Art in support of crop preservation at the Global Crop Diversity Trust

When the Global Crop Diversity Trust approached me late last year about using an image of one of my seed artworks for their Festive Season greeting card I was delighted to share an image. This Not-for-profit organisation's role is so central in the global preservation of seeds for food ... they partner on critical projects with Govts, foundations and Institutions such as the Millennium Seedbank at Kew Garden's West Sussex site where I spent a fascinating 3 weeks on residency in 2011. 

This image was used on the card and last week included in the Annual Report of the Crop Trust.

I've followed their work since late 2010... gaining a considerable education by reading the Agricultural Biodiversity Weblog by Luigi Guarino & Jeremy Cherfas where they discuss the diversity of crops, livestock, microbes and food ways. Their blog was a launch-pad to all kinds of information in this vast realm... so it was a cross-roads ... a place to learn of the broadest spectrum of issues around this central theme.

Since launching the Homage to the Seed project in 2010 I've pursued both Agricultural Biodiversity and Habitat Biodiversity in equal measure ... covering seed stories from remote, pristine habitats to what's on our tables and everything in between. Ive realised how unusual this approach is from the fact some attack me now and then over the fact I don't take one single view of seeds and stay neatly in that niche.

I learnt in the first year into this project how easy it was to be misinformed. I posted something here

that brought massive attention from people, bloggers I'd never heard of... so that was the last time I ever posted a story that I had no background or context for.

Even when I did post that controversial story I'd written to a number of individuals asking if they'd heard the story... so it wasn't that I'd been completely naive. I was very grateful for that incident because it gave me the conviction to dig much deeper with my own research and track stories over a long time to see what could be learned in the attempt to sort fact from fiction.  

Last week's ANNUAL REPORT from the Crop Trust featured my artwork on Page 21 

http://www.croptrust.org/sites/default/files/documents/files/Annual%20Report%202013_Desktop.pdf

To read about a 4 min video the Crop Trust made on my work go to my Studio Archive Blog : 

http://sophiemunnsstudio.blogspot.com.au/2014/01/video-homage-to-seed-crop-trust-and.html

I'll close with this piece I added to the post sharing the Annual Report Story on my Facebook page. After the two paragraph overview I'd added some personal thoughts... however ... this morning it occurred to me it was better to post the additional part on this blog so moved that content to this forum. 

Time permitting,  read on:

Thank you to the Global Crop Diversity Trust in Bonn, Germany for featuring Homage to the seed artwork in their visually stunning and informative Annual Report :http://www.croptrust.org/sites/default/files/documents/files/Annual%20Report%202013_Desktop.pdf

This important Not-for-profit was set up in 2004 to help create a global system for the conservation and availability of crop diversity. At this FB page I focus frequently on inspiring work happening to counter Biodiversity loss or gene erosion thus supporting every kind of SMALL LOCAL INITIATIVE as well as STATE + NATIONAL organisations contributing to the increasingly critical task of safe-guarding and preserving seeds and with them food cultures, natural resources and eco-systems.

I've added some personal notes below for you to read, time permitting! 

In the past 5 years I've researched + connected with some key International initiatives and hard-working individuals through my growing understanding of the complex layers of work going on around seeds. 

Profoundly impressed at the diligence and passion many bring to this work... every residency I undertake only serves to strengthen the belief I'm meeting fine people who's commitment extends far beyond self-interest and feathering of nests .... whether they be volunteers at a local habitat nursery or community garden, educators or scientists at esteemed Institutions. 

Passion is powerful YET when research and knowledge are ignored one-track thinking can + does close down crucial public discourse and everyday conversations. 

My third day on recent PLANTBANK residency at the Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan I received an email on my iPhone from a stranger attacking me for accepting money from transnational corporation Syngenta and a host of other sins. 

NOT HAPPY on this occasion for a number of reasons it wasn't the first and won't be the last foolish email or comment aimed at me... but given my funding comes through patronage of an octogenarian mother who grew up on a farm and understands the importance of this project and a wonderful array of art collectors, academics, schools and organisations who approach me with freelance work I was not amused. A large part of my year I see no income as I am simply way too busy producing content and researching to run an online shop or monetise my solo work. I ADORE the people who support my project... support that includes FB likes, comments and shares, Art sales and work offers... it all counts and I never take it for granted. But no ... Syngenta has not put me on their payroll! 

