With an estimated 25% of greenhouse gas emissions coming from our food system, rethinking our approach to agriculture is essential if we are to create a sustainable future. By working in harmony with nature, regenerative agriculture can provide more nutritious food at the same time as reducing emissions, restoring damaged ecosystems and protecting biodiversity.
Traditionally, farmers have been seen as guardians of the land, but the heavily mechanised approach to agriculture has been one of the key drivers of climate change and biodiversity loss. It has damaged ecosystems around the world, degrading the soils we depend on for our food, and destroying wildlife with pesticides and inorganic fertilisers.
Today there is an increasing understanding of the pivotal role agriculture can play - not just by reducing its environmental impact - but also by working with nature to restore soil fertility and adapting to the changing conditions brought about by the climate crisis.
With thanks to the following contributors (in order of appearance)
Professor Doctor Thomas Crowther, Lead Scientist and Founder of the Crowther Lab at ETH Zurich
Patrick Holden, Founding Director of the Sustainable Food Trust
Saurabh Sinha, Senior Program Manager, IDH The Sustainable Trade Initiative
Brigitte N. Kanyamugenge, Head of Community Development, Arcos Network
Patrick Worms, Science policy advisor at ICRAF / World Agroforestry Institute
Dr René Zamora Cristales, Forest Economist & Senior Manager, Restoration Policy, World Resources Institute
Clara Rowe, CEO, Restor
Up Next in Science: Ages 11-14
-
Reseeding Rainforests
Brazil's Xingu Park is the oldest indigenous territory in Brazil. Its 2.6 million hectares provide a home to 16 different tribes. The Rede de Sementes do Xingu brings together over 500 indigenous seed-collectors to gather and disperse native seeds, preserving the Amazon's essential biodiversity w...
-
Replanting Mangroves
Mangroves are one of the most effective natural carbon sinks on earth, storing up to four times more carbon per hectare than rainforests. They are also rich in biodiversity and mitigate some of the most catastrophic local effects of climate change; particularly flooding and coastal erosion. Despi...
-
Reintroducing Buffalo
Kainai knowledge-keeper Leroy Little Bear explains the importance of reintroducing buffalo in their traditional heartlands, where they hold a central place both in the local ecosystem and the culture of indigenous people.
The buffalo is a "keystone species": an eco-engineer which regenerates the...
