Ruth MottramMay 21, 2023

This paper on bird population declines is a real smoking gun in #biodiversity declines

"Agricultural intensification, in particular pesticides and fertiliser use, is the main pressure for most bird population declines, especially for invertebrate feeders."
We should be grateful to the thousands of volunteers who compiled the dataset: a "population time-series of 170 common bird species, monitored at more than 20,000 sites in 28 European countries over 37 years"
#birds
https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2216573120

Show threadSøren HaveMay 21, 2023
@Ruth_Mottram I guess most had a hunch that mono-agriculture was a main reason, but maybe now regulators will act.
Show threadRuth MottramMay 21, 2023
@sorenhave gosh I hope so. But given the power of the agrilobby, I'm not sure I'm very optimistic..
Show threadSøren HaveMay 21, 2023
@Ruth_Mottram My hope is higher than previous, given both the increased awareness of the many damages (eg the recent story about the dead inner sea of Denmark) and the dual climate / biodiversity crunch from convenventions
Show threadRuth MottramMay 21, 2023
@sorenhave that is true. But I also worry that we are all too used to cheap food (and some people need it to be cheap of course!)
Show threadSøren HaveMay 21, 2023
@Ruth_Mottram Indeed. Which reminds me of this weekend’s special section of Information on food, where a student for a week should eat more plant-based, and had to conclude that within the current system, it is both more expensive and more cumbersome.
Show threadGeorg Arne Spenden
@sorenhave @Ruth_Mottram This holds only if you try to replace meat & dairy with surrogates. There are plenty of plants-only dishes that are cheap, tasty, and fast to cook in every country's traditional cuisine. "Schnitzel without schnitzel" is not the solution. Try lentil bolognese, grilled cauliflower or Ratatouille. Just forget meat and dairy products.
May 25, 2023 at 8:52amWeb
Show threadSøren HaveMay 25, 2023
@Daseinsappeal @Ruth_Mottram True, but you still have to learn the new recipes, know where to buy the new ingredients and be able to think ‘I have this and that already in my fridge, in order not to waste that, I can buy X and Y, to make Z’
Show threadGeorg Arne SpendenMay 25, 2023
@sorenhave @Ruth_Mottram Well, every change is effort. But it's worth it.
Frankly I felt a bit cheated when I discovered how boring my meat-based diet was, compared to all the things you can do with veggies.