Its simply NOT GOOD ENOUGH to fail to look more deeply. Asking deeper, broader questions is not just polite but its critical! 

I've spent 5 years digging into the questions around seeds and started to realise in 2011 what the general public misses about seeds is extraordinary. One story is discussed ... do I have to mention which story? That is an important story but after 4 years evaluating all that I've been coming across the story of Biodiversity and gene loss is still so ignored, so remote from most people ... yet i'm convinced the biggest risk to the Global Seed inheritance is what is not understood about how species are lost and what small and big things we can do about it. 

What if it wasn't a company that was failing to take care of plant species but our own actions? A story from a fascinating old hippy in Vermont got me thinking. Despite being infamous in the US for his personal seed-saving mission and alternative methods he feels its the easiest thing in the world for people to blame Monsanto and puts genetic erosion down to sometime back in the early C20th when individuals began outsourcing for seeds creating a vacuum that left it to the vagaries of the market-place to supply seeds.

I'm sure that could be argued over endlessly ... but I'm convinced that this the work and knowledge on stalling species loss must be shared ... and it will take effort and initiative at every level of community very much including agencies like the Global Crop Diversity Trust who store the seeds of the country or organisation for that very same country and organisation. What Australia sends to Svarlbad in the Arctic Circle remains the property of the Australian Govt. When the Syrian Genebank was disrupted by war a couple of years ago seed material was sent to Svarlbad and the operation moved to a nearby country. Already extreme weather events have destroyed gene banks around the planet. If you don't know about these matters I urge you to read websites like http://www.croptrust.org/, http://www.seedpartnership.org.au/, http://www.plantbank.org.au/ to name a few!

'Perennial Symbols of the Botanical Realm I'

This artwork 'Perennial Symbols of the Botanical Realm I', 60 x 120 cm, was originally a Dyptich and began its life in the studio I occupied in Paddington in the second half of 2010. 

After a few days of working on this painting following Xmas, 2010 a full month of intense, drenching rains led to the first major flooding Brisbane had seen in decades. Although the studio was high up on a hilly ridge it was a bit wet when I returned to find how things were. All was fine though. During the flood I was forced to stay put at home in Clayfield. Roads had been cut off everywhere so it didn't even bear thinking about trying to get in to the studio to work. Most of Queensland had gone under water, flooding had devastated some areas and loss of life was serious.

As I'd grown up in a river town in Northern NSW flooding brought back stark memories. Summer was swallowed up by rains and grey skies and difficult stories of how it had been for others. This painting languished for a couple of weeks and I moved out of the studio soon after. It was months later I started work on it again... but in my small studio at home it was a bit crowded working on such a large canvas and I never was sure where this was going.

Getting started at the Paddington Studio... painting on the right

was a Dyptich that eventually evolved into something complete.

For ages there was something very heavy, very stuck 

 about this work ... I was unable to lighten it up in any way.

to say I worked and reworked this canvas is an understatement.

And yet...

... this other work in the blue green palette never presented 

that problem and instead, just came gradually to life! 

If you look at this section of the finished artwork below you'll note I was eventually able to find a way into this work but not before I took a paintbrush to it and radically altered it by whiting over areas of the painting in order to start building up colour dynamics and layers from scratch again.

This time around the eye had space to rest and areas of the work acted like pathways, breathing spaces between intense sections of colour and pattern.

Here is a small section which highlights the interplay of colour and form, patterns and motif.

Recently I put this work in my Online Shop as a print... making the image above this one available as an archival Limited Edition print. 

The original artwork was shown as two separate artworks at my February Exhibition and both works sold on Opening night which was interesting given I'd separated them. The owner of this work kindly indulged me when I decided I needed to tinker slightly with the work before she collected it after the exhibition was over. I'm very glad for that extra bit of time to add some layering after I'd had the chance during the exhibition to ponder the work. When I finally parted with it I felt it was fine... even if it took a little over two years.

Given that rather involved story its been interesting to find this work being chosen ( a section of the work that is) for use on a christmas card for an organisation based in Bonn, in Germany.

The organisation's agenda happens aligns surprisingly well with the artwork's essential message... referring as it does to the perpetual cycles of the Seed inheritance from around the globe, through layers and laters of small seed forms. 

