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	<channel>
		<title>Conservation news</title>
		<atom:link href="https://news.mongabay.com/feed/?topic=corn&#038;type=post" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/corn/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
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	<url>https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/05/16160320/cropped-mongabay_icon-32x32.png</url>
	<title>News on Corn</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/corn/</link>
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				<item>
					<title>Study unearths sophisticated year-round corn-growing system in ancient Bolivian Amazon</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/study-unearths-sophisticated-year-round-corn-growing-system-in-ancient-bolivian-amazon/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/study-unearths-sophisticated-year-round-corn-growing-system-in-ancient-bolivian-amazon/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 Feb 2025 17:29:19 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/02/27171601/Art-ponds.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=295106</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Bolivia, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Agroecology, Agroforestry, Corn, Culture, Forests, Green, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Indigenous Peoples, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Between 600 and 1,500 years ago, Indigenous people of the seasonally flooded savannas in the Bolivian Amazon created an advanced farming system that allowed them to grow corn throughout the year, according to a study published in Nature. These findings challenge what researchers know about early farming in South America. A team of researchers led [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Between 600 and 1,500 years ago, Indigenous people of the seasonally flooded savannas in the Bolivian Amazon created an advanced farming system that allowed them to grow corn throughout the year, according to a study published in Nature. These findings challenge what researchers know about early farming in South America. A team of researchers led by Umberto Lombardo from the Autonomous University of Barcelona found evidence that the Casarabe culture, whose people lived in the Llanos de Moxos region of Bolivia  built an impressive network of drainage canals and artificial ponds between 500 CE and 1400 CE. This water management system worked with the natural seasonal changes of the Amazon Basin. During the rainy season, the Llanos de Moxos region would flood. To handle this, the Casarabe built drainage canals to remove excess water from their fields. These canals varied in size, according to the researchers. When the dry season arrived, the artificial ponds retained water, allowing farmers to irrigate their corn crops by hand. This meant they could grow corn year-round instead of just during certain seasons. &#8220;The pond itself is cultivated,&#8221; Lombardo told Mongabay. &#8220;So, the idea is that they had these ponds with the water in the middle, and the maize was cultivated on the edges of the pond.&#8221; Artwork of the ponds described in the study. Image by Julian Puig Guevara. The study suggests that the Casarabe culture represents an example of a &#8220;Neolithic Revolution&#8221; in the Amazon, with an economy based on grain production that&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/study-unearths-sophisticated-year-round-corn-growing-system-in-ancient-bolivian-amazon/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/study-unearths-sophisticated-year-round-corn-growing-system-in-ancient-bolivian-amazon/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-295106</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Expected ban on Mexican GM corn fetches praise — and worry over imports</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/expected-ban-on-mexican-gm-corn-fetches-praise-and-worry-over-imports/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/expected-ban-on-mexican-gm-corn-fetches-praise-and-worry-over-imports/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Feb 2025 16:53:30 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Adam D. Williams]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[agroecology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Food systems]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/02/05141440/alan-de-la-cruz-wPFyT4Ri7mM-unsplash-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=293958</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Latin America, Mexico, and North America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Biocultural Diversity, Biodiversity, Conservation, Corn, Crops, Culture, Economics, Environment, Environmental Law, Food, Food Industry, food security, Health, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Industrial Agriculture, International Trade, Rainforests, Trade, and Traditional Knowledge]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[This month, Mexico’s two legislative houses are expected to approve an amendment that will prohibit the cultivation of transgenic corn in the country’s Constitution, a historic decision that farmers’ organizations and leaders of the national agricultural industry are applauding — though not fully celebrating. While the constitutional change proposed by President Claudia Sheinbaum will ban [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[This month, Mexico’s two legislative houses are expected to approve an amendment that will prohibit the cultivation of transgenic corn in the country’s Constitution, a historic decision that farmers’ organizations and leaders of the national agricultural industry are applauding — though not fully celebrating. While the constitutional change proposed by President Claudia Sheinbaum will ban nationwide production of transgenic corn in Mexico, the import and human consumption of genetically modified corn will still be permitted in the country as will the use of the herbicide glyphosate. In December, an independent panel ruled in favor of the U.S., stating that Mexico’s efforts to ban the importation of transgenic corn on human health grounds weren’t scientifically supported. This continued import of large-scale U.S. genetically modified corn is considered to be a threat by local experts, who assert the transgenic seeds — as well as the herbicide glyphosate commonly used in their production — represent a threat to native species of the crop that have existed for thousands of years and continue to be produced by small and Indigenous farmers nationwide. Given that Sheinbaum’s Morena Party holds a majority in both legislative houses, the constitutional amendment is likely to pass with ease in the upcoming weeks, as has been the case with several other recently approved reforms. “The constitutional reform is a good and positive step,” said María Leticia López Zepeda, executive director of the National Association of Commercial Businesses for Farmers (ANEC). “But it doesn’t protect all the country’s corn, which to&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/expected-ban-on-mexican-gm-corn-fetches-praise-and-worry-over-imports/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/expected-ban-on-mexican-gm-corn-fetches-praise-and-worry-over-imports/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-293958</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Fires rip through Indigenous territories in Brazilian Amazon</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/11/fires-rip-through-indigenous-territories-in-brazilian-amazon/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/11/fires-rip-through-indigenous-territories-in-brazilian-amazon/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Nov 2024 23:27:33 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ruth Kamnitzer]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/11/29230510/1129-capoto-xingu-sept-planet-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=290961</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Forest Trackers]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Cattle, Corn, Environment, Fires, Forests, Green, Habitat Loss, Indigenous Reserves, Industrial Agriculture, Infrastructure, Primary Forests, Protected Areas, Rainforests, Ranching, Roads, Soy, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Surrounded by soy fields and cattle pastures, Xingu Indigenous Park and Capoto/Jarina Indigenous Territory — still shrouded in rainforest — stand out like a green thumb in Brazil’s Mato Grosso state. Home to roughly 7,500 Indigenous residents in 18 groups, the two territories cover 3.3 million hectares — an area bigger than Belgium — and are [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Surrounded by soy fields and cattle pastures, Xingu Indigenous Park and Capoto/Jarina Indigenous Territory — still shrouded in rainforest — stand out like a green thumb in Brazil’s Mato Grosso state. Home to roughly 7,500 Indigenous residents in 18 groups, the two territories cover 3.3 million hectares — an area bigger than Belgium — and are a haven for wildlife. Yet despite decades of protection, the reserves are not immune to the pressures building at their boundaries. Google Timelapse shows how Xingu and Capoto/Jarina became an island of forest in a sea of industrial agriculture. Xingu Indigenous Park lost 15% of its primary forest cover between 2002 and 2023, an area of 368,000 hectares, according to satellite data from Global Forest Watch (GFW). More than a quarter of that was lost in 2016 alone, when fires ripped through the reserve. The adjacent Capoto/Jarina Indigenous Territory lost 8.3% of primary forest cover between 2002 and 2023, an area of 46,300 hectares. The worst years for forest loss were 2017, 2020 and 2022. Both territories saw big drops in deforestation activity in 2023.  But that appears to be but a blip, with imagery and data showing huge swaths of land lost to fire in 2024. Satellite data show large swaths of tree cover were lost in both Xingu Indigenous Park and Capoto/Jarina Indigenous Territory in 2024. Data from NASA and satellite imagery from Planet Labs and Sentinel 2A indicate fires were the driving force behind forest loss in both Indigenous territories. In Capoto/Jarina&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/11/fires-rip-through-indigenous-territories-in-brazilian-amazon/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/11/fires-rip-through-indigenous-territories-in-brazilian-amazon/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-290961</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Communities band together to save besieged reserve in Bolivia</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/11/communities-band-together-to-save-besieged-reserve-in-bolivia/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/11/communities-band-together-to-save-besieged-reserve-in-bolivia/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 Nov 2024 23:30:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Iván Paredes Tamayo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/11/20230806/7-1-1-1200x800-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=290383</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Forest Trackers]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Bolivia, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Colonization, Community-based Conservation, Corn, Dry Forests, Environment, Fires, Forest Loss, Green, Habitat Loss, Indigenous Peoples, Industrial Agriculture, Infrastructure, Land Grabbing, Primary Forests, Protected Areas, Soy, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Tucabaca Valley Municipal Wildlife Reserve comprises more than 2,640 square kilometers (1,020 square miles) of semi-arid forest and tropical savannah in the heart of southern Bolivia’s Chiquitania region. However, this protected area and surrounding habitat is being lost to industrial agriculture and associated fires and infrastructure development. The Tucabaca (also referred to as “Tucavaca”) reserve [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Tucabaca Valley Municipal Wildlife Reserve comprises more than 2,640 square kilometers (1,020 square miles) of semi-arid forest and tropical savannah in the heart of southern Bolivia’s Chiquitania region. However, this protected area and surrounding habitat is being lost to industrial agriculture and associated fires and infrastructure development. The Tucabaca (also referred to as “Tucavaca”) reserve was the first of its kind in Bolivia when it was created 24 years ago and is situated in the municipality of Roboré in the department of Santa Cruz, near the border with Brazil. It acts as a refuge for wildlife of the Chiquitano dry forest ecosystem, which connects South America’s two largest biomes: the