Biodiversity blogs
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Who’s listening? Community voices on illegal wildlife trade
6 November 2019To effectively fight poaching and illegal wildlife trade (IWT), governments, NGOs and their partners across Latin America must listen to, engage with and provide incentives for the communities that live alongside wildlife
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Time to team up with nature to adapt to climate change
26 September 2019As global leaders embrace natural climate solutions at the UN Climate Summit in New York, IIED’s research shows how to tap the potential of nature-based solutions in tackling the impacts of climate change
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Beyond maize: exploring agricultural diversification in Zambia
22 August 2019Zambia's food system is widely seen as not working. A new report looks at how to increase crop diversity, support better nutrition and support resilience at local and national level
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Biodiversity loss – more than an environmental emergency
25 July 2019The development community has a blind spot for biodiversity and its connection to social issues, says IIED’s Dilys Roe in an opinion piece published by The Lancet Planetary Health
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Bwindi: bees, baskets and brilliant guided walks
27 June 2019Tracking rare mountain gorillas is on the bucket list of many a traveller – both at the luxury end of the market and for backpackers. But what about the people who live in the same places as gorillas? Dilys Roe reports on a project helping local people to develop new businesses that benefit from tourism
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Evaluating change can be challenging; it starts with quality data collection
25 June 2019NGOs are increasingly being asked to report on the impact of their work, and good monitoring and evaluation is key. Conservation Through Public Health, a Ugandan NGO, has some lessons to share with other small NGOs and – spoiler alert – it all begins with good data
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Achieving transformational change for the ocean
11 June 2019Making progress on Sustainable Development Goal 14 – life below water – is a complex and increasingly urgent challenge. A new handbook offers practical guidance on monitoring, evaluation and learning for SDG14, and emphasises the importance of using systems thinking
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Leading on nature: can the new Secretary of State deliver bold action on environment and poverty?
31 May 2019The UK's new Secretary of State for International Development has impressed with a strong public statement on the need to focus aid funding on climate and environmental challenges. IIED welcomes his commitment, and suggests an agenda for action
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Wild meat: is there an appetite for alternatives?
21 May 2019The age-old tradition of hunting wild meat has, in many cases, become unsustainable. Efforts to change local habits have had little effect. Ahead of this year’s International Day for Biological Diversity, guest blogger Stephanie Brittain argues that to protect biodiversity, without compromising health and livelihoods, we need to understand much more about why people eat wild meat
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Development organisations beware! Biodiversity loss is not just an environmental issue
29 April 2019Dilys Roe explains why development organisations can no longer remain absent from debates on how to tackle dangerous declines in biodiversity
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Covering elephant tracks: can insurance compensate farmers for wildlife damage?
27 March 2019A new IIED-led project in Kenya and Sri Lanka is exploring whether insurance schemes can compensate women and men small-scale farmers for crop and property damage caused by human-wildlife conflict, primarily from elephants
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Gender and biodiversity conservation – progress and future directions
29 November 2018Gender is fundamental to IIED’s mission, with our research – aiming, as a minimum, to be gender aware and sensitive. But what progress towards achieving gender equality has been made in the area of biodiversity conservation? A recent IIED webinar discussed the question.
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Biodiversity: a women’s business?
29 November 2018Women are among the fastest growing group of entrepreneurs in the world. What role do their burgeoning forest and farm businesses play in safeguarding biodiversity?
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CBD COP14: a breakthrough on understanding and assessing equity in conservation
27 November 2018A new international decision recognising the importance of equity in conservation could help tackle the underlying drivers of biodiversity loss
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Women, wildlife and the workings of the CBD
20 November 2018Dilys Roe explains why international efforts to manage the world’s wildlife sustainably need input from the ground
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Biodiversity on the brink: local people must shape nature’s new deal
16 November 2018Ahead of the Convention on Biological Diversity on Saturday, which will start shaping the post-2020 agenda on biodiversity, IIED director Andrew Norton calls for a process that truly includes indigenous peoples and local communities
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Three ‘E’s to guide the post-2020 biodiversity roadmap
6 November 2018Joji Cariño sets out three key principles that could underpin a new biodiversity deal where humans and nature work in harmony – and explains why indigenous peoples and local communities will be key in shaping this deal
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Turn up the volume: community voices on illegal wildlife trade
31 October 2018Communities living alongside wildlife are the most powerful force for tackling the illegal wildlife trade crisis; it’s time for governments to listen and act
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The role, influence and impact of women in biodiversity conservation
9 October 2018Guest blogger Cristiana Pașca Palmer asks: “How do we empower women, as agents of change and frontrunners, to build new pathways or accelerate transition to sustainability?”
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New rules for high seas must include poorest countries’ needs
5 September 2018For new laws concerning the high seas to be effective and fair, it's vital that the poorest people are listened to and given an active role in protecting and managing our oceans. So says Essam Yassin Mohammed, who is in New York for the negotiations
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There’s justice in the battle for biodiversity
28 June 2018Increasingly recognised as the irreplaceable basis of our natural world, biodiversity is also fundamental to human wellbeing and sustainable development. James Mayers looks at why effective conservation action is inextricably linked with development and social justice
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Transitioning towards a plastic free world
30 May 2018Discarded plastic is one of the biggest threats to our oceans. IIED's Essam Yassin Mohammed says we must do more to tackle the problem of plastic pollution
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The economics of mass extinction
29 May 2018A recent UK newspaper column asserted that economic approaches to natural protection are flawed. In this blog, originally published to mark the International Day for Biodiversity, four academics argue that, on the contrary, "without nature, no other value is possible"
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We need to safeguard biodiversity and promote diverse diets
22 May 2018Coinciding with this year’s International Day for Biodiversity, a new report from IIED and Hivos explores how we can reverse the alarming loss of biodiversity in agriculture and foster diverse diets
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Understanding governance and equity in conservation
27 April 2018A successful multi-stakeholder self-assessment in Uganda’s Lake Mburo National Park enabled local people to judge what does and doesn’t work, and draws out their ideas for action