SciDev.Net

Local groups must help set biodiversity agendas if donors and scientists are to impact conservation, say Robert J. Smith and colleagues.

Innovative agricultural technologies can produce crops that meet climate change challenges, says ICRISAT head William Dar.

Combining satellite data with mobile phones offers cheap and effective tools for managing fires, says South African scientist Philip Frost.

Disaster management needs constellations of satellites with multispectral sensors, says Indian space researcher, Ranganath Navalgund.

Kenyan MP and remote sensing expert, Wilbur Ottichilo, argues the time is ripe for using satellites to spot developing African droughts.

Volcano expert Geoff Wadge explains how the International Charter on Space and Major Disasters helped manage a volcanic eruption in Montserrat.

Africans need to be more aware of earthquakes to cope with disasters — and there's no better place to start than in schools, says Chris Hartnady.

Simply reducing livestock farming in developing countries will neither cut emissions nor benefit the poor, says livestock expert Carlos Seré.

An editorial in The Lancet highlights the extent of undernutrition in the developing world and calls for urgent global action.

Six experts, writing in The New York Times, discuss options for ensuring food security in the face of growing populations and climate change.

Practicalities of trading carbon and protecting forests make meeting high expectations for REDD hard, say Esteve Corbera and Manuel Estrada.

CGIAR reforms take research decisions too far away, says Hartmann, director-general of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA).

The Samoan earthquake highlights worrying shortcomings in Pacific early warning systems, says Richard Hamblyn.

Intellectual property must be protected to encourage technical innovations in agriculture, says Javier Fernandez of CropLife Latin America.

Establishing an effective science–policy interface is key to combating biodiversity loss, say Harold Mooney and Georgina Mace.

We must take responsibility for the costs of modifying tropical ecosystems for human consumption, says botanist Scott A. Mori.

Pilot projects in India and Nigeria point to possible benefits of a new approach to agricultural innovation, say Andy Hall and Susanna Thorp.

We must prepare for climate change bringing more natural disasters that favour mosquito-borne disease, says Jai P. Narain from the WHO.

Moves to introduce biotechnology to Africa must consider the needs and values of local people, argues socioeconomist Wilhemina Quaye.

Helping farm labourers access new technologies and knowledge should be a priority for policymakers, argues innovation expert Anil Gupta.