Climate Change & Agrobiodiversity Research

Dear readers,

We apologise for our absence from the Website since a little while. The Platform for Agrobiodiversity Research is currently developing and expanding its website to provide additional resources and facilities and to make it easier to use.  In addition to the main Platform website and the agrobiodiversity and climate change web space you can now explore two other web spaces dealing with crop diversity to reduce pest and disease damage and a new initiative called the Indigenous Partnership for Agrobiodiversity and Food Sovereignty.

The impact of a global temperature rise of 4ºC (7 ºF). The impacts of climate change will be widespread across the globe. In order to understand more about what the human impact of high-end climate change might be, and therefore what would happen if a successful agreement can not be reached at Copenhagen, the UK's Met Office Hadley Centre has produced a map outlining some of the impacts that may occur if the global average temperature rises by 4 °C (7 °F) above the pre-industrial climate average. The map represents the latest peer-reviewed science on the impacts.

Using the map: This interactive version of the 4 degree map allows you to select which impacts you want to see, zoom on specific geographies and access more information about the science behind the map. Launch the interactive full screen map.

It shows a selection of the impacts of climate change on human activity. These include extreme temperatures, drought, effects on water availability, agricultural productivity, the risk of forest fire and sea level rise. See the related info flyer: Impacts of Climate Change on Agriculture, PDF (287.12KB).

The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) is organising a competition for journalists with a thematic focus on climate change in the Himalayas. Their aim is to capture published media reports and to encourage journalists to write on mountain, and especially Himalayan, issues.

Any article or report on a topic related to climate change and/or its impacts in the extended Hindu Kush-Himalayan region (published in a printed or online publication between 01 August and 07 December 2009) are eligible for submission.

Submissions of articles or reports on agrobiodiversity and its role in mountain development and climate change are encouraged.

Check out the new Run up to Copenhagen online platform! This group will provide a platform for development professionals to exchange climate change-related information. The group offers:
- a regular selection of news and commentary with an emphasis on southern issues;
- access to new documents on the Eldis Climate Change resource;
- a calendar of events to COP15;
- interactive blog platform;
- selection of our climate change videos.

Join the Eldis Community.

The International Journal of Biodiversity and Conservation (IJBC) is a multidisciplinary peer-reviewed journal published monthly by Academic Journals. IJBC is dedicated to increasing the depth of the subject across disciplines with the ultimate aim of expanding knowledge of the subject. IJBC publishes high-quality solicited and unsolicited articles, in English, in all areas relating to sustainable development, human dependence on biodiversity in agriculture, environmental management and biotechnology.

Call for Papers

IJBC will cover all areas of the subject. The journal welcomes the submission of manuscripts that meet the general criteria of significance and scientific excellence, and will publish:

• Original articles in basic and applied research
• Case studies
• Critical reviews, surveys, opinions, commentaries and essays

We invite you to submit your manuscript(s) via this link for publication. Our objective is to inform authors of the decision on their manuscript(s) within four weeks of submission. Following acceptance, a paper will normally be published in the next issue. Instruction for authors and other details are available on our website.

IJBC is an Open Access Journal. One key request of researchers across the world is unrestricted access to research publications. Open access gives a worldwide audience larger than that of any subscription-based journal and thus increases the visibility and impact of published works. It also enhances indexing, retrieval power and eliminates the need for permissions to reproduce and distribute content. IJBC is fully committed to the Open Access Initiative and will provide free access to all articles as soon as they are published.

The World’s Climate Neutral Scientific Climate Conference

Organizers of Klima 2009/Climate 2009, the world´s on-line research conference on climate change to be held on 2-6 November 2009, are encouraging especially researchers, public officers and the interested public from the Africa continent to use this worldwide conference to access climate knowledge, network and establish new contacts with worldwide participants. The conference theme is “The Social, Economic and Political Aspects of Climate Change”. Scientific, peer-reviewed papers, a climate change studies library as well as climate projects from around the globe are at the heart of the event. Moreover, participants can enter a dialogue with the authors and fellow conference participants. The site also features a range of climate videos illustrating the visible impacts of climate change. Climate 2009 is being organized in cooperation with UNEP, UNESCO, WMO, IPCC, FAO, the Sahara and Sahel Observatory and other world bodies. Climate projects from Africa can apply to be included in the designated conference section.