The Global Crop Diversity Trust is 'an independent international organization working to guarantee the conservation of crop diversity. Forever.' 

This excerpt below is quoted directly from their page WHO ARE WE?

Crop diversity is one of the world’s least recognized but most valuable resources.  Individual crop varieties, such as the 200,000 varieties of wheat, have different traits for drought or heat tolerance, nutritional quality, disease resistance and every other possible characteristic. 

Crop diversity is therefore the raw material for improving and adapting crops to meet all future challenges.  Yet at the moment much of the world’s crop diversity is neither safely conserved, nor readily available to scientists and farmers who rely on it to safeguard agricultural productivity.  Diversity is being lost, and with it the biological basis of our food supply.

The Global Crop Diversity Trust is the only worldwide response to this funding crisis.  In a world where there are many important, and apparently overwhelming, issues demanding attention, it is important to note how the Trust differs from other organizations competing for donations

Its mission is achievable. It is rare that the world faces a major problem which has highly disturbing implications but an identifiable and achievable solution. This is preciselywhat the Trust offers; a costed, measurable plan, relying on existing institutions and simple proven technologies.

It is the only solution. Crop diversity is disappearing, and the Trust is the sole dedicated worldwide funding organization for its conservation. The Trust itself is operating in a unique political "window of opportunity", following the entering into force of the new International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources, and has partnered with all the important organisations in this field. The Trust offers a unique opportunity to put in place a rational and cost-effective system for the conservation of the resources which underpin all agriculture and the world's future food supplies.

This is one of the organisations I began visiting online as I researched for the residency at Mt Coot-tha in 2010. Investigating Biodiversity initially was through the website of the UN International Year of Biodiversity in 2010 and also  Kew Gardens and the Millennium Seedbank. This had been a springboard to Bioversity International and the Global Crop Diversity Trust.

Hence, I've posted frequently here at this blog on these organisations. You might to read their website to consider the work being carried out in connection with numerous countries, organisations and individuals. My Scoop-it site Bio-cultural Diversity when I get time is one of the places where I get feeds from the Crop Trust. 

I've often rescooped posts by Luigi Guarino, senior scientist at the Crop Trust. Click to visit his sites.

Luigi Guarino

Luigi Guarino & Jeremy Cherfas discuss the diversity of crops, livestock, microbes and foodways at the Agricultural Biodiversity Weblog... and here.

I was contacted by Luis Salazar from Bonn who arranged for this Xmas card to feature my work and a follow up later in January with promo on the Homage to the Seed Project.

I'm very pleased to have been able to share this work with this very unique and fascinating Not-for-Profit organisation, especially knowing the enormous value  of the work they do and are connected with. I've often started my day trawling through sites like their website, Luigi's Scoops or similar. Before I'm up and into the day I've often spent two hours reading current news from around the world on seeds, biodiversity and so on. Its a pattern that has become somewhat fixed over several years now.

I used to trawl art and design websites most days when I could, and spend hours blogging per week. But as the climate shifts and life on this globe of ours is ever more pressured I find it is of utmost relevance to have a sense of where I am, and where we all are, through these stories. 

My language remains very visual although I'm prompter at times to need to write.  I paint for intense periods when I can. However, the painting is very often a meditation... a stilling of the mind as all the reading and thinking settles into a place where I can feel my response and make choices about how to proceed and think my way to the next thing.

Its late now but I did want to make this post tonight so I can share it as this year is winding down fast. My intern Jane, a 17 yr old student is coming in the morning. I haven't packed to go up the range on Boxing day for 5 days of painting in the Springbrook National Park. Xmas day I guess I can do that. 

This painting of Perennial Symbols which started in the big rains of late 2010 into 2011 is alive and well in spirit. Now more than ever it seems we must find ways to celebrate our natural heritage and care for it. Our way may not be the same as another's. And perhaps conversations are a really good starting point.

During the last five years of this project on seeds I've had to deal with moments of interrogation or angry monologues from the odd person who needed to point out to me that Scientists were evil and why was I working with them ... and Seed banks were very evil. At first I wondered what they knew that I didn't. I was prepared to admit my knowledge was poor. In the end I realised that if it wasn't a two way, mutual conversation they maybe didn't know terribly much ...  but neither did they seem to have the desire to be open or learn either.

