Biodiversity
Scientists reveal yet another reason fig trees are titans of biodiversity
Infographic: 5 ways fig trees are titans of biodiversity
To mark the International Day for Biological Diversity, here’s an infographic I made to highlight how fig trees are so important to life on Earth. Please feel free to use it/share it. Continue reading
Religion + fig trees = a boost for biodiversity
A sacred fig tree at a Hindu temple in Bengaluru (Bangalore) – credit Anoop Negi
The empty forest where 100+ bird species are feared extinct
Confession: I ate shark fin soup
Late in 1998 a man hauled a shark out of the sea. With a sharp knife he hacked off its fins and put them somewhere safe, then he tossed the mutilated fish back into the ocean. Its blood clouded the salty sea. Unable to swim, the shark sank to the sea bed where it died a slow death… all so I could eat a bowl of soup.
No… No… No. That won’t do. I never saw the shark die. I don’t know its final moments. I don’t know who caught it, and where or when or how. But, yes, I did eat the soup, and whenever I think of that meal I paint the above picture in my mind. It is possible that it is a perfect portrayal but I just don’t know for sure. Continue reading
Q: When is a forest not a forest? A: When no-one knows
Take a look at these two photographs and play spot the difference. Continue reading
Ask not what you can do for nature… Ask what nature can do for you
In 1997, a British barrister uttered three words that left my sister and me speechless and gave us a glimpse of the future. Continue reading
The dark history and uncertain future of edible pink gold
The former shrimp farmer made me nervous. He was at least 6’4″ tall in his cowboy boots and he looked just like Pablo Escobar. He was driving fast, taking me away from his grand gated mansion in a suburb of Ecuador’s port city of Guayaquil and towards a private airstrip and a plane he had built with his own hands.
They were the biggest hands I have ever seen. As they gripped the steering wheel he told me how another plane he had built had crashed a week earlier, killing his friend the pilot. “That’s life,” he said with a sigh. Continue reading
If we keep on biting the hand that feeds us, it will slap us in the face
Why is the UN’s big biodiversity meeting in Japan so important? Because the environment and human wellbeing are two sides of the same coin. Continue reading
Under The Banyan 