Tag: bio diversity

Counting on … day 1.115

9th May 2023

This week is National Hedgerow Week. Hedgerows can be an excellent space where biodiversity thrives – both in terms of the range of plants that can be found there, and in terms of the number of birds, insects and small mammals that benefit from its ecosystem. Hedges can also serve as wild life corridors linking areas of rich biodiversity. Sadly many  hedgers have been lost as increasing industrialisation of farming has led to the use of larger  pieces of machinery (ploughs, sprayers, harvesters) which can only be used in large fields – ie combined smaller fields where the hedges have been removed. 

Since gardens too can be home to hedges, I was particularly attracted to the idea of creating a hedge using home grown plants – a long term project which will see a hedge replace a row of raspberries reaching the end of their fruitful lifespan. And the National Hedgrewo Week website provides just the information for doing this – https://treegrowersguide.org.uk/

Counting on … day 1.077

20th  March 2023 

“As the risks from the climate crisis and global conflict increase, seed banks are increasingly considered a priceless resource that could one day prevent a worldwide food crisis. Two in five of the world’s plant species are at risk of extinction, and though researchers estimate there are at least 200,000 edible plant species on our planet, we depend on just three – maize, rice and wheat– for more than half of humanity’s caloric intake. There are roughly 1,700 seed banks, or gene banks, around the world housing collections of plant species that are invaluable for scientific research, education, species preservation and safeguarding Indigenous cultures.

“The Svalbard Global Seed Vault, dubbed the “doomsday vault” or the “Noah’s ark of seeds”, aims to contain a duplicate of every seed housed in other banks across the globe. Its location is deliberately remote, sited in the Svalbard archipelago, halfway between mainland Norway and the north pole. The hope is that the permafrost and dense rock into which the vault has been sunk will ensure that seed samples remain frozen – although it was breached in 2017 by meltwater after high temperatures in the region.” https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/apr/15/seed-banks-the-last-line-of-defense-against-a-threatening-global-food-crisis?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Protecting biodiversity and food security are critically important.