Food systems are responsible for 80% of the world’s deforestation, 70% of freshwater use and contribute to 40% of the planet’s land degradation says a recently published report by the U.N.’s Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).
The report, the Global Land Outlook 2 (GLO2), published on Wednesday, is the most comprehensive study of the extent to which the world’s land is degraded, and what this means for people, the economy, wildlife, and the climate.
European multi-disciplinary environmental engineering firm O Bi-Eco Green Engineering (OBE) and AfricaLive have announced a partnership to foster European-African partnership in the circular economy.
OBE specialises in delivering multi-stakeholder environmental engineering and circular bio-economy projects. Bringing a wealth of experience in building multi-stakeholder partnerships, the partnership with AfricaLive will provide opportunities for EU-African partnerships able to tackle critical socio-economic and environmental challenges.
In West Africa, mistletoes are found on many indigenous trees and several tree crops of economic importance. These hosts include shea, neem, sweet orange, cocoa, rubber and the African locust bean tree.
The African locust bean (Parkia biglobosa) is regarded as an important tree crop, used for medicine and food. The trees also play a valuable role in nutrient cycling by fixing atmospheric nitrogen in soils. They are susceptible to mistletoe infection and agroforestry managers usually eradicate the parasitic plant.
The Amazon Rainforest is losing its ability to bounce back from repeated disturbances, according to a new study.
Researchers found that three-quarters of the Amazon has lost some resilience, or ability to regain biomass after disturbance. This loss of resilience is especially high in regions close to human activity and with less rainfall.