Gran Chaco and the Amazon rainforest. Tucabaca is also inhabited by several Indigenous communities, who for millennia have protected and relied on its wetlands and rivers, forests and grasslands. But today, Tucabaca’s natural wealth is in danger. Felled trees lie in a clearing inside Tucabaca Valley Municipal Wildlife Reserve. Image courtesy of the Movement in Defense of the Tucabaca Valley. Roads and a bridge in the midst of a protected area Eder Santibáñez, coordinator of the Movement in Defense of the Tucabaca Valley, told Mongabay Latam that on June 23, he and a delegation of 10 others carried out an inspection of the Tucabaca Valley and reserve, which yielded discouraging results. The delegation’s first stop was in the area surrounding the Mennonite colony of El Roble. There they were confronted with a scene they described as alarming: piles of felled&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/11/communities-band-together-to-save-besieged-reserve-in-bolivia/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/11/communities-band-together-to-save-besieged-reserve-in-bolivia/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-290383</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Indonesian palm oil, Brazilian beef top contributors to U.S. deforestation exposure</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/05/indonesian-palm-oil-brazilian-beef-top-contributors-to-u-s-deforestation-exposure/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/05/indonesian-palm-oil-brazilian-beef-top-contributors-to-u-s-deforestation-exposure/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>07 May 2024 15:45:17 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/05/07152346/colombia_cattle-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=281790</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Australia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Honduras, Indonesia, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Peru]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Beef, Biodiversity, Cacao, Cattle, Coffee, Conservation, Corn, Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Law, Forest Destruction, Forests, Green, International Trade, Palm Oil, Pasture, Rainforests, Ranching, Rubber, Soy, Threats To Rainforests, and Timber]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[If you’re in the United States, your meal might come with a side of deforestation.  The US imported palm oil, cattle products, soybeans, cocoa, rubber, coffee and corn linked to an estimated 122,800 hectares (303,445 acres) of tropical deforestation between October 2021 and November 2023 — an area the size of the city of Los [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[If you’re in the United States, your meal might come with a side of deforestation.  The US imported palm oil, cattle products, soybeans, cocoa, rubber, coffee and corn linked to an estimated 122,800 hectares (303,445 acres) of tropical deforestation between October 2021 and November 2023 — an area the size of the city of Los Angeles, according to a new report provided by the NGO Trase for Global Witness. More than a third (33.8%) of the deforestation was linked to oil palm imports, primarily from Indonesia. Cattle products, sourced mainly from Brazil, Australia and Mexico, were the second-largest contributor, at 31.8%. Coffee placed third, at 24.2%, followed by cocoa (7.6%), soybeans (2%), corn (0.37%) and rubber (0.15%). “I think it&#8217;s quite striking how palm oil was potentially quite a big source of deforestation exposure for the U.S. as a commodity that has received lots of attention,” Mark Titley, senior research associate at Trase, told Mongabay. Several Latin American countries were identified as significant sources of deforestation. Brazil was the second-largest contributor to U.S. deforestation exposure, primarily through cattle products. Colombia was the source of nearly a fifth of the deforestation linked to U.S. coffee imports. Mexico, Peru, Ecuador, Nicaragua and Honduras also contributed, mainly by exporting cattle products, coffee and cocoa. Trase&#8217;s methodology combines satellite data on tree cover loss with trade records and commodity production data to estimate the amount of deforestation per ton of production in each country and year. &#8220;So if we&#8217;re looking at palm oil, we&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/05/indonesian-palm-oil-brazilian-beef-top-contributors-to-u-s-deforestation-exposure/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/05/indonesian-palm-oil-brazilian-beef-top-contributors-to-u-s-deforestation-exposure/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-281790</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In Brazil’s soy belt, community seed banks offer hope for the Amazon</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/02/in-brazils-soy-belt-community-seed-banks-offer-hope-for-the-amazon/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/02/in-brazils-soy-belt-community-seed-banks-offer-hope-for-the-amazon/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Feb 2024 23:01:47 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ana Ionova]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/02/15223742/Harvested_cashew-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=278912</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Regenerative landscapes]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[agribusiness, Agriculture, Cattle, Community-based Conservation, Corn, Deforestation, Environment, Farming, Forest Loss, Green, Indigenous Peoples, Industrial Agriculture, Rainforests, Ranching, and Soy]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[COLÍDER, Brazil — Not too long ago, the plot of land that Maria Ivonete de Souza inherited was barren, the soil hardened by years of cattle ranching. When the family had arrived to the Amazon from southern Brazil four decades earlier, her father had swiftly cleared the dense rainforest to make way for pasture. “He [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[COLÍDER, Brazil — Not too long ago, the plot of land that Maria Ivonete de Souza inherited was barren, the soil hardened by years of cattle ranching. When the family had arrived to the Amazon from southern Brazil four decades earlier, her father had swiftly cleared the dense rainforest to make way for pasture. “He razed it all by hand, with a saw and an ax,” Souza said on the porch of her wooden farmhouse on the dusty outskirts of Colíder, some 393 miles (632 kilometers) north of Mato Grosso’s state capital. “It’s horrible to be talking about this. Because I&#8217;m recalling things that bother me deeply today.” Cattle ranching is a key economic driver in Mato Grosso, Brazil’s agricultural heartland. In Peixoto de Azevedo, forest has given way to pasture and soy fields at a breakneck pace, putting pressure on Indigenous territories like Capoto/Jarina. Image by Ana Ionova for Mongabay. Now, decades later, Souza is fighting to turn back the clock on destruction in this region. In a bid to reforest, she has planted seeds from species that are native to the rainforest but have begun to vanish from here, as soy and corn production expand at a frenzied pace. “If people knew how difficult it is to plant trees, they would never even dream of cutting them down,” said Souza, who leads the community organization Coletivo Agúa Vida. “Here, we want to do things differently. We want to restore the forest to health.” A key part of this&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/02/in-brazils-soy-belt-community-seed-banks-offer-hope-for-the-amazon/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/02/in-brazils-soy-belt-community-seed-banks-offer-hope-for-the-amazon/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-278912</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Cargill widens its deforestation-free goals, but critics say it’s not enough</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/cargill-widens-its-deforestation-free-goals-but-critics-say-its-not-enough/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/cargill-widens-its-deforestation-free-goals-but-critics-say-its-not-enough/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Nov 2023 15:47:49 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Maxwell Radwin]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/11/29153706/FEATURE-768x450.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=276029</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Argentina, Brazil, Cerrado, Chaco, Latin America, South America, and Uruguay]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Climate Change, Conservation, Corn, Deforestation, Environment, Forest Destruction, Forests, Industrial Agriculture, International Trade, Land Conflict, Politics, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Soy, Supply Chain, Threats To Rainforests, Tropical Deforestation, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Global food trader Cargill has announced new commitments to disentangle some of its most controversial agricultural products from deforestation in several South American countries. But some conservation groups say the commitments still might not be ambitious enough to meet global climate goals. Cargill announced its supply chains for soy, corn, wheat and cotton from Brazil, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Global food trader Cargill has announced new commitments to disentangle some of its most controversial agricultural products from deforestation in several South American countries. But some conservation groups say the commitments still might not be ambitious enough to meet global climate goals. Cargill announced its supply chains for soy, corn, wheat and cotton from Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina will be free of deforestation and land conversion by 2025. For some areas, that moves up the commitment dates by five years. “At Cargill, we are actively shaping a future where critical ecosystems will be protected for generations to come,” Cargill chief sustainability officer Pilar Cruz said in a statement. “Accelerating our commitment is a testament to our resolve to make real, tangible progress against deforestation and land conversion, in line with our climate action plan, while also supporting the livelihoods of farmers and agricultural communities that are vital to feeding the world.” Cargill monitors its supply chains with forest mapping data and information gathered from local suppliers. The goal is to purchase agricultural commodities from direct and indirect suppliers that haven’t been planted on land cleared of primary forests and other important biomes. Agriculture is one of the top drivers of deforestation globally and there’s increasing pressure on the private sector to step up supply chain monitoring to combat climate change. Previously, Cargill had committed to removing deforestation and land conversion across South America by 2030. Only specific biomes like the Amazon, Cerrado and Gran Chaco had an earlier target date&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/cargill-widens-its-deforestation-free-goals-but-critics-say-its-not-enough/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/cargill-widens-its-deforestation-free-goals-but-critics-say-its-not-enough/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-276029</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>&#8216;We just want to be left in peace&#8217;: In Brazil&#8217;s Amazon, soy ambitions loom over Indigenous land</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/we-just-want-to-be-left-in-peace-in-brazils-amazon-soy-ambitions-loom-over-indigenous-land/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/we-just-want-to-be-left-in-peace-in-brazils-amazon-soy-ambitions-loom-over-indigenous-land/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Nov 2023 23:56:57 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ana Ionova]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/11/09222412/Ionova-Capoto-Jarina-11-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=275205</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Forest Trackers]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Cattle, Corn, Deforestation, Environment, Forests, Green, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Reserves, Indigenous Rights, Industrial Agriculture, Infrastructure, Mongabay Data Studio, Primary Forests, Protected Areas, Rainforests, Rivers, Roads, Soy, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[PEIXOTO DE AZEVEDO, Brazil — The red dirt road cuts through the jungle like a fresh wound, splintering one of Brazil’s most pristine stretches of Amazon rainforest. Clouds of dust rise above the emerald canopy, as roaring freight trucks loaded with soybeans plow through deep craters of hardened mud. On one side lies the Xingu [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[PEIXOTO DE AZEVEDO, Brazil — The red dirt road cuts through the jungle like a fresh wound, splintering one of Brazil’s most pristine stretches of Amazon rainforest. Clouds of dust rise above the emerald canopy, as roaring freight trucks loaded with soybeans plow through deep craters of hardened mud. On one side lies the Xingu Indigenous Park, the country’s oldest demarcated reserve. Across the road is the Capoto/Jarina Indigenous Territory, home to Brazil’s best-known Indigenous leader, Raoni Metuktire, who famously walked with president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on inauguration day on Jan. 1, in a symbol of new beginnings for the Amazon and its people. Together, these two Indigenous territories form a vast oasis of rainforest stretching 3.3 million hectares across the state of Mato Grosso, Brazil’s agricultural heartland. But all around them, the forest is giving way to soy plantations and cattle pastures at a breakneck pace. “We’re surrounded here,” says Puiú Txukarramãe, Raoni’s nephew and a leader, or cacique, from the Kayapó Indigenous people, who live in Capoto/Jarina. “Inside our area, it’s all forest. Outside of it, it’s all farms. There are farms everywhere you look.” The agricultural expansion in Mato Grosso has left Indigenous people “surrounded” and it risks opening up their lands to invasions and land-grabbing, says Puiú Txukarramãe, a cacique from the Kayapó Indigenous people who live in Capoto/Jarina. Image by Ana Ionova for Mongabay. The region is home to around 7,480 Indigenous people from 18 different groups, who rely on the rainforest for&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/we-just-want-to-be-left-in-peace-in-brazils-amazon-soy-ambitions-loom-over-indigenous-land/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/we-just-want-to-be-left-in-peace-in-brazils-amazon-soy-ambitions-loom-over-indigenous-land/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-275205</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Deforestation on the rise in Quintana Roo, Mexico, as Mennonite communities move in</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/03/deforestation-on-the-rise-in-southern-mexico-as-mennonite-communities-move-in/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/03/deforestation-on-the-rise-in-southern-mexico-as-mennonite-communities-move-in/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Mar 2023 01:42:56 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Robin CanulValeria Contreras]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/03/15012825/Campo-menonita-en-el-ejido-San-Fernando-Bacalar_Robin-Canul-1-scaled-1-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=266474</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Forest Trackers]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Latin America, Mexico, and North America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Corn, Environment, Farming, Forests, Green, Habitat Loss, Industrial Agriculture, Land Conflict, Land Rights, Mongabay Data Studio, Rainforests, Resource Conflict, Soy, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[BACALAR, Mexico — Less than a decade ago the El Bajío ejido — a form of communal land in Mexico —consisted primarily of rainforest. Today, the landscape is vastly different, with vast open fields of soybeans, sorghum and corn. This transformation was brought about by the mechanized agricultural activities of Mennonite families who began settling [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[BACALAR, Mexico — Less than a decade ago the El Bajío ejido — a form of communal land in Mexico —consisted primarily of rainforest. Today, the landscape is vastly different, with vast open fields of soybeans, sorghum and corn. This transformation was brought about by the mechanized agricultural activities of Mennonite families who began settling in the southern part of the Mexican state of Quintana Roo in the early 2000s. “In the past, we could enter on horseback, but since they [the Mennonites] came, they have made many roads for us,” said Rigoberto, an ejidatario — or communal landowner — in his eighties who has witnessed the transformation of the land. Mennonite colonies only began to establish themselves in the municipality of Bacalar a little over two decades ago. Image by Robin Canul. The mechanized agricultural practices employed by the Mennonites, a religious group of European origin known for their extensive monoculture plantations and demand for permanent land rights, have faced opposition from some of the region’s residents, who say they are flouting environmental regulations. “They cut down thousands of hectares … there is a lot of illegal logging with them,” said one member of Kabi Habin, a cooperative of Quintana Roo beekeepers. The member, who requested anonymity for safety reasons, said large-scale agriculture has spread from what is now known as the Salamanca ejido – the first place where the Mennonites arrived back in 2001 – to other parts of the municipality. Satellite data from Global Forest Watch shows clearing&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/03/deforestation-on-the-rise-in-southern-mexico-as-mennonite-communities-move-in/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/03/deforestation-on-the-rise-in-southern-mexico-as-mennonite-communities-move-in/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-266474</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Poisoned by pesticides: Health crisis deepens in Brazil’s Indigenous communities</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/01/poisoned-by-pesticides-health-crisis-deepens-in-brazils-indigenous-communities/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/01/poisoned-by-pesticides-health-crisis-deepens-in-brazils-indigenous-communities/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Jan 2023 20:57:14 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Aimee Gabay]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/01/16203216/pexels-gilmer-diaz-estela-6345502-scaled-e1673901240276-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=264619</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Global Commodities]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[agribusiness, Agriculture, Agrochemicals, Air Pollution, Bees, Biodiversity, Chemicals, Controversial, Corn, Crime, Environment, Environmental Law, Farming, Food, Food Industry, Green, Health, Indigenous Peoples, Industrial Agriculture, Insects, Law, Law Enforcement, Pesticides, Planetary Health, Plantations, Poisoning, Pollution, Public Health, Regulations, Soy, Sugar, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Brazil’s use of pesticides has spiked in recent years, growing by over 300,000 tonnes since 2010, according to experts. A recent report, published by the NGO Operação Amazônia Nativa (OPAN) in partnership with the Federal University of Mato Grosso’s institute of public health, reveals the harmful effects of these chemicals on Indigenous populations living in [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Brazil’s use of pesticides has spiked in recent years, growing by over 300,000 tonnes since 2010, according to experts. A recent report, published by the NGO Operação Amazônia Nativa (OPAN) in partnership with the Federal University of Mato Grosso’s institute of public health, reveals the harmful effects of these chemicals on Indigenous populations living in Mato Grosso, the region with the highest pesticide concentrations in the country. According to its findings, each inhabitant of Mato Grosso is estimated to have been exposed to 65.8 liters of pesticides—some of these substances banned—in 2018. The situation is worse for people living in the state’s rural cities where exposure is estimated to exceed 300 liters per inhabitant each year. A machine sprays pesticides on soybean crops in Mato Grosso, a state in the Brazilian Amazon. Supporters of the Safer Food Bill say it will reduce food prices for consumers, provide food security for the country, and boost Brazil’s economy. Image © Bruno Kelly/Greenpeace. Mato Grosso is a high-producing agricultural region in the country and the leading producer of cotton among all Brazilian states. Cotton is the crop that uses the most pesticides in the state and is the second-largest pesticide-using crop in the country. Mato Grosso lies at the intersection of the Amazon rainforest, the Cerrado tropical savannah and the Pantanal wetlands—areas of great importance for global climate stabilization. To assess the impact of the agriculture sector in the region, samples were taken from plants, trees and water on Indigenous lands for laboratory&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/01/poisoned-by-pesticides-health-crisis-deepens-in-brazils-indigenous-communities/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/01/poisoned-by-pesticides-health-crisis-deepens-in-brazils-indigenous-communities/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-264619</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Bad weather knocks down Brazil’s grain production as ‘exhaustively forewarned’</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/08/bad-weather-knocks-down-brazils-grain-production-as-exhaustively-forewarned/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/08/bad-weather-knocks-down-brazils-grain-production-as-exhaustively-forewarned/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Aug 2022 14:00:18 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Shanna Hanbury]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandre de Santi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/08/17140417/Destruction-wrought-by-agribusiness-in-Brazil-comes-back-to-bite-the-industry-6-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=259314</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[agribusiness, Agriculture, Agroecology, Business, Climate, Climate Change, Climate Change Denial, Corn, Drought, Economics, Environment, Farming, Food, Food Industry, Impact Of Climate Change, Industrial Agriculture, Plantations, Politics, Soy, and Weather]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[When Brazilian farmer Hamilton Guterres Jardim realized the latest drought had wiped out two-thirds of his soy crop, he felt emotionally and financially shaken up, he told Mongabay. As a resident of Palmeira das Missões, a rural town in Brazil’s southernmost state of Rio Grande do Sul, and a director of the state agricultural federation, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[When Brazilian farmer Hamilton Guterres Jardim realized the latest drought had wiped out two-thirds of his soy crop, he felt emotionally and financially shaken up, he told Mongabay. As a resident of Palmeira das Missões, a rural town in Brazil’s southernmost state of Rio Grande do Sul, and a director of the state agricultural federation, Farsul, Jardim also witnessed the upheaval of hundreds of other lives due to the lack of rain. Smallholder dairy farmers’ pastures dried up, he said, forcing them to switch to the suddenly exorbitantly priced soybean meal to survive; many sold their land and livestock and moved to impoverished urban peripheries. As supply dwindled, milk prices soared — a 66.5% increase in the past 12 months, according to the official price index. Medium-sized producers without insurance were forced to take onerous loans to fund the next harvest, and many of them haven’t been able to pay off past debts. The value of unpaid farm loans rose by 103% in the year to February 2022, according to Brazil’s central bank. Brazil’s agribusiness GDP declined by 8% in the first quarter of the year, according to federal government data. Over the last two harvests, soy and corn, which together account for 88% of Brazil’s national grain production, came in 47 million metric tons below expected production due to adverse weather conditions, according to ministry of agriculture data. Soy production dropped by 14% this year. Grain farmer Hamilton Guterres Jardim irrigated his fields to try to keep his soy&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/08/bad-weather-knocks-down-brazils-grain-production-as-exhaustively-forewarned/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/08/bad-weather-knocks-down-brazils-grain-production-as-exhaustively-forewarned/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-259314</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Farmers rediscover benefits of traditional small grains in Zimbabwe</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/03/farmers-rediscover-benefits-of-traditional-small-grains-in-zimbabwe/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/03/farmers-rediscover-benefits-of-traditional-small-grains-in-zimbabwe/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Mar 2022 14:00:51 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Tatenda