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Agricultural Crops and Wildlife

Monty Don asks if it is possible to feed the world and still have wildlife.

Monty Don presents Shared Planet, the series that looks at the crunch point between human population and the natural world. In this week's programme we have a field report from England with Simon Potts, Professor of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services at Reading University. Simon Potts's research looks specifically at how effective bees and other pollinators are and their abundance in agricultural landscapes - a crucial link in food security. Monty Don explores some of the issues with Vandana Shiva in Delhi, a board member of the International Forum on Globalisation and an author of over 20 books about biodiversity, food and economies.

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28 minutes

Last on

Mon 9 Sep 2013 21:00

Dr. Vandana Shiva

Dr. Vandana Shiva

Dr. Vandana Shiva is trained as a Physicist and did her Ph.D. on the subject 鈥淗idden Variables and Non-locality in Quantum Theory鈥 from the University of Western Ontario in Canada.听 She later shifted to inter-disciplinary research in science, technology and environmental policy, which she carried out at the Indian Institute of Science and the Indian Institute of Management in Bangalore, India.

In 1982, she founded an independent institute, the Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology in Dehra Dun dedicated to high quality and independent research to address the most significant ecological and social issues of our times, in close partnership with local communities and social movements.听 In 1991, she founded Navdanya, a national movement to protect the diversity and integrity of living resources, especially native seed, the promotion of organic farming and fair trade. For last two decades Navdanya has worked with local communities and organizations serving more than 500,000 men and women farmers. Navdanya鈥檚 efforts have resulted in conservation of more than 3000 rice varieties from all over the country and have established 60 seed banks in 16 states across the country.

Time Magazine identified Dr. Shiva as an environmental 鈥渉ero鈥 in 2003 and Asia Week has called her one of the five most powerful communicators of Asia.听 Forbes magazine in November 2010 has identified Dr. Vandana Shiva as one of the top Seven most Powerful Women on the Globe.

Professor Simon Potts

Professor Simon Potts
Simon Potts is Professor of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services at the University of Reading and has been studying bees and pollination for 25 years.听 He is particularly interested in the contribution pollinators make to our food security and the economic value of crop pollination services. His research focusses on developing practical measures to help conserve pollinators and better manage their pollination services for growers. He also studies the pressures on bees and other pollinators including habitat loss, agrochemicals, pathogens, climate change and their interactions. He is committed to bringing scientific findings to policy makers, industry and the general public.

Broadcasts

  • Tue 3 Sep 2013 11:00
  • Mon 9 Sep 2013 21:00

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