Biodiversity Archives - Agricultural and Rural Convention

Protest, Pesticides and the Parliament – European news round up

January 23, 2023 Ashley Parsons

Citizens voices are making noise in early 2023: Jan 21, in Berlin 10,000 turn up to march for a green, social agricultural future. And on Jan 19th, the EU Court of Justice announced the end of exceptions on the use of bee-killing neonicotinoids. Will the momentum spill over into the January 24th hearing at the EU Parliament? The Save Bees and Farmers citizens initiative will be presented and Members EU Commission Reps invited to exchange. […]

SUR – Pesticide Regulation – Delayed by Additional Impact Assessment

December 20, 2022 Ashley Parsons

Pressure from the pesticide lobby and big-ag has successfully delayed the SUR, a regulation essential to reaching Farm to Fork pesticide reduction targets across the EU. On December 19th, at a meeting of the EU Energy Council, the formal request for an additional impact assessment was passed without any Member State blocking it. So what’s next? […]

COP out – all eyes on 19th Dec as Council aims to derail Pesticide Regulation (SUR)

December 16, 2022 ARC

As Ministers meet in Montreal to pontificate about biodiversity, back home in Europe they are working hard to keep nature-destroying pesticides flowing. The EU’s attempt at updating the pesticide regulation – the SUR – may be delayed by 6 months if Ministers get their way, making final passage more difficult. Scientists and civil society are now focused on the Council Meeting 19th December when the next delay of SUR may be copper-fastened. Ashley Parsons and Oliver Moore report. […]

SUR-e To Have Setbacks – Pesticide Reform Stuck

November 22, 2022 Ashley Parsons

The SUR pesticide regulation reform is facing pushback. Political moves by member states, such as requesting a new impact analysis of the Regulation, will set the reform back by months. Ashley Parsons reports. […]

Pesticide Regulation too Important to Delay – Civil Society Orgs

November 10, 2022 ARC

ARC2020, along with 28 other organisations, wrote and co-signed a letter on the unacceptable delays in introducing the EU’s pesticide regulation, called SUR (Sustainable Use of Plant Protection Products). Below is the full text of the letter, which was sent to Ministers for Agriculture, Environment and Health, the President of the European Parliament, AGRI and ENVI coordinators, and members of the AGRI and ENVI Committees. […]

Who’s Afraid of Nature? Restoration Law Under Pressure

November 7, 2022 Ashley Parsons

The Nature Restoration Law, tasked with creating legally binding targets and national plans for the restoration of different ecosystems for every Member State, is facing pushback. A look at how it is being challenged in Ireland and the Netherlands. […]

Rural Europe Takes Action | The Sámi Environmental Programme

September 22, 2022 ARC

From the Sámi perspective, all matters are environmental matters. The Sámi Environmental Programme is a holistic framework with a long-term, decolonised perspective on sustainability and Indigenous culture. Josefina Skerk, former Vice President of the Sámi Parliament, shares powerful perspectives on life, land and climate justice in a conversation originally published in “Rural Europe Takes Action – No more business as usual”, the policy guide launched by ARC2020 and Forum Synergies in June 2022. […]

Nature Restoration Law: A Chance for the EU to Make Good on the Green Deal

June 22, 2022 ARC

The European Commission today made a tentative step towards addressing the biodiversity crises, with the announcement of a Nature Restoration Law – the first such move since 1992. Ashley Parsons reports. […]

France| Keeping The Wolf From The Door

April 29, 2022 Valérie Geslin

French farmers aren’t against wolves. Large predators have their role to play in the ecosystem. But with wolf poulations on the rise in many regions, livestock farmers are demanding more supports from the state to keep the wolf from the door. Valérie Geslin reports from Salon à la Ferme in the French Alps. […]

Romania | A modern dichotomy between biodiversity and farming

March 10, 2022 Paul White

How to make a modest profit in farming whilst maintaining rich biodiversity? When compared to the fast pace and production of modern agriculture, traditional transhumance is like slow cooking – and local knowledge, shepherds and livestock guardian dogs are all essential ingredients. Paul White makes the case for a middle ground. […]

COP26 | Gender Day – Othering The Soil, And Other Climate Blindspots

November 17, 2021 Ursula Billington

Integrating women’s rights into climate action, with food and farming at the centre, is vital if planetary health is to be successfully restored. This was the message from a Gender Day event at COP26 that underscored the links between climate change, equality and the role of women in agriculture. Ursula Billington reports. […]

Letter From The Farm | Winterage In The Burren

October 15, 2021 Shane Casey

We’re back on Shane Casey’s farm in the Burren, Ireland. It’s nearly time for the reverse transhumance drive – or ‘winterage’ as it’s known locally. Grazing over the winter allows the Burren’s unique mix of flora to thrive. It’s a quintessential example of farming for conservation, explains Shane. […]

Romania | Making Hay In Transylvania

October 8, 2021 Paul White

In Transylvania’s hay meadows people continue to farm in harmony with nature. Determined to capture the traditional skill of scything on camera, photographer Paul White found out he would have to get up very early in the morning. Here he documents the hard work involved in a traditional haymaking process that is clean, sustainable and yields enormous benefits for biodiversity. Photo essay by Paul White. […]

Slashing Space for Nature? Ireland Backsliding on CAP basics

October 5, 2021 Oliver Moore

Cutting space for nature on farms, from its own proposed level of 5% to just 4%, is the most brutal of adjustments mooted by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) in one of the final CAP consultations last Thursday. A list of five for the most part unambitious eco-schemes has also been announced, which will do little to move Irish agriculture towards a more environmentally sustainable place. […]

Rebugging the Planet – new book on where invertebrates fit in

September 29, 2021 Vicki Hird

A new book – Rebugging the Planet – has just come out. Its author Vicki Hird tells us all about insects and other invertebrates, their role, what ails them, and how looking after the small creatures means looking after ourselves too. […]