Chitagu]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/03/14180923/Onias-Machono-from-Dende-farmers-club-in-his-millet-crop-where-there-is-a-scarecrow-to-fend-off-quilea-birds-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=253720</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Southern Africa, and Zimbabwe]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Agroecology, Climate Change, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Corn, Farming, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Solutions, and Traditional Knowledge]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[BIKITA, Zimbabwe — Nothing seems to happen at the right time for Maria Mazambara, a communal subsistence farmer in Bikita, one of Zimbabwe&#8217;s southernmost rural districts. “The seed we get from government’s input scheme is usually delivered to us late in the season,” she says. “And when we do receive it, the rains are too [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[BIKITA, Zimbabwe — Nothing seems to happen at the right time for Maria Mazambara, a communal subsistence farmer in Bikita, one of Zimbabwe&#8217;s southernmost rural districts. “The seed we get from government’s input scheme is usually delivered to us late in the season,” she says. “And when we do receive it, the rains are too little to sustain my maize crops and it wilts at the [final] tasseling stage. Sometimes the rains are just too much and we have floods. It’s always a case of so near, yet so far.” This has left Mazambara and her family, in a dry region that receives low annual rainfall, as candidates for food aid. “Representatives of humanitarian agencies that give us food handouts now know me by name,” she says in a worried tone. Headman Nechiroorwe in his wilting hybrid maize field. Image courtesy of Tatenda Chitagu. While Mazambara isn’t alone in this predicament, most communal farmers from Bikita continue to grow hybrid maize, year in and year out. At the turn of the new millennium, rural farmers from the area, as well as most of Zimbabwe, opted for hybrid maize, a seed developed by companies such as Pannar and SeedCo, that are short-season, high-yielding varieties. Maize has been a part of Southern African food systems and local knowledge for three generations, though the hybrid variety was introduced just a few decades ago because of droughts and changing weather patterns. To date, however, it’s a seed that hasn’t adapted well to the region’s&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/03/farmers-rediscover-benefits-of-traditional-small-grains-in-zimbabwe/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/03/farmers-rediscover-benefits-of-traditional-small-grains-in-zimbabwe/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-253720</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Corn growers in Brazil’s Cerrado reap a hostile climate of their own making</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/07/corn-growers-in-brazils-cerrado-reap-a-hostile-climate-of-their-own-making/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/07/corn-growers-in-brazils-cerrado-reap-a-hostile-climate-of-their-own-making/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Jul 2020 11:10:51 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Maurício Angelo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Xavier Bartaburu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/07/15110814/CB_Segunda-Colheita-Milho-2016-Parana_-Foto-Cleverson-Beje-FAEP--768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=232513</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Brazil, Cerrado, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Climate, Climate Change, Climate Science, Conservation, Corn, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Drought, Dry Forests, Environment, Extreme Weather, Farming, Food, Food Industry, food security, forest degradation, Forest Destruction, Forest Fragmentation, Forest Loss, Forests, Global Environmental Crisis, Global Warming, Green, Impact Of Climate Change, Industrial Agriculture, Land Use Change, Savannas, and Tropical Deforestation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Agribusiness entities that deforested vast swaths of the Cerrado biome in Brazil to grow corn are now suffering a drop in production because of climate changes brought about by their own actions. ]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The vast Cerrado grasslands of Brazil continue to be cleared to plant corn and soybeans and to raise cattle. But the destruction has been so extensive that it has sparked a change in the local climate, making the region increasingly unsuited for corn farming. That’s the finding from a new study by researchers from Dartmouth College looking into one of the many impacts that deforestation is having on the Cerrado. The key takeaway: the loss of native vegetation — more than half the Cerrado has been cleared — has caused an increase in the biome&#8217;s temperature and a decrease in rainfall, leading to a decline of up to 8% in yields of corn, one of the main commodities grown in the region. Brazil is the world&#8217;s third-largest producer of corn, a crop that depends almost entirely on rainfall patterns and moderate temperatures for its development, since only 6% of the country&#8217;s land is irrigated. That’s given rise to the paradox that the same agribusiness entities responsible for deforestation in the Cerrado are the very ones now suffering a loss of production thanks to the environmental impacts they have brought about. In the study, published in the journal Nature Sustainability, the researchers analyzed different land use scenarios in the Brazilian Cerrado and Amazon, using climate patterns observed from 2000 to 2015. In all the scenarios, the results pointed to a grim future for corn growers. Four of the six scenarios focused on the Cerrado: before deforestation; deforestation in 2016; Cerrado vegetation&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/07/corn-growers-in-brazils-cerrado-reap-a-hostile-climate-of-their-own-making/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-232513</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Madagascar calls for assistance as fires imperil its protected areas</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/10/madagascar-calls-for-assistance-as-fires-imperil-its-protected-areas/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/10/madagascar-calls-for-assistance-as-fires-imperil-its-protected-areas/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Oct 2019 08:50:56 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Malavika Vyawahare]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Malavikavyawahare]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2019/10/11041143/madagascar_190790-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=223377</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Conservation in Madagascar]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Amazon, and Madagascar]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Bioenergy, Conservation, Corn, Deforestation, Endangered Species, Environment, Fires, Forests, Green, Logging, Protected Areas, Rainforest Destruction, Slash-and-burn, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
											<grant>
							<![CDATA[18-1804-152996-CSD]]>
						</grant>
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Fires razed more than 1,300 hectares (3,200 acres) of forestland in Madagascar’s Ankarafantsika National Park in August and September — four times the size of New York City’s Central Park. By now, the worst appears to be over, an official said. “Currently, there are some fire points around the park, and the field team works [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Fires razed more than 1,300 hectares (3,200 acres) of forestland in Madagascar’s Ankarafantsika National Park in August and September — four times the size of New York City’s Central Park. By now, the worst appears to be over, an official said. “Currently, there are some fire points around the park, and the field team works closely with the local force (armed forces, local population, firefighter, regional and municipal administration) to extinguish them,” Mamy Rakotoarijaona, director-general of park operator Madagascar National Parks (MNP), told Mongabay in an email on Oct. 8. “We can say that the fire is mastered; on the other hand, caution is in order.” The park, in northwestern Madagascar, is home to the country’s fast-disappearing dry deciduous forests. Less than 5 percent of the country’s original dry forests survive today. The park also includes swamp forests and riparian forests that adjoin water bodies. The forests of Ankarafantsika support a marvelous array of life: about 850 plant species, more than 85 percent of which are endemic to Madagascar and 16 species of which are endemic to the park; more than140 bird species, and eight lemur species. The national park was established in 2002 by stitching together three existing reserves, spread across 130,000 hectares (321,000 acres), that have held protected status since the early 1900s. However, official protection has not shielded the park from the recurring threat of human-caused bushfires. Slash-and-burn agriculture is practiced widely in Madagascar and is a major driver of deforestation. People burn and clear forestland to&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/10/madagascar-calls-for-assistance-as-fires-imperil-its-protected-areas/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/10/madagascar-calls-for-assistance-as-fires-imperil-its-protected-areas/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-223377</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Top Madagascar beer maker supports investigation into its corn supply chain</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/09/top-madagascar-beer-maker-supports-investigation-into-its-corn-supply-chain/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/09/top-madagascar-beer-maker-supports-investigation-into-its-corn-supply-chain/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 Sep 2019 02:51:56 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Malavika Vyawahare]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Malavikavyawahare]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2019/09/27010950/madagascar_190877-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=222899</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Conservation in Madagascar]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa and Madagascar]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Biodiversity, Conservation, Corn, Deforestation, Dry Forests, Endangered Species, Environment, Extinction, Forestry, Forests, Logging, and Protected Areas]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
											<grant>
							<![CDATA[18-1804-152996-CSD]]>
						</grant>
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Facing growing scrutiny for sourcing maize from a region in Madagascar that is suffering massive deforestation, the Madagascar beer maker STAR, owned by French brewer Castel, announced its support for an independent investigation into its supply chain. “We have requested an independent audit, in this area, whose conclusions will be made public as soon as [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Facing growing scrutiny for sourcing maize from a region in Madagascar that is suffering massive deforestation, the Madagascar beer maker STAR, owned by French brewer Castel, announced its support for an independent investigation into its supply chain. “We have requested an independent audit, in this area, whose conclusions will be made public as soon as possible,” Francis Ambroise, the STAR group’s deputy president director general, said at a news conference held in the capital Antananarivo on Sept. 17. The study will be carried out by the Malagasy NGO Association Fanamby, which manages the Menabe Antimena protected area, located on Madagascar’s west coast. The dry deciduous forests of Menabe Antimena host a number of endangered species, including the endemic Madame Berthe’s mouse lemur (Microcebus berthae), which is the smallest primate on the planet, the Malagasy giant rat (Hypogeomys antimena), and Grandidier’s baobab trees (Adansonia grandidieri). The Malagasy giant rat [Hypogeomys antimena], a species endemic to the dry deciduous forests of western Madagascar. Image by Rhett A. Butler The forests are being cleared to grow maize and peanuts. More than one-fifth of the dry deciduous forests in Menabe Antimena were lost between 2006 and 2016, and there are no signs of the deforestation abating. In a story published earlier this year, Mongabay highlighted the role of corn farming in the deforestation. STAR is one of the companies sourcing maize from the wider Menabe region, but it has in the past denied allegations that its supply chain has contributed to deforestation in the protected area.  