Tag: <span>biodiversity</span>

Major Win for the Rights of Nature and Indigenous Communities in Ecuador’s Intag Valley

Cenaida Gauchagmida was 13 years old when paramilitaries contracted by Ascendant Copper stormed her community to tranquilize local resistant to a planned copper mind.  Despite the mine’s known impacts on local communities and the environment, mining corporations had fought for decades to expand their operations in Ecuador’s biodiverse Intag Valley. …

Silvopasture: Happier Animals, Happier Ecosystem!

Pictured here are two groups of relatively similar cattle who are experiencing drastically different living situations. Briefly imagine life as one of the cows pictured here—where would you rather be living? If you are a beef-consuming individual, which of these sets of cows would you rather eat, or drink milk …

The Murky Ethics and Complicated Environmental Claims of Big Hydro

As ongoing global reliance on fossil fuels continues to accelerate climate change, urgency and interest in transitioning to renewable energy sources is  increasing. A 2019 survey from the Pew Research Center found that most Americans believe the United States should prioritize expanding renewable energy sources over the continued use of …

Seeding a Revolution: Sovereignty and Connection in the Food System

“Seeds are living things…intimately connected and intertwined with story, and lineage and place and people”  – Rowan White, Sierra Seeds Can you remember the last time you held a seed? We all have ancestors who carried seeds, yet today we have little relationship with the food we eat and the …

What Can I Do About the Palm Oil In My Food?

  Have you ever been grocery shopping when you were in a rush or hungry–or both? When that happens, we tend to throw items in our cart quickly, without checking their ingredients. We can end up buying items that contain ingredients that we’d typically try to avoid. Palm oil is …

Community conservation in Oaxaca: San Pablo Etla and La Mesita–by Emma Elbaum

What do coastal resort towns and mountainous coffee farms have in common with peri-urban Oaxaca? Other than places visited by Bard CEP during our time in Mexico this January, they are home to communities that recognize the value of nature and natural spaces and are working at the local level …

The Call of the Wild: A True Story

By Anna Panariello, M.S. in Environmental Policy 2016 The backpacks are ready: hiking boots, a few long-sleeved shirts, a pair of quick-drying hiking pants, and many wool socks to soften the bruises that the road gives you.  “You will feel parts of your body you never thought you had before”, …

Your local forecast: Sunny with a chance of extinction

By Megan McClellan MS‘14 and Danielle Salisbury MS/MI‘16 Did you have orange juice or coffee with breakfast this morning? If you did, your breakfast probably depended on an insect to pollinate those plants that grew the fruit and beans that you so deliciously enjoyed.  But what if you had to hand …