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conservation news from around the world...
Join in the protest against mining in the Palawan Biosphere Reserve (read more...)
Latest updates...
Indonesia: Greenpeace reveal extent of Sinar Mas forest destruction
30.07.10
Greenpeace released a report yesterday that delves deeper than ever into the rainforest destruction by Sinar Mas - one of the arch enemies of conservationists in SE Asia.
UK: Wildflowers of Brockles Field avoid the plough
29.07.10
Nature conservation charity Plantlife has saved a wildflower-rich meadow in Kent, UK from possible destruction thanks to a major grant. The meadow will become a key component in Plantlife’s vision for their famous Ranscombe Farm Reserve.
Spain: Crocus - banking the world's most expensive spice
28.07.10 by José Antonio Fernández, Crocusbank Coordinator
Saffron is made from the dried stigmas of the Saffron flower (Crocus sativus L.), a triploid sterile plant vegetatively propagated by means of bulbs (also called corms or onions). Saffron is unique among crops - the product is the stigma and each one one weighs about 2 mg. (Read more...)
Philippines: Crucial week for the people and forests of Palawan
27.07.10
Plant Talk has been covering the mining threats to Palawan, Philippines for a number of months. As the endgame approaches the Ancestral Land Domain Watch (ALDAW) call for a last minute protest to stop the mining.
UK: Get involved in the future of a natural England
26.07.10
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) today launched a discussion paper for you to help shape the future of the Nature of England.
UK: The case of the missing plant charities
23.07.10
A new report, Charity Brand Index 2009, provided interesting reading but notable by their absence were plant conservation charities.
Global: International Bog Day, July 25th
21.07.10
Traditionally held on the last Sunday in July International Bog Day aims to celebrate and help conserve these precious ecosystems.
Brazil: The undoing of the Forest Code
20.07.10
Brazil's Forest Code is one of the most forward thinking pieces of forest legislation in the world. But powerful agribusiness lobbyists, known as 'Ruralistas' and led by Aldo Rebelo, are getting ever closer to changing that.
Peru: Illegal mahogany threatening remote tribes
19.07.10
Concern for a tribe living in voluntary isolation in Peru is growing as illegal mahogany operations encroach further into their reserve, according to a new report from the Upper Amazon Conservancy (UAC).
Book review: Japanese Maples 4th edition
16.07.10
I have been fortunate enough to review the revised 4th Edition of the classic book ‘Japanese Maples’ by J.D Vertrees and Peter Gregory (read more...)
Global: Illegal logging in decade of decline
16.07.10
A new report from the UK-based thinktank Chatham House indicates the battle against illegal logging, a major cause of global deforestation, is being won (read more...)
Spain: Introducing the Crocusbank project
14.07.10
A new European partnership hopes to secure the future of the world's most valuable spice and, with it, its endangered wild relatives.
UK: Prince Charles opens business and biodiversity conference
13.07.10
The first Global Business of Biodiversity Symposium is taking place in London today. Bringing together businesses of all sizes across all sectors to discuss ways of achieving business and biodiversity gains, Prince Charles will open proceedings via video link.
EU: Success for environmentalists as illegal timber finally banned
09.07.10
The European Parliament finally voted 644-25 yesterday in favour of the legislation banning illegal timber in the EU.
UK: Rare buttercup found in Shropshire field
08.07.10
Botanists in Shropshire were delighted last week when they discovered Ranunculus arvensis growing at Pimhill Farm. The plant hasn't been recorded for 50 years and was believed to be extinct in the county.
Global: How many plants out there need saving?
07.07.10
A very interesting article (free access) appeared today in Proceedings of Royal Society B. Carrying the title "How many species of flowering plants are there?" the content wasn't exactly what I was expecting.
China: BGCI's plant conservation brochure published
06.07.10
One in every five people on the planet is a resident of China. But China is not only the world’s most populous country – it is also a nation of superlatives when it comes to floral diversity: with more than 33,000 native, higher plant species, China is thought to be home to about 10% of our planet’s known vascular flora.
Mexico: Scientists recognised at Society for Economic Botany
05.07.10
The annual Distinguished Economic Botanist prize at the 51st Society for Economic Botany (SEB) conference in Xalapa, Mexico has been awarded to Drs. Edelmira Linares and Robert Bye.
Ireland: Review of 4th Botanic Gardens Congress
01.07.10 by Sara Oldfield
The sun shone on the National Botanic Gardens of Ireland as hundreds of delegates from around the world met in Dublin on 13 -18 June for the 4th Global Botanic Gardens Congress. The theme of the meeting was Addressing global change – a new agenda for botanic gardens.