Don't forget ... you can enter my intern Sam's Competition Survey. I will draw the winner on my return at New years... so get your answers in! Its the previous post where she wrote about entering the survey.

Best wishes to all for a very peaceful festive season, wherever you are.

Sophie

in the new Studio

I've just reached that satisfying stage of feeling as though I've been in this studio for ages. It's remarkably disorienting trying to work in a studio space missing that certain energy field that comes from long, productive hours inhabiting the work space. Even though its still early days here and I've not spent all that much time painting since the set up about 4 weeks ago there's a satisfyingly dense lived-in feeling present here now.

Key to that was, in part, having people visit here... sparking some great conversations ... and the 4 hour class I held Saturday for two young students with a keen sense of curiosity for the natural world... the first of many I hope!

Assembling books and materials before the class started.

Sophie and Jackson mid afternoon.

One of Jackson's numerous drawings... he's spent a great deal of time in Botanic Gardens, National Parks and anywhere he can engage with the natural world ever since he was very young thanks to his parents willingness to enable this contact. His memory and understanding of plants, seeds, eco-systems etc is stunning ... and made for some excellent discussion through the day.

One thing discussed at length were issues around Biodiversity. It was a most rewarding experience to find two students, Jackson at 12 and Sophie at 9, so keen to take part in an intensive workshop that extended over 4 and a half hours, with lunch consumed at the work table so keen they were to keep going!

I look forward to running many more workshops along this line in time to come.

Found here

I'm presently cooking up ideas for a project within my project... ready for November when i wish to launch my new studio. I've found a way to combine several passions into one idea which i will announce when the time comes.

These are a new development in my studio practice ... Biodiversity Conversation Plates ... part of a whole concept to be launched November. Hand-painted they one-off unique works and promise to be an affordable art option which I'm really enjoying creating and have broad application in people's homes, work-places and more.

Stay tuned for more on this in the lead up to the Studio launch in November.

If interested in Classes or more information on whats going on send an email and I will put you in the picture.

Cheerio!

S

National Geographic invites the whole world to take part in the Great Nature Project

Nature is getting ready for its close-up!

13 June 2013 | News story

IUCN Member, the National Geographic Society, is urging everyone to go outside to explore nature, whether in their own backyard, a local park or anywhere that nature thrives.

From 21-29 September 2013, National Geographic invites the whole world to take part in the Great Nature Project, an unprecedented attempt to document and appreciate Earth’s biodiversity.

Great Nature Project participants — anyone with a camera or camera phone — are asked to take photos of any plants, animals, or other living things they come across and share them with the world by uploading them to Twitter, Instagram or Flickr, using the tag #GreatNature.

Participants can also submit photos to the Great Nature Project on iNaturalist or Project Noah, which are online citizen science platforms.

The uploaded, tagged photos will be aggregated on greatnatureproject.org, where visitors to the website can view the images and take advantage of opportunities to learn more about biodiversity through educational and scientific resources.

The website launches in July 2013, but participants can register online now to become part of the September celebration.

Also from National Geographic Magazine: The Svarlbard Seed vault

Give Peas a Chance

Photograph by Jim Richardson, National Geographic

A conservationist cradles two vials of peas destined for deposit in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. The remarkable facility set on a rugged Arctic island off Norway is the ultimate global safety net for food security. It's able to protect up to 2.25 billion seeds from even "doomsday" scenarios like asteroid impacts and nuclear war.

But crop varieties are already vanishing at an astonishing pace for more mundane reasons, from shifting local weather patterns to disuse by farmers adopting new hybrids. The vault represents a chance to save as many as possible.

"I'd say doomsday is happening everyday for crop varieties," said Cary Fowler, executive director of the Global Crop Diversity Trust, which helps manage the facility. "Lots of people think that this vault is waiting for doomsday before we use it. But it's really a backup plan for seeds and crops. We are losing seed diversity every day and this is the insurance policy for that."

Even a seemingly simple crop, such as wheat, may have 200,000 different varieties. And each variety has a suite of individual traits that determine how it fares in high or low temperatures, during droughts, or against certain diseases or pests.

"Even conservative projections of changing climate now indicate that by mid-century huge areas of some countries, in Africa for example, will be experiencing climates that are unlike any that have existed since the beginning of agriculture in those countries," Fowler explained.

