Around half of the food we consume in the UK is imported, with 30% from the European Union and the rest from countries all over the World. Aside from the risks of food supply disruption, the developing countries we import from are already suffering the environmental impacts from food production including increased greenhouse gas emissions.
SEFARI experts in plant diversity, human nutrition and soil science have been exploring variation in wild and domesticated food plants relevant to nutrition and health. In the longer term, this research could help to improve the nutritional potential of our crops but in the meantime, you can experiment for yourself by growing wild or unusual seeds.
Soil is fundamental to life on our planet. Soil can be thought of as our earth’s protective skin. It nourishes us with food, provides fresh air and water, allows a rich biodiversity to flourish, protects us from climate change impacts and also provides timber to be produced for building materials. It must be protected or we will perish. It is a vital resource - particularly in the communities that primarily live off the land, such as in our crofting communities.
Balanced diets are often talked about, but beyond eating five portions of fruit and vegetables a day, perhaps not everyone understands how diets can be balanced. Equally, sustainable diets are often referred to, and this phrase is becoming increasingly popular. However, what is a sustainable diet, and can a balanced diet also be a sustainable diet?
Many of us look forward to spring and at SEFARI we are no different. It’s the time our gardens start to come back to life and usually at this time we would also be sharing our knowledge and enthusiasm with families young and old at the Edinburgh Science Festival. We really enjoy developing and running a range of free to access activities hosted at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh during the festival each year.
Despite many initiatives to safeguard biodiversity, recent analyses and reports show that biodiversity continues to decline at the global level.
We are currently facing three major global challenges: climate change, biodiversity loss and the development of sustainable food production systems. Ideal solutions to these challenges would be ones that deliver win-wins, addressing at least two of these simultaneously. Our work on understanding the role of biodiversity in crop production systems considers whether such win-wins are possible.
The Scottish Government is currently responding to a multitude of grand and complex environmental challenges, such as biodiversity loss and climate change. But how do we know if these responses, or the money spent on delivering them, are having the desired effect? Having a robust suite of environmental quantitative measures, or indicators, is vital when trying to deliver key policy targets. Our work has focussed in particular on two sets of indicators, Ecosystem Health Indicators and the Natural Capital Asset Index. For the former, we have used bryophytes (i.e.
In this project we looked at what makes people care about peatland restoration. Peatbogs are important because of their ability to store carbon, regulate water flows and provide a home for rare species of plants and animals. Nevertheless, peatbogs are often described as a hard-to-love ‘Cinderella habitat’. Focusing on care can add further insights into why people care, support and do peatland restoration.
The event offers a great opportunity for agencies, NGOs, business, researchers, community groups and others to promote their work and to highlight the great amount of collaboration happening across organisations. More information is avaliable here
Opportunities include:
Sorry, this event has already happened. Have a look at our upcoming events.