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TWN Info: Some Important Provisions in China’s Revised Seed Law

TWN Info Service on Intellectual Property and Agriculture 4 March 2016 China’s revised Seed Law was adopted on 4 November 2015 by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress and the law went into effect as of 1 January 2016. The revision process lasted almost 3 years and the revision of some provisions has raised nationwide attention and debate among the industry, agricultural departments of all levels, research institutions and civil society groups.

New film documents indigenous mountain community network

29 Feb 2016

This 30 minute film, produced by indigenous filmmakers in Taiwan, documents the emergence of a new global indigenous network - the International Network of Mountain Indigenous Peoples (INMIP) - at a ‘walking workshop’ in Bhutan in May-June 2014. The network aims to strengthen the capacity of indigenous mountain communities to confront climate change through exchange of indigenous knowledge and seeds, and strengthening biocultural heritage and indigenous farming systems.

The Paris Agreement – a framework for local inclusion

Krystyna Swiderska
05 Feb 2016

The Paris Agreement commits governments to climate action. To deliver this agenda successfully, they must engage with all sectors of society, including indigenous peoples, and recognise traditional knowledge.

COP 21: Indigenous spiritual and cultural values to guide climate change adaptation

09 Dec 2015

Respect for the spiritual values and traditional knowledge of indigenous peoples is a key component in the response to climate change, as was today asserted by an agreement between the Center for Earth Ethics (CEE) of Union Theological Seminary, the Center for Research on Environmental Decisions (CRED) at Columbia University, and the Indigenous Peoples Biocultural Assessments Initiative (IPBCCA) of Asociacion ANDES.

Mountain communities being devastated by extreme climate impacts

Matt Wright
18 Nov 2015
For those mountain communities living at the extreme edges of the world, climate change is already a very real threat. Researchers are calling for vulnerable communities to be given special consideration in the Paris negotiations next month.

Mountain communities rebuild diverse, climate-resilient crops

Matt Wright
06 Oct 2015
The Sustainable Development Goals have been agreed, but for mountain communities around the world this action can't come quickly enough. Climate change is already here, threatening their food security, nutrition and livelihoods.

Climate Change and Mountain Communities Meeting

14 Sep 2015

This week, from 11-18th September, indigenous mountain farmers from 20 communities in 10 countries are meeting in Tajikistan to assess the impacts of climate change and identify responses needed.

New film highlights mountain communities' climate workshop

Matt Wright
18 May 2015
The International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) has released a film showcasing an event where mountain communities discussed the impacts of climate change and how to respond using their biocultural heritage.

China’s Farmer Seed Network

18 Mar 2015

The second annual meeting of China’s “National Farmers’ In-Site Breeding and Seed-Sharing Network” was held on January 11-13 2015, in Guangxi. It brought together farmers from several provinces, leading crop scientists, policy makers and China’s Soybean Industry Association.

New photofilm profiles biocultural heritage territories

13 Nov 2014

The International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) has released a new photofilm profiling indigenous biocultural heritage territories and the role they play in development, conservation and adaptation.

Community Well-being in Biocultural Landscapes

16 Oct 2014

There is a growing recognition that living well must go beyond economic and material plenty to encompass social and spiritual well-being. But what do we understand by these wider aspects of well-being?

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