"How will they become adapted to future climates? One way they can is by tapping into this rich storehouse of diversity and breeding new crops with traits that allow them to succeed in those climates. It's essential to future food security," Fowler said.

(Read more about seed banks around the world in National Geographicmagazine.)

—Brian Handwerk

Published July 2, 2012

Banking Seeds for Doomsday

Posted by David Braun of National Geographic on March 5, 2012

This is an excellent article worth reading about this Seed Vault ... here is an excerpt from the original article:

The “Doomsday Seed Vault”—so called because it is protecting agriculture systems worldwide from disasters natural or manmade—has now secured over 740,000 samples or “accessions” on Norway’s remote Svalbard archipelago, the Global Crop Diversity Trust said in a recent news release to mark the fourth anniversary of the project.

The Trust maintains the seed vault, in partnership with the Norwegian government and the Nordic Genetic Resources Center, as a back-up to the living crop diversity collections housed in “genebanks” around the world.

“Rare wheat collected from the ‘Roof of the World’ in the Pamir Mountains in Tajikistan; amaranth, with its exotic blood-red stalks that are used in a ‘Day of the Dead’ drink; barley that helped spawn the craft beer revolution; and once- forgotten forage crops that could sustain livestock in these climate-stressed times are among the 24,948 seed samples arriving [last week] for the fourth birthday of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault (SGSV),” the Trust said.

“The incredible range and importance of the seeds that have been sent here this week for safekeeping provide vivid examples of why we need to carefully collect and preserve our planet’s crop diversity,” said Cary Fowler, executive director of the Global Crop Diversity Trust. “Our crop diversity is constantly under threat, from dramatic dangers such as fires, political unrest, war and tornadoes, as well as the mundane, such as failing refrigeration systems and budget cuts. But these seeds are the future of our food supply, as they carry genetic treasure such as heat resistance, drought tolerance, or disease and pest resistance.”

Among the contributors for the fourth anniversary are the United States Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) National Plant Germplasm System (NPGS), the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) in Syria, the International Center for Tropical Agriculture in Colombia (known by its Spanish acronym CIAT), and the national crop genebanks of Tajikistan and Armenia. Both CIAT and ICARDA are part of the CGIAR Consortium of International Agricultural Research Centers, which is the largest single contributor of seeds to the vault.

December 27, 2007 Coloful houses lie near the mountains in Longyearbyen, a village on the island of Spitsbergen, part of Norway's Svalbard archipelago.

FROM BOTANY BAY TO BREATHING PLANET

This time last year I was on Residency at the KEW Millennium Seedbank in West Sussex, completely absorbed in learning as much as possible during this all too short stay of three weeks. Tonight I'm back there in my thoughts as I'm currently listening to Dr Stephen Hopper, Director of Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew whose lecture in London in June was broadcast today in Australia on Radio National.

Hopper will have wound up his era at Kew Gardens by now (I think) in order to return to Perth in Western Australia where he is to set up a Biodiversity Faculty at one of the Universities there.

 If you can find the time ... its a brilliant lecture from a highly articulate yet accessible thinker with a profound appreciation for landscape and nature!

2012 MENZIES MEMORIAL LECTURE - FROM BOTANY BAY TO BREATHING PLANET: REFLECTIONS ON PLANT DIVERSITY AND GLOBAL SUSTAINABILITY

Professor Stephen Hopper

Director of the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew

Plant diversity has never been more important than now. It offers solutions towards food security and sustainable livelihoods, and yet we continue to destroy species at an accelerating pace. What are strategies to preserve plant biodiversity?

Broadcast:

Monday 8 October 2012 8:05PM (view full episode)

ABC RADIO NATIONAL : Listen to broadcast by visiting here.

Image: Tree archway, West Sussex estate of the Royal Botanical Gardens Kew
(Marc Pether-Longman, Flickr.com, Creative Commons)

This is from the Kings College London page on the event which was held in June this year.

THE MENZIES LECTURE 2012

Location

Edmond J Safra Lecture Theatre

Category

Annual Lecture

When

13/06/2012 (18:15-20:00)

Contact

The Menzies Lecture is one of two major public lectures organised each year by the Menzies Centre for Australian Studies. It is designed to provide an opportunity for a distinguished person, of any nationality, to reflect on a subject of contemporary interest affecting Britain and Australia.  

