Biofuels not food the biggest driver of ‘land grabbing’ deals, says report

In Africa, the impact of biofuels was even stronger with 66 per cent of land purchases used for biofuels. Food was next highest at 15 per cent. The report, ‘Land Rights and the Rush for Land’, involved the collaboration of over 40 different organisations in the research process – the biggest study to date. Report author Michael Taylor, from the International Land Coalition, says they were surprised by the dominance [...]

Tropical birds are moving to higher elevations because of climate change, but they may not be moving fast enough to keep up, according to a new study by Duke University researchers. It provides new evidence of their response to warming, but also shows there is a delay in their response. Forero-Medina and his colleagues used survey data collected on bird species in the region in the 1970s by John Terborgh, [...]