*Global CA-CoP* *CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE*
*for sustainable agriculture, land use and ecosystem management*
Dear Subscribers,
Please see herebelow a message from David Duthi of Bioplan regarding:
-- the March 2021 issue
<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mdpi.com%2F2071-1050%2F13%2F6&data=04%7C01%7Cbioplan%40groups.undp.org%7C5d4a09c73a8a4d7a9e5008d8f51969de%7Cb3e5db5e2944483799f57488ace54319%7C0%7C0%7C637528836783064874%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=GRrUHf8BR9PD97VbnBhs8zqq2%2F9lae03o1VpN6scqsQ%3D&reserved=0>
of the open access journal “Sustainability
<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mdpi.com%2Fjournal%2Fsustainability&data=04%7C01%7Cbioplan%40groups.undp.org%7C5d4a09c73a8a4d7a9e5008d8f51969de%7Cb3e5db5e2944483799f57488ace54319%7C0%7C0%7C637528836783064874%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=EVJg4nt5Q5tcGs3uJcuLaDV16szskssFvaGc0Dg9Ezw%3D&reserved=0>”
– 589 articles,
-- the links to the fourth in the UNEP-New Scientist “*Rescue Plan for
Nature*” serie,
-- the third and fourth articles in the Australian *Corrs Chambers
Westgarth Law’s *Insight series on Biodiversity banking,
-- the Anthropocene debate via an Earth’s Future journal review authored by
27 leading researchers.
Apologies for any cross-posting.
*Amir Kassam *
*Moderator*
*Global CA-CoP*
e-mail: [log in to unmask]
URL: http://www.fao.org/conservation-agriculture
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: David Duthie <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Fri, 2 Apr 2021 at 17:13
Subject: Trying (not) to make a -cene (Part II)
To: bioplan <[log in to unmask]>
Dear BIOPLANNERS,
Over the weekend, I worked my way through the March 2021 issue
<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mdpi.com%2F2071-1050%2F13%2F6&data=04%7C01%7Cbioplan%40groups.undp.org%7C5d4a09c73a8a4d7a9e5008d8f51969de%7Cb3e5db5e2944483799f57488ace54319%7C0%7C0%7C637528836783064874%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=GRrUHf8BR9PD97VbnBhs8zqq2%2F9lae03o1VpN6scqsQ%3D&reserved=0>
of the open access journal “Sustainability
<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mdpi.com%2Fjournal%2Fsustainability&data=04%7C01%7Cbioplan%40groups.undp.org%7C5d4a09c73a8a4d7a9e5008d8f51969de%7Cb3e5db5e2944483799f57488ace54319%7C0%7C0%7C637528836783064874%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=EVJg4nt5Q5tcGs3uJcuLaDV16szskssFvaGc0Dg9Ezw%3D&reserved=0>”
– 589 articles, in just one month’s issue!
It took me about an hour to scroll through the metadata, to add just 5
articles to my electronic library, and it struck me that none of the
articles is really about sustainability, but rather more about becoming
less unsustainable – at best, mere bubbles of local sustainability in our
gigantic Melchizedek
<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.spiralcellars.co.uk%2Fthe-different-sizes-of-wine-bottles%2F&data=04%7C01%7Cbioplan%40groups.undp.org%7C5d4a09c73a8a4d7a9e5008d8f51969de%7Cb3e5db5e2944483799f57488ace54319%7C0%7C0%7C637528836783074833%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=T7YDldB9PcMDn06lIt1CwfSG7ZIq%2FfIVO7aYt9LIrqA%3D&reserved=0>*
of unsustainability. *
*Until we achieve real sustainability, we will continue to drain the most
resource**s** so that, on transition, we have that much less of th**at**
resource**,** (**i.e. **nature, in which our economy is embedded) from
which to build recovery** as we will learn if we continue to allow
deforestation to increase – see here
<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.newscientist.com%2Farticle%2F2273040-global-tree-loss-is-undermining-tactics-to-address-the-climate-crisis%2F&data=04%7C01%7Cbioplan%40groups.undp.org%7C5d4a09c73a8a4d7a9e5008d8f51969de%7Cb3e5db5e2944483799f57488ace54319%7C0%7C0%7C637528836783074833%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=PVX64R08u%2F7tc0BResk9rkZnVRdTNgpNLAU5g54ysmg%3D&reserved=0>.*
Which links back to the Dasgupta Review, now the subject of a series
convened by the Oxford Martin School, starting with a panel discussion
including Sir Partha himself on 29 April 2021 at 5:00pm and repeated on 20
May 2021 at 6:00pm so another excuse to delay my thoughts on the review!