Participation:

Register for free to take part in this major online event from 2-6 November 2009.

University students: Take part in the World Climate Change Survey

Further information please email: email hidden; JavaScript is required

Click here to go the website for the event

IUFRO joint conference, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

The conference has the following objectives:

• To discuss and evaluate the latest approaches and techniques in forest genetics research and management of forest genetic resources
• To provide a platform for exchange of ideas and information amongst researchers and practitioners in forest genetics, breeding and conservation
• To promote international co-operation and networking amongst practitioners and researchers involved in forest genetics, breeding and conservation

Sub-themes and topics of the conference are:

• Conservation of forest genetic resources
• Phylogeny and phylogeography; population structure and conservation; mating systems, gene flow and population variation; genetic pollution and invasive species; propagation technologies
• Sustainable utilisation of forest genetic resources
• Gene expression, markers and QTL mapping; linkage disequilibrium and association mapping; quantitative genetics and breeding; adaptive genetics and climate change; policies and regulations

Invited speakers and conference participants include internationally renowned scientists from Asia, Europe and North America. Confirmed plenary speakers are Prof. David B. Neale (University of California, Davis, USA), Prof. Carl Douglas (University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada), Prof. Yuji Isagi (Kyoto University, Japan), Prof Gail Taylor (University of Southampton, UK), Prof Sally Aitken (University of British Columbia, Canada), Prof Giovanni Vendramin (Istituto Miglioramento Genetico Piante Forestali, C.N.R., Italy), and Prof Reiner Finkeldey (Georg-August-University Göttingen, Büsgen-Institute, Germany).

The conference is now open for registration and call for papers. The deadline for abstract submission is 15 September, and deadline for early bird registration is 30 November 2009. Financial support to selected participants from developing countries is available from the conference organizers.

For more information on the conference, registration and submission of abstracts, visit the conference website.

The conference is jointly organized by the:

• IUFRO Working Parties on Population, Ecological and Conservation Genetics
• IUFRO Working Parties on Population, Ecological and Conservation Genetics and Genomics
• Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
• Forest Research Institute of Malaysia
• Universiti Putra Malaysia
• Bioversity International

Adaptation to climate change is not a new concept, but planning for adaptation is. This project is about helping people adapt to climate change, with a focus on learning from experience. The ALM’s knowledge sharing platform contributes to the implementation of the Nairobi Work Programme, which aims to increase the ability of countries to adapt to climate change, with an emphasis on exchanging experiences.

The ALM will develop tools and resources to support:

1. Adaptation practices – what can be done to adapt to climate change on the ground?

2. Integration of climate change risks and adaptation into development policy, planning and operations – how can policies and plans support adaptation over time?

3. Capacity building – how can people be better assisted in becoming equipped for adapting to climate change?

Click here to go to ALM’s website.

DIVERSITAS, the international programme of biodiversity science, is working together with its parent organisation, ICSU, the International Council for Science, and IUCN, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, to collect the views of the scientific community and other important stakeholders on a proposal for a new Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). IPBES is a mechanism proposed to strengthen the science-policy interface on biodiversity and ecosystem services, with broad similarities to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

IPBES has gathered considerable political support and the current timetable is that a decision on its establishment will take place by late 2010.

You are kindly invited to submit your views on IPBES by completing an online questionnaire, which can be found at IPBES consultation.

In addition, I would ask you to help circulate this link to any potentially interested scientists and institutions that you are aware of. The deadline for submissions is 13 September.

All submissions will be jointly analysed by ICSU, DIVERSITAS and IUCN at a meeting in late September, and provide input to a key UNEP meeting (5-9 October 2009, Nairobi, Kenya), which will discuss plans for IPBES, and its establishment.

This is an important opportunity to influence the future mechanisms that will structure the science and policy interface for biodiversity and ecosystem services.

AfricaAdapt is an independent bilingual network (French/English) focused exclusively on Africa. The Network’s aim is to facilitate the flow of climate change adaptation knowledge for sustainable livelihoods between researchers, policy makers, civil society organizations and communities who are vulnerable to climate variability and change across the continent.

Please visit their new website.

AfricaAdapt Intro Video (English Version) from HabitatSeven on Vimeo.