News: April 2021
Crop rotations with beans and peas offer more sustainable and nutritious food production
Adding more legumes, such as beans, peas and lentils, to European crop rotations could provide nutritional and environmental benefits, shows a recent study. The authors use a first-of-its-kind approach to show that the increased cultivation of legumes would deliver higher nutritional value at lower environmental and resource costs. This provides additional evidence for strategies to meet the European Union鈥檚 urgent environmental targets.
Publication date: 27 April 2021
Is forest harvesting increasing in Europe?
Nature response throws doubt on controversial study claims
Publication date: 27 April 2021
Improved management of farmed peatlands could cut 500m tonnes of CO2
Substantial cuts in global greenhouse gas emissions could be achieved by raising water levels in agricultural peatlands, according to a new study in the journal Nature. (Media release from the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology) Peatlands occupy just three per cent of the world鈥檚 land surface area but store a similar amount of carbon to all terrestrial vegetation, as well as supporting unique biodiversity. In their natural state, they can mitigate climate change by continuously removing CO2 from the atmosphere and storing it securely under waterlogged conditions for thousands of years. But many peatland areas have been substantially modified by human activity, including drainage for agriculture and forest plantations This results in the
Publication date: 21 April 2021