The lecture is free and all members of the public are welcome to attend. RSVP here  http://menzieslecture2012.eventbrite.com/

Registration URL

http://menzieslecture2012.eventbrite.com/

Stephen Hopper

From Botany Bay to Breathing Planet: reflections on plant diversity and global sustainability

Stephen D. Hopper

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, Surrey 

The establishment of Australia as a nation is intimately linked with Botany Bay, named by James Cook following the enthusiasm for novel botanical discoveries made by Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander on the Endeavour’s first Australian landfall in 1770. On returning to England, Banks was introduced to King George III, and they became firm friends, the King inviting Banks to become honorary Director of the Royal Gardens at Kew in west London.

Today, Kew is the world’s largest botanical garden, with the most diverse scientific collections of plants on Earth, leading inspirational research and conservation projects like the Millennium Seed Bank Partnership.  Plant diversity has never been more important than now to help with solutions towards sustainable livelihoods. This presentation will touch upon global plant diversity patterns, ongoing scientific discovery, and strategies that have helped and will help towards humans living with and sustainably using biodiversity.

Such approaches are embraced in the Breathing Planet Programme, Kew’s strategy with partners for inspiring and delivering science-based plant conservation worldwide, aimed at enhancing the quality of life at a time of unprecedented global change. Today’s plant science is also helping better understand the astounding place that Banks first stepped onto at Botany Bay, and demonstrating that Australia has much to teach the world about biodiversity and human enrichment on ancient landscapes. 

Stephen D. Hopper is 14th Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. He is a plant conservation biologist, best known for pioneering research leading to positive conservation outcomes in south-west Australia (one of the few temperate-zone global biodiversity hotspots) and for the description of 300 new plant taxa. He holds a  BSc (Hons) in botany and zoology and a PhD (for a thesis on speciation in kangaroo paws) both from the University of Western Australia. After various scientific posts in the Western Australian public service, he joined Kings Park and Botanic Garden as Director (1992), and served as CEO of the Botanic Gardens and Parks Authority (1999-2004).

He has conducted field research in deserts across Australia and in the USA and South Africa. As Foundation Professor of Plant Conservation Biology at the University of Western Australia (2004-06), he developed new theories on the evolution and conservation of biodiversity of the world’s oldest landscapes. His books include Western Australia's Endangered Flora (1990), The Banksia Atlas (1991), Kangaroo Paws and Catspaws (1993), Life on the Rocks (1999, 2008), Spider, Fairy and Dragon Orchids of Western Australia (2001), Soul of the Desert (2005) and Orchids of Western Australia (2008).

Professor Hopper joined Kew in 2006, steered its 250th anniversary celebrations in 2009, and has developed a ten-year Breathing Planet Programme for Kew and its global partners. Its urgent aim is to apply science-based plant diversity solutions to sustainable living in the face of accelerating climate change and the loss of biodiversity.

Rainforest fruits, seed pods and findings from the Wet Tropics of North Queensland

This what I brought back from Cairns in far north Qld last week. I found a large platter I serve fruit on and filled the tray completely with this abundance of collected items... from the blue quandongs flicked up off the ground at the Cairns Botanic Gardens to black bean seeds pods from the Daintree River Ferry area.

  

My imagination is well and truly fired up by all that I saw up north. These are destined for the studio... some of them Ive already taken time to draw...

I'm due to return north for a month from September 18th to undertake a 4 week residency with an exhibition following. Stay tuned on  this and read more at the website, on  my blogs or Facebook page... all links are in the right sidebar! 

For now I am gearing up to run workshops and a course, paint and invite the public to view the work at my studio...all part of a program to see that this next phase of work is communicated and funded. 

Email me here if you wish to have this program sent to you!  When it gets hugely busy one does find it difficult to find enough time in keep posting on blogs and so on.... but its wonderful to share the stories and hear from others so I will do my best!

       Best wishes all!

                         Sophie

A week in the Wet Tropics region of Northern QLD

So much to share here but not much time with only 24 hours left up in Cairns before I head back to Brisbane after a week getting acquainted with the area and the place where I will do a residency in September/October.... Tanks Arts Centre and Cairns Botanic Gardens. I wrote a couple of posts on this trip at the other two blogs... one about visiting the World Heritage Site at the Daintree National Park...

