This article assesses the diversity of practices being implemented in Walloon, Belgium, which are considered to align with conservation agriculture’s three agronomic pillars (or principles): (i) minimum mechanical soil disturbance, (ii) permanent soil organic cover, and (iii) species diversification (FAO 2023). The authors aimed to determine the diversity of practices in a given area to understand the impacts of these practices and why farmers adopt them. They also sought to guide policy decisions and improve communication within the scientific community and between science and field actors. The authors present a novel classification method to categorise the diversity of CA practices on a regional scale that they present as applicable for comparing and assessing CA in different regions and other agricultural systems such as regenerative farming and organic farming. 

A new report from the UK’s biodiversity certification scheme Fair to Nature explores the topic of nature-friendly and wildlife-friendly farming. The report cites previous consumer research conducted by Fair to Nature which has demonstrated that a majority of consumers in the UK feel more positively about brands that have a certification label related to wildlife and biodiversity protection in the UK. 

This paper examines the threat to current wilderness from climate-driven agricultural expansion. Through modelling future crop suitability, the authors establish that 2.7 million km2 of wilderness, particularly at high-latitude, will become newly suitable for agriculture within the next 40 years.

This study examines the potential of a form of agroforestry wherein tree islands  - small areas where native trees are planted or allowed to regenerate naturally - are interspersed with oil-palm monocultures, in order to benefit biodiversity and ecological functioning.

This book explores the conversations around rewilding, food, eating and identities that are currently happening across Europe. It has sections on hunting, “natural” products (such as wine) on the market, and rewilding in the context of cities and the self.

Research programme PASTRES (Pastoralism, Uncertainty and Resilience) has released six short briefing papers on the links between extensive, mobile pastoralist systems, biodiversity and conservation. Each paper is available in English, French and Spanish.

This briefing note from IPES Food explores the evolution of three terms: ‘agroecology’, ‘nature-based solutions’, and ‘regenerative agriculture’. It also examines how the terms have been used at the United Nations Food Systems Summit, COP26 and the 15th conference of parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, as well as by funders and agrifood corporations.

The importance of soil health for producing food and the complexity of life found within soil are increasingly visible in food systems debates. This paper investigates how the diversity of microbes within soils may be affected by warming climates.

This study models the impacts on food security and food prices of using land-based mitigation strategies to limit climate change to 2°C, focusing on three mitigation policies: non-CO2 emissions reductions, bioenergy production, and afforestation. It finds that tens of millions more people could be at risk of hunger in 2050 compared to the baseline scenario in which these mitigation measures are not applied. See also the TABLE summary of the paper Global cropland could be almost halved for views on how agricultural intensification could impact afforestation debates.