STAR said in&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/09/top-madagascar-beer-maker-supports-investigation-into-its-corn-supply-chain/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/09/top-madagascar-beer-maker-supports-investigation-into-its-corn-supply-chain/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-222899</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Interoceanic Highway incites deforestation in Peru, threatens more to come</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2017/11/interoceanic-highway-incites-deforestation-in-peru-threatens-more-to-come/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2017/11/interoceanic-highway-incites-deforestation-in-peru-threatens-more-to-come/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Nov 2017 16:43:45 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Bart Crezee]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2017/11/01173202/Tierra-desboscada-en-camino-a-Bajo-Rayal-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=200693</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Latin America, Peru, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Agroforestry, Corn, Crops, Deforestation, Environment, Forest Loss, Forests, Infrastructure, Logging, Protected Areas, Rainforests, Research, Roads, Rubber, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[IBERIA, Peru — Saturnino Cuchama is proud of the business he runs in the middle of a lush tropical rainforest. Every day at 4 a.m., the 42-year-old rubber gatherer walks through the trails in the forest extracting latex from the bark of wild rubber trees (Hevea brasiliensis), which grow naturally in this part of the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[IBERIA, Peru — Saturnino Cuchama is proud of the business he runs in the middle of a lush tropical rainforest. Every day at 4 a.m., the 42-year-old rubber gatherer walks through the trails in the forest extracting latex from the bark of wild rubber trees (Hevea brasiliensis), which grow naturally in this part of the Peruvian Amazon. It’s an exhausting job. Cuchama has to collect latex from three trails every day; each one consists of about 100 individual trees. Since the rubber trees grow sporadically throughout the terrain, a single trail in the tropical rainforest can measure up to five kilometers in length. The Shiringa Concession in Iberia. Ecological leather is made from the latex from the Shiringa trees. Saturnino Cuchama Puma works in the concession. Photo by Rochi León. I follow Cuchama through the forest. He stops at each tree to make an incision with a sharp knife, letting the rubber fall into plastic bottles that he will later collect. It is a practice that has existed for centuries in this part of the Amazon, especially during the Amazon Rubber Boom at the end of the 19th century, in which hundreds of thousands of people worked as slaves in the tropical rainforest. But times have changed. Cuchama leads a social enterprise of 22 traditional rubber workers who live around the Peruvian town of Iberia in Madre de Dios, close to the borders of Bolivia and Brazil. The communal rubber company, Ecomusa, helps protect the rights of the rubber workers&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2017/11/interoceanic-highway-incites-deforestation-in-peru-threatens-more-to-come/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2017/11/interoceanic-highway-incites-deforestation-in-peru-threatens-more-to-come/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-200693</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>‘Decimated’: Germany’s birds disappear as insect abundance plummets 76%</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2017/10/decimated-germanys-birds-disappear-as-insect-abundance-plummets-76/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2017/10/decimated-germanys-birds-disappear-as-insect-abundance-plummets-76/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 Oct 2017 15:28:55 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2017/10/27152718/Hetaerina_americana-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=200536</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Europe, Germany, and North America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Animals, Bees, Birds, Climate Change, Corn, Environment, Farming, Global Warming, Industrial Agriculture, Insects, Pesticides, Research, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Germany’s flying insect biomass has dropped 76 percent in the past 27 years, according to a study published last week in PLOS ONE. The findings have stunned biologists around the world and are prompting concern about potentially disastrous ecological consequences as another study finds the country lost 15 percent of its birds in just over [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Germany’s flying insect biomass has dropped 76 percent in the past 27 years, according to a study published last week in PLOS ONE. The findings have stunned biologists around the world and are prompting concern about potentially disastrous ecological consequences as another study finds the country lost 15 percent of its birds in just over a decade. The study was conducted by researchers at institutions in Germany and the Netherlands. Over the course of nearly 30 years, they collected flying insects within protected areas in lowland western Germany by trapping them with mesh tents that funneled into bottles of alcohol. They then measured the biomass – basically, the combined weight – of the insects to see how it changed from year to year. In total, the researchers collected 53.54 kilograms of flying insect biomass from 1989 to 2016. This may not sound like much, but the researchers say it represents millions of individual insects. The results revealed a dramatic decline in flying insects. In total, their biomass dropped 76 percent over the 27-year sampling period; collections from midsummer showed an even bigger reduction –- 82 percent. Flying insects, like this damselfly, perform many important ecological roles. Photo by Bruce Marlin via Wikimedia Commons (CC 2.5). While declines in bees and butterflies have been fairly well documented in many regions around the world, this is one of the few studies that have examined biomass trends in flying insects generally. The researchers say their results indicate a more extensive problem than previously&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2017/10/decimated-germanys-birds-disappear-as-insect-abundance-plummets-76/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2017/10/decimated-germanys-birds-disappear-as-insect-abundance-plummets-76/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-200536</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>NOAA announces largest-ever Gulf of Mexico &#8216;dead zone&#8217;</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2017/08/noaa-announces-largest-ever-gulf-of-mexico-dead-zone/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2017/08/noaa-announces-largest-ever-gulf-of-mexico-dead-zone/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>07 Aug 2017 17:12:41 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2017/08/07171116/PHOTO-2015-Hypoxia-Cruise-Hypoxia-Water-Samplings-06082016-LUMCON-1120x534-landscape-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=198117</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[North America and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Biofuels, Cattle, Corn, Dead Zone, Energy, Environment, Ethanol, Grasslands, Hypoxia, Industrial Agriculture, Livestock, Meat, Nutrient Pollution, Oceans, Pollution, Research, and Soy]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Last week, scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced the largest-ever recorded low-oxygen &#8220;dead zone&#8221; in the Gulf of Mexico. At 22,730 square kilometers (8,776 square miles) the area is the size of the U.S. state of New Jersey. The dead zone is primarily the result of nutrient pollution that stimulates massive [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Last week, scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced the largest-ever recorded low-oxygen &#8220;dead zone&#8221; in the Gulf of Mexico. At 22,730 square kilometers (8,776 square miles) the area is the size of the U.S. state of New Jersey. The dead zone is primarily the result of nutrient pollution that stimulates massive blooms of algae. When this algae decomposes, oxygen levels drop below levels needed by many Gulf species to survive or develop normally; scientists refer to low-oxygen conditions as hypoxia. &#8220;The dead zone adversely affects organisms in a number of ways,&#8221; said Robert Magnien, director of NOAA&#8217;s Center for Sponsored Coastal Ocean Research. &#8220;It reduces available habitat for fish and shrimp and reduces their food supply. Exposure to hypoxia can also directly reduce growth and reproduction.&#8221; At 22,730 square kilometers (8,776 square miles), this year&#8217;s dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico is the largest ever measured. Image courtesy of N. Rabalais, LSU/LUMCON. This can have knock-on effects for local economies if hypoxia kills off or changes commercially important populations. &#8220;The fear is that if the size of the dead zone remains at its current level or increases in the future, there will likely be further reductions in the abundance of key commercial and recreational species,&#8221; Magnien told Mongabay. A study by Duke University found shrimp grow more slowly in the dead zone. This led to a deficit in large shrimp, lower prices for small ones and consequential economic changes to the Gulf brown shrimp fishery.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2017/08/noaa-announces-largest-ever-gulf-of-mexico-dead-zone/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2017/08/noaa-announces-largest-ever-gulf-of-mexico-dead-zone/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-198117</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Keeping up with the climate: efforts to reduce African crop losses face the extra hurdle of climate change</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2015/04/keeping-up-with-the-climate-efforts-to-reduce-african-crop-losses-face-the-extra-hurdle-of-climate-change/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2015/04/keeping-up-with-the-climate-efforts-to-reduce-african-crop-losses-face-the-extra-hurdle-of-climate-change/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Apr 2015 15:01:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rachel Cernansky]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2015/04/keeping-up-with-the-climate-efforts-to-reduce-african-crop-losses-face-the-extra-hurdle-of-climate-change/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Tanzania]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Corn, Crops, Environment, Food, Food Waste, Global Environmental Crisis, and Green]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Other Special Reporting Initiatives Articles by Rachel Cernansky Combating food waste in sub-Saharan AfricaNew solutions aim to deliver more grain from farm to table in sub-Saharan AfricaUnique center trains Tanzanian farmers to preserve their fruits and veggiesThe crop-saving champion of Tanzania: Bertha MjawaEmpowering women in order to save the harvest A maize farmer in Morogoro, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Other Special Reporting Initiatives Articles by Rachel Cernansky Combating food waste in sub-Saharan AfricaNew solutions aim to deliver more grain from farm to table in sub-Saharan AfricaUnique center trains Tanzanian farmers to preserve their fruits and veggiesThe crop-saving champion of Tanzania: Bertha MjawaEmpowering women in order to save the harvest A maize farmer in Morogoro, Tanzania. Credit: Anne Wangalachi/CIMMYT. Farmers in tropical areas have long struggled to maximize their crop yields, but the strikes against them just continue to mount. To start with, they tend to lack storage and processing tools that industrialized countries take for granted — things like refrigeration, ovens, and grain elevators. On top of that, they&#8217;re working the land in places where climate change may already be wielding its effects, making disease, rainfall patterns, and crop yields less predictable. Africa, Latin America, and developing Asian nations lose roughly between 7 and 13 percent of their harvested crops to things like insects, rodents, mold, or heat spoilage before they ever reach the consumer, estimating from a 2013 analysis by the Washington, D.C.