Mossman River at the Mossman Gorge

The other post about my new journal and drawings of pods and rainforest fruits I've been collecting.

the new journal

Click those links to go see the images.
   Back home soon!
      Sophie

Incredible Edible and other readings on biodiversity and more...

read about this here

This strikingly simple image below draws immediate attention to the seeds contained within the pear. Seeds are easily un-noticed in daily life ... unless we somehow work with seeds we may give little thought to them. This images curiously brings the seeds to the fore...

Mary Woodman: Nature in its simplicity. Image found here from artists website.

This morning I found a couple of books through twitter that caught my eye. One non-fiction, the other a novel.

• Paperback

• ISBN:9780521170871

• 630pages

• 111 b/w illus. 10 colour illus. 34 tables

• Dimensions: 247 x 174 mm

• Weight: 1.24kg

• Not yet published - available from February 2012
• £45.00

View other formats: 

• Hardback

The introduction of plant and animal agriculture represents one of the most important milestones in human evolution. It contributed to the development of cities, alphabets, new technologies, and ultimately to civilizations, but it has also presented a threat to both human health and the environment. Bringing together research from a range of fields including anthropology, archaeology, ecology, economics, entomology, ethnobiology, genetics and geography, this book addresses key questions relating to agriculture. Why did agriculture develop and where did it originate? What are the patterns of domestication for plants and animals? How did agroecosystems originate and spread from their locations of origin? Exploring the cultural aspects of the development of agricultural ecosystems, the book also highlights how these topics can be applied to our understanding of contemporary agriculture, its long-term sustainability, the co-existence of agriculture and the environment, and the development of new crops and varieties.

Features

• A synthesis of the most recent research results and implications for the origin of crops and domesticated animals • Provides examples of how crop and animal genetic diversity contributes to sustainability of agriculture, enabling a better understanding of the value of genetic diversity • Explores the cultural aspects of the development of agriculture ecosystems, highlighting the wider context

Table of Contents

List of contributors
Foreword Bruce D. Smith
Acknowledgments
Introduction. The domestication of plants and animals: ten unanswered questions Paul Gepts, Robert Bettinger, Stephen Brush, Ardeshir Damania, Thomas Famula, Patrick McGuire and Calvin Qualset
1. The local origins of domestication Jared Diamond
Part I. Early Steps in Agricultural Domestication: 2. Evolution of agro-ecosystems: biodiversity, origins and differential development David R. Harris
3. From foraging to farming in western and eastern Asia Ofer Bar-Yosef
4. Predomestic cultivation during the late Pleistocene and early Holocene in the Northern Levant George Willcox
5. New archaeobotanical information on plant domestication from macro-remains: tracking the evolution of domestication syndrome traits Dorian Q. Fuller
6. New archaeobotanical information on early cultivation and plant domestication involving microplant remains Dolores R. Piperno
7. How and why did agriculture spread? Peter Bellwood
8. California Indian proto-agriculture: its characterization and legacy M. Kat Anderson and Eric Wohlgemuth
Part II. Domestication of Animals and Impacts on Humans: 9. Pathways to animal domestication Melinda A. Zeder
10. Genetics of animal domestication Leif Andersson
11. Genome-wide approaches for the study of dog domestication Bridgett M. vonHoldt, Melissa M. Gray and Robert K. Wayne
12. Malaria and rickets represent selective forces for the convergent evolution of adult lactase persistence Loren Cordain, Mathew S. Hickley and Kami Kim
Part III. Issues in Plant Domestication: 13. The dynamics of rice domestication: a balance between gene flow and genetic isolation Susan R. McCouch, Michael J. Kovach, Megan Sweeney, Hui Jiang and Mande Semon
14. Domestication of lima beans: a new look at an old problem M. I. Chacón S., J. R. Motta-Aldana, M. L. Serrano S. and D. G. Debouck
15. Genetic characterization of cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) and yam (Dioscorea trifida L.) landraces in swidden agriculture systems in Brazil Elizabeth A. Veasey, Eduardo A. Bressan, Marcos V. B. M. Siqueira, Aline Borges, Jurema R. Queiroz-Silva, Kayo J. C. Pereira, Gustavo H. Recchia and Lin Chau Ming
16. Pigeonpea – from an orphan to a leader in food legumes C. L. Laxmipathi Gowda, K. B. Saxena, R. K. Srivastava, H. D. Upadhyaya and S. N. Silim
Part IV. Traditional Management of Biodiversity: 17. Ecological approaches to crop domestication D. B. McKey, M. Elias, B. Pujol and A. Duputié
18. Agrobiodiversity shifts on three continents since Vavilov and Harlan: assessing causes, processes and implications for food security Gary Paul Nabhan, Ken Wilson, Ogonazar Aknazarov, Karim-Aly Kassam, Laurie Monti, David Cavagnaro, Shawn Kelly, Tai Johnson and Ferrell Sekacucu
19. Indigenous peoples conserving, managing, and creating biodiversity Jan Salick
20. Land architecture in the Maya lowlands: implications for sustainability B. L. Turner II and Deborah Lawrence
21. Agrobiodiversity and water resources in agricultural landscape evolution (Andean Valley irrigation, Bolivia, 1986 to 2008) Karl S. Zimmerer
Part V. Uses of Biodiversity and New and Future Domestications: 22. Participatory domestication of indigenous fruit and nut trees: new crops for sustainable agriculture in developing countries Roger R. B. Leakey
23. The introduction and dispersal of Vitis vinifera into California: a case study of the interaction of man, plants, economics, and environment James Lapsley
24. Genetic resources of yeast and other micro-organisms Charles W. Bamforth
25. Biodiversity of native bees and crop pollination with emphasis on California Robbin W. Thorp
26. Aquaculture, the next wave of domestication Dennis Hedgecock
27. Genetic sustainability and biodiversity: challenges to the California dairy industry Juan F. Medrano
Index.