Having flagged the initial articles of two ongoing series, I feel
duty-bound to “see them through”, so below are links to the fourth in the
UNEP-New Scientist “*Rescue Plan for Nature*” series, produced in
association with UNEP partner agency GRID-Arendal. *The *final part of the
series, on 10 April, will look at the links between climate change and
biodiversity loss. See:
https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg24933270-800-green-spaces-arent-just-for-nature-they-boost-our-mental-health-too/
<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.newscientist.com%2Farticle%2Fmg24933270-800-green-spaces-arent-just-for-nature-they-boost-our-mental-health-too%2F&data=04%7C01%7Cbioplan%40groups.undp.org%7C5d4a09c73a8a4d7a9e5008d8f51969de%7Cb3e5db5e2944483799f57488ace54319%7C0%7C0%7C637528836783084792%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=KB3nINjC8TlkdpbbP1jW1zxg6xlsL3%2B7K9QqPR1bXPM%3D&reserved=0>
........
and the third and fourth articles in the Australian *Corrs Chambers
Westgarth Law’s *Insight series on Biodiversity banking, focused more on
legal/contractual issues:
https://corrs.com.au/insights/breaking-down-biodiversity-banking-part-three
<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcorrs.com.au%2Finsights%2Fbreaking-down-biodiversity-banking-part-three&data=04%7C01%7Cbioplan%40groups.undp.org%7C5d4a09c73a8a4d7a9e5008d8f51969de%7Cb3e5db5e2944483799f57488ace54319%7C0%7C0%7C637528836783084792%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=PaK%2FxLWPaIqlsbsu5c%2FIad0VANEOY%2FNY%2FM4219w1%2BdA%3D&reserved=0>
https://corrs.com.au/insights/breaking-down-biodiversity-banking-part-four
<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcorrs.com.au%2Finsights%2Fbreaking-down-biodiversity-banking-part-four&data=04%7C01%7Cbioplan%40groups.undp.org%7C5d4a09c73a8a4d7a9e5008d8f51969de%7Cb3e5db5e2944483799f57488ace54319%7C0%7C0%7C637528836783094752%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=fQfl2gySqUAS0hToQOgibYm3Xv%2Bozn2edY5hPRxmIAM%3D&reserved=0>
.
Finally, this week I took a deep dive back into the Anthropocene debate
via an Earth’s Future journal review authored by 27 leading researchers
including the geologists of the Anthropocene Working Group, tasked with
examining it for potential inclusion in the Geological Time Scale – even
the abstract is a deep dive!
Zalasiewicz, Jan, et al (2021) *The Anthropocene: Comparing Its Meaning in
Geology (Chronostratigraphy) with Conceptual Approaches Arising in Other
Disciplines. *Earth’s Future*;* https://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2020ef001896
<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1029%2F2020ef001896&data=04%7C01%7Cbioplan%40groups.undp.org%7C5d4a09c73a8a4d7a9e5008d8f51969de%7Cb3e5db5e2944483799f57488ace54319%7C0%7C0%7C637528836783094752%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=2uqcsyM3JLaSoXE5W%2Fl2fMOkHAylCuWfScw520%2F2S98%3D&reserved=0>
(open access)
*Abstract*: *The term Anthropocene initially emerged from the Earth System
science community in the early 2000s, denoting a concept that the Holocene
Epoch has terminated as a consequence of human activities. First associated
with the onset of the Industrial Revolution, it was then more closely
linked with the Great Acceleration in industrialization and globalization
from the 1950s that fundamentally modified physical, chemical, and
biological signals in geological archives. Since 2009, the Anthropocene has
been evaluated by the Anthropocene Working Group, tasked with examining it
for potential inclusion in the Geological Time Scale. Such inclusion
requires a precisely defined chronostratigraphic and geochronological unit
with a globally synchronous base and inception, with the mid‐twentieth
century being geologically optimal. This reflects an Earth System state in
which human activities have become predominant drivers of modifications to
the stratigraphic record, making it clearly distinct from the Holocene.
However, more recently, the term Anthropocene has also become used for
different conceptual interpretations in diverse scholarly fields, including
the environmental and social sciences and humanities. These are often
flexibly interpreted, commonly without reference to the geological record,
and diachronous in time; they often extend much further back in time than
the mid‐twentieth century. These broader conceptualizations encompass wide
ranges and levels of human impacts and interactions with the environment.