-based research group World Resources Institute. The loss of crops during this so-called &quot;post-harvest&quot; stage is a newly recognized problem that governments and development organizations have just, in the last few years, started to address by deploying new equipment and training farmers in improved harvest or storage practices. But as climate change begins to unfold, this job is only getting harder. For instance, last year Tanzania lost a lot of its corn, or maize, as it&#8217;s&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2015/04/keeping-up-with-the-climate-efforts-to-reduce-african-crop-losses-face-the-extra-hurdle-of-climate-change/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2015/04/keeping-up-with-the-climate-efforts-to-reduce-african-crop-losses-face-the-extra-hurdle-of-climate-change/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-23819</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Brazilian farmers urge return of big cats to Cerrado to protect crops from rampaging peccaries</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2015/04/brazilian-farmers-urge-return-of-big-cats-to-cerrado-to-protect-crops-from-rampaging-peccaries/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2015/04/brazilian-farmers-urge-return-of-big-cats-to-cerrado-to-protect-crops-from-rampaging-peccaries/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>07 Apr 2015 17:33:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Brendan Borrell]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2015/04/brazilian-farmers-urge-return-of-big-cats-to-cerrado-to-protect-crops-from-rampaging-peccaries/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Brazil, Cerrado, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Big Cats, Corn, Environment, Green, Jaguars, Soy, and Sugar]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Cerrado corn crop with peccaries. Photo by Brendan Borrell. Margie Peixoto was driving her pickup across her farm in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul one February afternoon when she spotted some broken corn stalks and a trio of white-lipped peccaries (Tayassu pecari) ambling along the red-clay road as if they owned it. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Cerrado corn crop with peccaries. Photo by Brendan Borrell. Margie Peixoto was driving her pickup across her farm in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul one February afternoon when she spotted some broken corn stalks and a trio of white-lipped peccaries (Tayassu pecari) ambling along the red-clay road as if they owned it. The moment these wild pig relatives spotted the truck, they snorted, snarled and disappeared into the head-high crop, where dozens more likely hid. “Every year the group gets bigger and bigger, and every year the damage to the crop is greater,” said Peixoto, a fit middle-aged woman from Zimbabwe, who met her Brazilian husband while traveling in Africa, and immigrated here to farm more than 30 years ago. Peixoto estimates that wild peccaries destroyed as much as 10 percent of her crop last year, amounting to losses of 250,000 Brazilian reals ($100,000). One peccary attacked and killed the family dog. She is not alone in her concern. Marcos Da Silva Cunha, the director of the nearby Emas National Park, said that the size of peccary packs in the region’s agricultural areas can be as large as 80-100 individuals, compared to packs of 40 individuals observed in their natural habitat. Brazilian environmental regulators agree that the population explosion is a serious problem, but one that they have not yet been able to solve. Hunting isn’t the answer, since peccaries are protected both in and outside the national park. Instead, a few conservationists and farmers have proposed&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2015/04/brazilian-farmers-urge-return-of-big-cats-to-cerrado-to-protect-crops-from-rampaging-peccaries/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-23880</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Turning prairies into gas: study finds U.S. biofuel production has big impacts on grasslands</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2015/04/turning-prairies-into-gas-study-finds-u-s-biofuel-production-has-big-impacts-on-grasslands/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2015/04/turning-prairies-into-gas-study-finds-u-s-biofuel-production-has-big-impacts-on-grasslands/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Apr 2015 20:04:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2015/04/turning-prairies-into-gas-study-finds-u-s-biofuel-production-has-big-impacts-on-grasslands/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[North America and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Biofuels, Corn, Environment, Ethanol, Grasslands, Green, Land Use Change, Prairie, and Soy]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A cornfield stretches as far as the eye can see. Photo by Rhett A. Butler. Corn and soybean cultivation soared in the late 2000s, as U.S. agribusiness rushed to respond to federal legislation rewarding biofuels production. Debate since the institution of the program has centered on the question of whether biofuel crop expansions have come [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A cornfield stretches as far as the eye can see. Photo by Rhett A. Butler. Corn and soybean cultivation soared in the late 2000s, as U.S. agribusiness rushed to respond to federal legislation rewarding biofuels production. Debate since the institution of the program has centered on the question of whether biofuel crop expansions have come at the expense of plowed-under biodiverse grasslands and prairie ecosystems. A new study largely settles that argument. Researchers using detailed high resolution satellite imagery found that the loss of carbon-storing natural lands converted into carbon-emitting biofuel croplands is significant, says a paper published in the journal Environmental Research Letters. The study is the first comprehensive analysis of U.S. land-use change between 2008 and 2012, the critical time period following the institution of the federal Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program, which generated America’s biofuel boom. Crops, including corn and soy commonly used for biofuels, expanded onto 7 million acres of new land in the U.S. between 2008 and 2012, replacing millions of acres of grasslands, according to University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers Tyler Lark, J. Meghan Salmon and Holly Gibbs. Grasslands host diverse species, ranging from bobolinks to the greater sage grouse and black-footed ferret. They also store large amounts of carbon in their soils, as a buffer against climate change. Yet, the researchers found nearly 80 percent of cropland expansion over the study’s four year period replaced grasslands, including 1.6 million acres of undisturbed natural grassland equivalent in area to the state of Delaware. Nearly a&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2015/04/turning-prairies-into-gas-study-finds-u-s-biofuel-production-has-big-impacts-on-grasslands/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2015/04/turning-prairies-into-gas-study-finds-u-s-biofuel-production-has-big-impacts-on-grasslands/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-23903</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Migrating monarch butterflies hit shockingly low numbers</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2014/01/migrating-monarch-butterflies-hit-shockingly-low-numbers/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2014/01/migrating-monarch-butterflies-hit-shockingly-low-numbers/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 Jan 2014 13:57:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2014/01/migrating-monarch-butterflies-hit-shockingly-low-numbers/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Canada, Mexico, North America, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Biofuels, Butterflies, Corn, Environment, Farming, Genetic Engineering, Green, Habitat Loss, Insects, Invertebrates, and Migration]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The monarch butterfly population overwintering in Mexico this year has hit its lowest numbers ever, according to WWF-Mexico. Monarch butterflies covered just 0.67 hectares in Mexico&#8217;s forest, a drop of 44 percent from 2012 already perilously low population. To put this in perspective the average monarch coverage from 1994-2014 was 6.39 or nearly ten times [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The monarch butterfly population overwintering in Mexico this year has hit its lowest numbers ever, according to WWF-Mexico. Monarch butterflies covered just 0.67 hectares in Mexico&#8217;s forest, a drop of 44 percent from 2012 already perilously low population. To put this in perspective the average monarch coverage from 1994-2014 was 6.39 or nearly ten times this year&#8217;s. For years conservationists feared that deforestation in Mexico would spell the end of the monarch migration, but now scientists say that agricultural and policy changes in the U.S. and Canada&#8212;including GMO crops and habitat loss&#8212;is strangling off one of the world&#8217;s great migrations. &#8220;This is the third straight year of steep declines, which I think is really scary,&#8221; Karen S. Oberhauser, a biologist at the University of Minnesota told the New York Times. &#8220;This phenomenon&#8212;both the phenomenon of their migration and the phenomenon of so many individuals doing it&#8212;that&#8217;s at risk.&#8221; Considered one of the world&#8217;s greatest natural spectacles, millions of monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus)&#8212;at one time likely billions&#8212;travel some 4,000 kilometers (2,500 miles) across the diverse habitats&#8212;and climate conditions&#8212;of North America, from Canada to Mexico. The migration is so long that no single monarch survives the whole, but instead the journey is built on generations. The butterflies, easily-recognized by even non-naturalists, depend on plentiful common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) habitat on the way down. Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus). Photo courtesy of Kenneth Dwain Harrelson. But milkweed is becoming harder and harder to find. The use of herbicide-resistant crops (i.e. GMO) has led to&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2014/01/migrating-monarch-butterflies-hit-shockingly-low-numbers/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2014/01/migrating-monarch-butterflies-hit-shockingly-low-numbers/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-25756</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Tropical croplands expand by 48m ha in 10 years, raising environmental concerns</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/03/tropical-croplands-expand-by-48m-ha-in-10-years-raising-environmental-concerns/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/03/tropical-croplands-expand-by-48m-ha-in-10-years-raising-environmental-concerns/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>19 Mar 2013 15:54:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2013/03/tropical-croplands-expand-by-48m-ha-in-10-years-raising-environmental-concerns/</guid>

					
