As a student, I did a six-month internship at TropenBos. During my internship I lived in the rainforest in British Guiana. There I slept in a hammock and washed myself at the river that ran along the camp. I enjoyed the sight of the enormous diversity in the forest. It…
The European Environment Agency (EEA) recently asked us to investigate the issue of ‘Policy streamlining for biodiversity and ecosystem services’. Policy streamlining in this case, is the process of bringing together different policy measures in order to achieve improved delivery of policy objectives. For example: how could different, occasionally conflicting…
Forests have a strong place in human culture. They played a role in human evolution, are the subject of fairy tales, have been ancient and modern places of worship, are the settings for adventure movies and have always been a source of food and shelter. Most of us value forests,…
On the 3th of September, Wageningen University’s 100th academic year was formally opened by the Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, Phil Hogan the European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development and our President Louise Fresco. The distinguished guests were there to mark the special anniversary: 100 years ago we ‘became…
The 22 May marks World Biodiversity Day 2018. A time to reflect and think about where we stand, to consider our achievements, and to decide what we are going to do in the future. Also a date to do something for biodiversity. Cause for optimism? The evidence in terms of…