• © Cambridge University Press 2012.

The other book:

This is the village where much of the action took place.

see more photos 

The novel is selling for US $ 2.99 on kindle and around $14 in hard copy here.

I added it to the homage to the seed page on Facebook this morning:

Homage to the seed

All profits from the sale of this book will be distributed to the Campaign for Access to Essential Medicines of Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders and the Institute of Biodiversity Conservation in Ethiopia.

Amazon.com: Through These Veins (9780983249801): Anne Marie Ruff: Books

www.amazon.com

Amazon.com: Through These Veins (9780983249801): Anne Marie Ruff: Books

 ·  · Share · 2 hours ago

I hope you noticed that fine print:

All profits from the sale of this book will be distributed to the Campaign for Access to Essential Medicines of Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders and the Institute of Biodiversity Conservation in Ethiopia.

SO where does Incredible  Edoble come into the story? This morning I posted this wonderful story on Tumblr:

Incredible Edible: 'It's not all about free food'

Image found through title link.

In 2008, as the economy was going downhill and fears about climate change were on the rise, Pam Warhurst, a businesswoman and former council leader in Todmorden, Yorkshire, decided to do something positive in her community. Her bright idea involved food and the use of public spaces and it quickly caught her neighbours’ imagination. Now the seed Warhurst planted in Todmorden is not only bearing fruit – it’s taking root in other towns across the UK and as far away as New Zealand.

The idea was beautifully simple. All over town, green areas of public land were going to waste. Even cultivated areas were not being used to their potential. Meanwhile, people were buying their food from far-flung places. Why not put these public spaces to more productive use? Before long, edible things were cropping up all over town in green spaces the organisation refers to as “propaganda gardens”.

“At first, we had trouble getting people to help themselves,” says Mary Clear, “because we’re from a country where people say, ‘Get off my land’, so we had to tell people it was OK.” Now, locals are volunteering as well as picking: there are 273 people on Incredible Edible’s “muck-in” list. Local food shops have come around to the idea and, says Warhurst, “nearly 50% said it had had a positive impact on their income”. “It’s not all about free food,” Clear stresses. The propaganda gardens exist to remind people that food can be grown close to home.

The project has been welcomed by the local authority and has also attracted outside interest. “People came from New Zealand and are now adopting edible spaces in the rebuilding of Christchurch,” says Warhurst. The Incredible Edible movement has now spread to 30 other towns around the UK and beyond.

Click on heading above to go to guardian and see video!

posted from Guardian article by sophie munns

Well.... i hope you are inspired as I was....
Sophie
PS Enjoy you weekend everyone!