and several other United Nations (UN) pacts “all depend on the health and vitality of our natural environment in all its diversity and complexity,” said Dr. Anne Larigauderie, executive secretary of the UN-backed organization behind the report. “Acting to protect and promote biodiversity is at least as important to achieving these commitments and to human well-being as is the fight against global climate change.”

Multi-species Grassland: Is it Time to Consider your Roots?

By William Stiles, Sustainable Food Trust

Multi-species swards (also referred to as species-rich or diverse grasslands) are grassland communities comprising grass, legume and herb species. This increased diversity means a wide variety of plant forms are represented, which can increase biomass production and produce a forage material comprised of a variety of components, including some with medicinal qualities.