Here, we clarify what the Anthropocene is in geological terms and compare
the proposed geological (chronostratigraphic) definition with some of these
broader interpretations and applications of the term “Anthropocene,”
showing both their overlaps and differences. The Anthropocene concept, that
modern human impacts on Earth have been sufficient to bring in a new
geological epoch, is only two decades old. In that short time, its use has
grown explosively, not only in the Earth sciences but also far more widely
to spread through the sciences generally, to spill over into the social
sciences, arts, and humanities. This has led to welcome discussions between
diverse scholarly communities, though also to some very different
interpretations of the Anthropocene, when interpreted through different
disciplinary lenses. Notably, the geological interpretation used as basis
for a potential unit of the Geological Time Scale, of a time unit starting
planet‐wide and synchronously in the mid‐twentieth century with the massive
changes triggered by industrialization and globalization, jars with
interpretations of an Anthropocene that ranges back many millennia to
encompass early human environmental impacts. We analyze and compare these
diverse standpoints and their effect upon evolving disciplinary practices,
and discuss approaches that could make communication clearer and enhance
cross‐disciplinary exchanges. The Anthropocene concept developed in the
Earth System science community is closely consistent with its proposed
chronostratigraphic (geological) definition A wide range of other meanings
of the Anthropocene subsequently emerged that represent inherently valid,
but partly different, concepts Cross‐disciplinary discussion is encouraged
to help resolve issues of meaning and communication in this important area
The Anthropocene concept developed in the Earth System science community is
closely consistent with its proposed chronostratigraphic (geological)
definition A wide range of other meanings of the Anthropocene subsequently
emerged that represent inherently valid, but partly different, concepts
Cross‐disciplinary discussion is encouraged to help resolve issues of
meaning and communication in this important area. *
Perusing the footnotes and bibliography of the above led me to another “*trying
(not) to make a -cene*” compilation which extends my previous collection up
to 27 – see https://arcade.stanford.edu/blogs/neologismcene
<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Farcade.stanford.edu%2Fblogs%2Fneologismcene&data=04%7C01%7Cbioplan%40groups.undp.org%7C5d4a09c73a8a4d7a9e5008d8f51969de%7Cb3e5db5e2944483799f57488ace54319%7C0%7C0%7C637528836783104701%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=CMH8n0EekBh7FTCKjC21yuYHX05xaW%2FnnFDbk1Pos2A%3D&reserved=0>,
to which I can add Homogocene (Hassol & Katzenberger, 1995
<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fciteseerx.ist.psu.edu%2Fviewdoc%2Fdownload%3Fdoi%3D10.1.1.417.3900%26rep%3Drep1%26type%3Dpdf&data=04%7C01%7Cbioplan%40groups.undp.org%7C5d4a09c73a8a4d7a9e5008d8f51969de%7Cb3e5db5e2944483799f57488ace54319%7C0%7C0%7C637528836783104701%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=npjfcnvgECh6M0OFVUF23z2Ai0tIjm9JY7C4ytc9ezA%3D&reserved=0>;
p68) and Myxocene
<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.newscientist.com%2Farticle%2Fmg22429940-200-is-earth-in-a-new-geological-phase-thanks-to-us%2F&data=04%7C01%7Cbioplan%40groups.undp.org%7C5d4a09c73a8a4d7a9e5008d8f51969de%7Cb3e5db5e2944483799f57488ace54319%7C0%7C0%7C637528836783104701%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=eABV4KabKaesCugceoZwEkn1R1ELiSO00kShMdojD6s%3D&reserved=0>,
suggested by fisheries biologists Dirk Zeller and Daniel Pauly, to reflect
an age
of jellyfish and slime in the oceans (Dirk Zeller and Daniel Pauly, “Good
News, Bad News: Global Fisheries Discards are Declining, but So Are Total
Catches,” Fish and Fisheries, no. 6 [2005]: 156–59,
doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-2979.2005.00177.x
<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fdoi.org%2F10.1111%2Fj.1467-2979.2005.00177.x&data=04%7C01%7Cbioplan%40groups.undp.org%7C5d4a09c73a8a4d7a9e5008d8f51969de%7Cb3e5db5e2944483799f57488ace54319%7C0%7C0%7C637528836783114659%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=eu6QMDAcWlA5ZVtoGbK0YXOzJaeEv0o66l%2BiDYjSbXc%3D&reserved=0>
).
Have a safe and relaxing Easter weekend – dreaming up more *-cenes*!
Best wishes
David Duthie
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