Biodiversity

Curious minds: 7 sustainability postgraduate programs and short courses to boost your career

Outdoor chair at desk with books, notepad and pens

I’m going to be honest, Curious Earthers. This article was written for completely selfish reasons. I am exploring the formal education options available to me at this point in my climate-focused career, and I’ve used this article as an excuse to do the research. Hopefully, the rationalisation that if I have a need for an article like this, there are bound to…

A warm 2023 causes plants to flower throughout winter

Small flower blossoms emerging from a snowy ground

What’s going on here? Have you noticed more flowers blooming through winter? Data from the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland shows that 2024 has seen more flowering plants than usual, thanks to unusually high temperatures in 2023. What does this mean? The 2024 Hunt ran from December 30th 2023 to the 2nd of January, and the results have just been released…

Urban farming is making a comeback: Q&A with a first-time urban farmer

Woman kneels in flower garden holding flower bouquet to her face.

In the US, it was once commonplace to see vegetable gardens and small-scale farms in urban settings. WWII victory gardens once grew nearly 40% of the country’s produce, and farm animals ran loose in city streets. Over the decades, the divide between urban and rural became more stark, as the US agricultural system moved drastically towards monocultures and large swaths of urban…

Switzerland’s war on wolves

Grey wolf standing amongst trees

What comes to mind when you see the word ‘wolf’? A dangerous predator or a creature sadly misunderstood? Present day attitudes to the wolf are fiercely divided, causing conflict whenever new management strategies are debated. Most recently, Switzerland was the battleground for a controversial change to hunting rules, which allowed a national cull of the species and was met with furious outcry from environmental groups.

Selling biodiversity: should we do it?

Mushrooms on a moss-covered root

In 2022, the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework recognised biodiversity credits as one of the ways to finance a global deal for nature. Since then, there’s been a flurry of activity as governments, businesses, and project hosts prepare for market development. Leaning on the experience of environmental markets experts, Stefanie Kaiser and Forest Carbon, this article will unpack everything from what biodiversity credits…

Our guardians of the sea are in troubled waters

Blue shark close up image

You may have heard about the importance of sharks in our seas. But this week, we are taking a deeper dive with Julian Engel, Senior Analyst at OceanMind and Co-Initiator of the Stop Finning EU initiative. Through this initiative, with passion, and teamwork, they managed to get 1,000,000 signatures needed in order to speak in front of the European Commission to demand…

The Golf Game isn’t up to Scratch 

A person plays golf on a flat green lawn with no trees in front of a large stately building

In August 2022, French climate activists filled in holes at golf courses near Toulouse with cement. In July 2023, Spanish activists followed suit, filling in holes at courses across Spain with soil and planting seedlings on the courses. The reason? Protesting golf’s very thirsty use of water in times of drought. At a time of unprecedented heatwaves and droughts fuelled by the…