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Commodity Roundtables, Corn, Deforestation, Environment, Farming, Green, Palm Oil, Rainforests, and Soy]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Conversion of forest to oil palm plantations in Borneo. Croplands in the tropics expanded by an average of 4.8 million hectares per year between 1999 and 2008, increasing pressure on forest areas and other ecosystems, reports a study published in the journal PLoS ONE. The research found that soybeans and maize (corn) expanded the most [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Conversion of forest to oil palm plantations in Borneo. Croplands in the tropics expanded by an average of 4.8 million hectares per year between 1999 and 2008, increasing pressure on forest areas and other ecosystems, reports a study published in the journal PLoS ONE. The research found that soybeans and maize (corn) expanded the most of any crops in terms of absolute area, followed by rice, sorghum, oil palm, beans, and sugar cane. The countries which added the largest area of new cropland were Nigeria, Indonesia, Ethiopia, Sudan and Brazil. The study, which involved an international team of researchers led by Ben Phalan of the University of Cambridge, found that cropland made up 10.7 percent of the land area of tropical countries, about 10 percent less than the global figure of 12 percent. Rice is the most widely grown crop in the tropics, including rainforests and tropical dry forests. Area of different crops as a proportion of cropland in biomes within tropical countries. The top 12 tropical crops are identified. Click to enlarge The paper highlighted the potential environmental impact of recent expansion, noting that &#8220;some of the crops which have expanded most in area in recent years are already well known drivers of biodiversity loss&#8221; including soy in the Amazon and Cerrado, oil palm in Malaysia and Indonesia, sugar cane in Hawaii and the Atlantic forest, and corn in the dry forests of Madagascar. The study said some crops &#8212; sorghum, cow peas and millet &#8212; seemed to attract&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2013/03/tropical-croplands-expand-by-48m-ha-in-10-years-raising-environmental-concerns/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-29374</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Drought drives corn prices to record high</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2012/08/drought-drives-corn-prices-to-record-high/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2012/08/drought-drives-corn-prices-to-record-high/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Aug 2012 19:09:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2012/08/drought-drives-corn-prices-to-record-high/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Corn, Drought, Environment, Farming, Green, Impact Of Climate Change, and Temperatures]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Drought in America&#8217;s Midwest drive corn prices to record highs on Thursday. Corn prices are up 62 percent since mid-June to due droughts and heatwaves affecting major corn-producing areas. The price of a bushel of corn now stands at $8.28. High temperatures and low rainfall last month spurred the Department of Agriculture to forecast a [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Drought in America&#8217;s Midwest drive corn prices to record highs on Thursday. Corn prices are up 62 percent since mid-June to due droughts and heatwaves affecting major corn-producing areas. The price of a bushel of corn now stands at $8.28. High temperatures and low rainfall last month spurred the Department of Agriculture to forecast a 12 percent drop in corn production for the 2012-2013 growing season. Analysts are expecting the USDA to cut the yield estimate by another 14 percent later this month. The USDA will likely reduce its projections for this year&#8217;s soy crop as well. More than 60 percent of U.S. counties are experiencing moderate to extreme drought. Related articlesThis article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2012/08/drought-drives-corn-prices-to-record-high/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2012/08/drought-drives-corn-prices-to-record-high/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-30448</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Palm oil does not meet U.S. renewable fuels standard, rules EPA</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2012/01/palm-oil-does-not-meet-u-s-renewable-fuels-standard-rules-epa/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2012/01/palm-oil-does-not-meet-u-s-renewable-fuels-standard-rules-epa/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 Jan 2012 21:52:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2012/01/palm-oil-does-not-meet-u-s-renewable-fuels-standard-rules-epa/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Indonesia, Malaysia, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiesel, Biofuels, Corn, Deforestation, Environment, Ethanol, Fossil Fuels, Green, Natural Gas, Palm Oil, Plantations, Politics, and Renewable Energy]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Oil palm plantations and rainforest in Malaysia The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ruled on Friday that palm oil-based biofuels will not meet the renewable fuels standard due to carbon emissions associated with deforestation, reports The Hill. According to a notice published Friday in the Federal Register, palm oil-based biodiesel fails to meet a requirement [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Oil palm plantations and rainforest in Malaysia The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ruled on Friday that palm oil-based biofuels will not meet the renewable fuels standard due to carbon emissions associated with deforestation, reports The Hill. According to a notice published Friday in the Federal Register, palm oil-based biodiesel fails to meet a requirement that renewable fuels offer a 20 percent reduction in emissions relative to conventional gasoline: Biodiesel and renewable diesel produced from palm oil have estimated lifecycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions of 17% and 11% respectively for these biofuels compared to the statutory baseline petroleum-based diesel fuel used in the RFS program. This analysis indicates that both palm oil-based biofuels would fail to qualify as meeting the minimum 20% GHG performance threshold for renewable fuel under the RFS program. The decision means that palm oil-based biofuels can&#8217;t be used to meet national renewable fuel standards. It therefore won&#8217;t win favorable treatment relative to other fuel sources. The EPA&#8217;s ruling comes after extensive lifecycle analysis of palm oil production. While oil palm has the highest yield of any commercial oilseed its production is at times linked to conversion of tropical forests, which is a large source of greenhouse gas emissions. A number of studies have shown that deforestation significantly undercuts the climate benefits of palm oil as a biofuel source. The EPA has opened a comment period on the decision. The palm oil industry is expected to weigh in on the findings. The renewable fuels standard targets&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2012/01/palm-oil-does-not-meet-u-s-renewable-fuels-standard-rules-epa/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-31401</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Prehistoric Peruvians enjoyed popcorn</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2012/01/prehistoric-peruvians-enjoyed-popcorn/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2012/01/prehistoric-peruvians-enjoyed-popcorn/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>18 Jan 2012 16:38:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2012/01/prehistoric-peruvians-enjoyed-popcorn/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Peru and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Anthropology, Archeology, Corn, Environment, Farming, Food, Green, History, and Strange]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Researchers have uncovered corncobs dating back at least 3,000 years ago in two ancient mound sites in Peru according to a paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). The ancient corn remnants, which proved residents were eating both popped corn and corn flour, are the earliest ever discovered in South America [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Researchers have uncovered corncobs dating back at least 3,000 years ago in two ancient mound sites in Peru according to a paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). The ancient corn remnants, which proved residents were eating both popped corn and corn flour, are the earliest ever discovered in South America and may go back as far as 4,700 BCE (6,700 years ago), over fifteen hundred years before the early Egyptians developed hieroglyphics and while woolly mammoths still roamed parts of the Earth. &#8220;Corn was first domesticated in Mexico nearly 9,000 years ago from a wild grass called teosinte,&#8221; said Dolores Piperno, curator of New World archaeology at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, in a press release. &#8220;Our results show that only a few thousand years later corn arrived in South America where its evolution into different varieties that are now common in the Andean region began. This evidence further indicates that in many areas corn arrived before pots did and that early experimentation with corn as a food was not dependent on the presence of pottery.&#8221; The corn was discovered along Peru&#8217;s northern coast in the archeological sites of Paredones and Huaca Prieta. Although the find proves pre-ceramic Peruvians ate corn, the study says it was not yet a major part of their diet. Untangling how maize became domesticated from teosinte has proven quite difficult and complicated, but new discoveries like this held to add pieces to the puzzle. &#8220;These new and unique&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2012/01/prehistoric-peruvians-enjoyed-popcorn/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-31456</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Record dead zone projected due to Midwest floods</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2011/06/record-dead-zone-projected-due-to-midwest-floods/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2011/06/record-dead-zone-projected-due-to-midwest-floods/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Jun 2011 23:25:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2011/06/record-dead-zone-projected-due-to-midwest-floods/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Corn, Dead Zone, Environment, Ethanol, Farming, Green, Hypoxia, Oceans, Pollution, and Rivers]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Flooding in the Midwest is likely to cause the largest-ever dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico, reports the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). NOAA-supported scientists from three universities &#8212; the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium, Louisiana State University and the University of Michigan &#8212; predict the area of low oxygen in the Gulf will [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Flooding in the Midwest is likely to cause the largest-ever dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico, reports the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). NOAA-supported scientists from three universities &#8212; the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium, Louisiana State University and the University of Michigan &#8212; predict the area of low oxygen in the Gulf will measure between 8,500 and 9,421 square miles, an area roughly the size of New Hampshire. The largest Gulf dead zone ever measured since record-keeping began in 1985 occurred in 2002 and encompassed more than 8,400 square miles. The average Gulf dead zone over the past five years. is 6,000 square miles. Scientists believe this year&#8217;s hypoxic zone will be especially large due to agricultural run-off from flooded farmlands. &#8220;Hypoxia is caused by excessive nutrient pollution, often from human activities such as agriculture that results in too little oxygen to support most marine life in bottom and near-bottom water,&#8221; says NOAA. The dead zone typically triggers large-scale die-offs of commercially-valuable sea life. Nutrient pollution in the Mississippi has been exacerbated by subsidies to boost corn ethanol production. Earlier this week the Senate voted to end support of corn ethanol, which has cost U.S. taxpayers $30 billion since 1980. Related articlesThis article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2011/06/record-dead-zone-projected-due-to-midwest-floods/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-32392</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Do corporate sweetheart deals make French fries less healthy?</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2010/01/do-corporate-sweetheart-deals-make-french-fries-less-healthy/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2010/01/do-corporate-sweetheart-deals-make-french-fries-less-healthy/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>18 Jan 2010 19:51:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2010/01/do-corporate-sweetheart-deals-make-french-fries-less-healthy/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Corn, Corruption, Environment, Food, Food Prices, Green, and Health]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Few would argue that French fries are a healthy food choice, but a new study shows that French fries from national restaurant chains in the United States are actually worse for you—and the environment—than many believed. The study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS) found that due to corporate deals [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Few would argue that French fries are a healthy food choice, but a new study shows that French fries from national restaurant chains in the United States are actually worse for you—and the environment—than many believed. The study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS) found that due to corporate deals French fries in national restaurant chains are largely fried in one of the worse possible vegetable oils: corn oil. According to the study, which surveyed restaurant chains and independent restaurants in Hawaii, 69 percent of national chains used corn oil for frying their potatoes, while only 20 percent of independent restaurants did the same. &#8220;There are several reasons why knowledge of the inclusion of corn oil might be important to the consumer,&#8221; the authors write. &#8220;Corn oil […] contains considerably more heart-harmful saturated fat than canola, sunflower, or safflower oils, and less heart-protective alphalinolenic acid than soybean oil, making it the least healthy choice of the five.&#8221; In addition: &#8220;U.S. corn agriculture has been criticized for its negative impacts on the environment and its conspicuous federal subsidization.&#8221; A row of deep fryers cooking French fries. Photo by: David Hoshor. Soybean oil is significantly cheaper than corn oil, which explains why independent restaurants would avoid largely avoid using corn oil. But why would national chains opt to pay more for vegetable oil? The authors speculate that national chains must have negotiated sweetheart deals for cheap corn oil, since &#8220;large-scale corporate agreements are necessary to make corn&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2010/01/do-corporate-sweetheart-deals-make-french-fries-less-healthy/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-35823</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Monsanto GM Corn a Disaster in South Africa</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2009/07/monsanto-gm-corn-a-disaster-in-south-africa/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2009/07/monsanto-gm-corn-a-disaster-in-south-africa/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 Jul 2009 15:54:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ryan King]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2009/07/monsanto-gm-corn-a-disaster-in-south-africa/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[South Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Corn, Environment, Farming, Food, and Green]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Three different varieties of genetically modified (GM) corn provided by the Monsanto Corporation to farmers in South Africa have been reported to be failing to seed. The company claims that “less than 25 percent” of the seeds were susceptible to the problem, and that the crop failure was caused by “underfertilization processes in the laboratory.” [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[Three different varieties of genetically modified (GM) corn provided by the Monsanto Corporation to farmers in South Africa have been reported to be failing to seed. The company claims that “less than 25 percent” of the seeds were susceptible to the problem, and that the crop failure was caused by “underfertilization processes in the laboratory.” The African Center for Biosecurity’s Marian Mayet, contradicted Monsanto’s statements, explaining that farms were witnessing rates of failing crops of up to 80%. Mayet also suspects that the cause of the failures are not a result of problems in the lab processing, as Monsanto stated, but were due to failures of GM technology. Monsanto says they just made a mistake in the laboratory, however we say that biotechnology is a failure,&#8221; Mayet stated. &#8220;You cannot make a &#8216;mistake&#8217; with three different varieties of corn. We have been warning against GM-technology for years, we have been warning Monsanto that there will be problems.&#8221; The African Center for Biosecurity has called for independent investigation into the crop failures and immediate restrictions on the cultivation of all GM crops in South Africa. SourceThis article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2009/07/monsanto-gm-corn-a-disaster-in-south-africa/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-36511</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Smart biofuels that don&#8217;t hurt people or the environment are possible</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2009/07/smart-biofuels-that-dont-hurt-people-or-the-environment-are-possible/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2009/07/smart-biofuels-that-dont-hurt-people-or-the-environment-are-possible/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Jul 2009 18:25:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2009/07/smart-biofuels-that-dont-hurt-people-or-the-environment-are-possible/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Biodiesel, Bioenergy, Biofuels, Corn, Deforestation, Energy, Environment, Ethanol, Farming, Green, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Natural Gas, Oil, Palm Oil, and Politics]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Sustainable biofuels can be a reality but only in combination with reductions in fuel demand and increased productivity on existing agricultural lands, argue researchers writing in the journal Science. Five years ago biofuels were seen as a panacea for the world&#8217;s energy hunger and the need to address climate change, but increased production of biofuels [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[Sustainable biofuels can be a reality but only in combination with reductions in fuel demand and increased productivity on existing agricultural lands, argue researchers writing in the journal Science. Five years ago biofuels were seen as a panacea for the world&#8217;s energy hunger and the need to address climate change, but increased production of biofuels soon contributed to a clutch of problems, including competition with food, resulting in rising prices, and large-scale conversion of rainforests and tropical grasslands for feedstocks, resulting in biodiversity loss and increased greenhouse gas emissions. Environmentalists and scientists condemned many biofuels &#8212; including ethanol produced from Midwestern corn ethanol and biodiesel generated from European rapeseed and Southeast Asian palm oil &#8212; as a short-sighted energy solution. Some biofuels were found to be even worse for the environment, and more costly, than conventional gasoline. Price index including corn, palm oil, and soybean oil for January 2000 through June 2009. Click chart to enlarge. However some researchers remain optimistic that smart biofuel production could help meet energy demand without hurting people or the planet. In a Science Policy Forum piece, David Tilman and colleagues explore some of these options, noting that biofuels can be produced in substantial quantities at low environmental cost provided they are derived from feedstocks that have lower greenhouse gas emissions than conventional energy sources and don&#8217;t compete with food production. The authors highlight several potential feedstocks, including perennial plants grown on degraded and abandoned agricultural land; crop residues; sustainably harvested wood and forest residues;&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2009/07/smart-biofuels-that-dont-hurt-people-or-the-environment-are-possible/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-36554</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Republic of Congo to turn over 25 M acres of land to South African farmers</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2009/04/republic-of-congo-to-turn-over-25-m-acres-of-land-to-south-african-farmers/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2009/04/republic-of-congo-to-turn-over-25-m-acres-of-land-to-south-african-farmers/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 Apr 2009 20:45:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2009/04/republic-of-congo-to-turn-over-25-m-acres-of-land-to-south-african-farmers/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Central Africa, and Congo Basin]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Corn, Farming, Forests, Rainforests, and Soy]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The government of Republic of Congo (Brazzaville) has offered 25 million acres (10 million hectares) of land to South African farmers in an effort to improve the central African nation&#8217;s food security, reports Reuters. The area is nearly twice the amount of arable land in South Africa. The deal was revealed by Theo de Jager, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[The government of Republic of Congo (Brazzaville) has offered 25 million acres (10 million hectares) of land to South African farmers in an effort to improve the central African nation&#8217;s food security, reports Reuters. The area is nearly twice the amount of arable land in South Africa. The deal was revealed by Theo de Jager, deputy president of Agriculture South Africa (AgriSA), South Africa&#8217;s lagrest farmers union, in an interview with Reuters last week at an agriculture conference in Durban. &#8220;The offer which we got and we&#8217;ve agreed on paper, is a 99-year lease, of which the value would be zero and it&#8217;s not allowed to escalate over the 99 years. So it is free use for 99 years,&#8221; he told Reuters, noting that some 1,300 South African farmers were ready to participate. &#8220;We have two groups of farmers who are interested, one of farmers who want to leave South Africa and relocate entirely to farm over there and another of farmers who want to diversify their farming operations to the Congo,&#8221; he said. &#8220;We&#8217;ve got guys wanting to get into poultry and dairy farming, as well as maize and soya bean production.&#8221; Farmers would enjoy a five year tax holiday and be exempted from an import tax on agricultural inputs and equipment. The Congolese government hopes the deal will spur technology transfer between foreign and local farmers, enabling the country to eventually produce more of its own food. Presently much of the food consumed in Congo is imported. De&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2009/04/republic-of-congo-to-turn-over-25-m-acres-of-land-to-south-african-farmers/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-36804</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Global warming will hit corn yields, costing US over a billion dollars annually</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2009/04/global-warming-will-hit-corn-yields-costing-us-over-a-billion-dollars-annually/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2009/04/global-warming-will-hit-corn-yields-costing-us-over-a-billion-dollars-annually/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Apr 2009 15:42:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2009/04/global-warming-will-hit-corn-yields-costing-us-over-a-billion-dollars-annually/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Climate Change, Corn, Environment, Farming, Green, and Impact Of Climate Change]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Corn is the staple crop of the US. Its annual yield is more than twice that of any other American crop, covering an astounding 125,000 square miles. However, this behemoth crop is not without threats. A new analysis by Environment America, shows that lower yields of corn due to global warming will cost farmers 1.4 [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Corn is the staple crop of the US. Its annual yield is more than twice that of any other American crop, covering an astounding 125,000 square miles. However, this behemoth crop is not without threats. A new analysis by Environment America, shows that lower yields of corn due to global warming will cost farmers 1.4 billion every year. “Corn likes it cool, but global warming is raising temperatures across the nation,” said Environment America Global Warming Advocate Timothy Telleen-Lawton. “Hotter fields will mean lower yields for corn, and eventually, the rest of agriculture.” While popular wisdom often believed that global warming would be good for US agriculture, recent studies have shown the opposite. The United States Climate Change Science Program found in 2008 that higher temperatures linked to global warming would mean lower corn yields. Research from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the Carnegie Institution shows that corn yields are already being affected negatively by warming. Based on the findings by the United States Climate Change Science Program, Environment America estimated the annual economic loss due to lower yields in a report “Hotter Field, Lower Yields”. The report does not incorporate other possible negative impacts to corn yields from global warming, including drought, extreme storms, and disease. The report also highlights the top ten states to have their pocket books hit by lower corn yields. Iowa is at the top losing over a quarter billion dollar a year. Illinois is a close second, losing $243 million. The list includes, in&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2009/04/global-warming-will-hit-corn-yields-costing-us-over-a-billion-dollars-annually/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-36834</doi>				</item>
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