Tag: Biodiversity for a Livable Climate

Interactive Workshop on Regenerative Agriculture, Climate Change and Food

Building Soil at Double Oak Farm: farming for hunger and community supported agriculture at the American Chestnut Land Trust in Calvert County, Maryland
Building Soil at Double Oak Farm: farming for hunger and community supported agriculture at the American Chestnut Land Trust in Calvert County, Maryland

What: National Press Club event with French Ministry of Agriculture to discuss soil carbon sequestration
When: Wednesday, March 9,  8 a.m. – 11 a.m.
Where: The Holeman Lounge at the National Press Club – 529 14th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20045

The interactive workshop on regenerative agriculture, climate change, and food security is organized by the Organic Consumers Association and Regeneration International. The workshop will discuss the science and management of the remarkable bio-chemical process called carbon sequestration.  Scientists will explain how it works and climate policy experts will describe initiatives to drive the rapid, large-scale, worldwide adoption of regenerative agriculture techniques that can sequester carbon, improve both quantity and quality of foods produced, and concurrently decrease atmospheric CO2.

Some of the speakers include Catherine Geslain-Laneelle, Kristine Nichols, David Johnson, and Richard Teague.

  • Catherine Geslain-Laneelle is Vice Minister of the French Ministry of Agriculture, Agrifood, and Forestry.  She will present the 4P1000 Initiative to increase soil carbon content around the world, describe its potential benefits, and explain plans for its implementation.
  • Kristine Nichols is Chief Scientist at the Rodale Institute and has worked with North Dakota farmer and rancher Gabe Brown and his regenerative crop and rangeland practices.
  • David Johnson (New Mexico St.) has implemented his Intensive Production system of year-round cropping in Las Cruces, New Mexico, and through it has been able to sequester almost 15 tons of carbon dioxide per acre per year for 5 years.
  • Richard Teague (Texas A&M) has done great work on Sustainable Rangeland Management.

Register for the workshop and also get more information.

Below is a complete list of the workshop speakers:

  1. Catherine Geslain-Laneelle, Vice Minister, French Ministry of Agriculture, Agrifood, and Forestry
  2. Andre Leu, IFOAM (International Federation of Organic Movements – Organics International)
  3. Richard Teague, Ph.D., Texas A&M (Sustainable Rangeland Management)
  4. Kris Nichols, Ph.D., Rodale Institute, Chief Scientis
  5. David C. Johnson, Ph.D., New Mexico State University (Institute of Sustainable Agricultural Research)
  6. Tim LaSalle, Ph.D., Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (College of Agricultural, Food, & Environmental Science)

Contact Sudheer Shukla of Biodiversity for a Livable Climate  if you would like more information.(301) 236-5387 (phone), (240) 565-2471 (cell)

 

Climate Change: Sequestering Carbon the Easy Way

Learn how restoring ecosystems can reverse global warming in 16 years. Plants absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere can fix it permanently as carbon in the soil using already proven organic farming practices.
Learn how restoring ecosystems can reverse global warming in 16 years. Plants absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere can fix it permanently as carbon in the soil using already proven organic farming practices.

While much attention has been given to stopping global warming by reducing carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels, little attention has been given to the fact that even if we reduced carbon emissions to zero, the carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere would still remain above 400 ppm and the devastation of global warming would continue. Only if the carbon dioxide concentration is brought down to 350 ppm or below will we be able to return to a comfortable climate again.

The Climate Stewards of Greater Annapolis is holding a program at the Annapolis Friends Meeting House on November 14, 2015. The mini-conference will address how the carbon dioxide concentration can be reduced.

By photosynthesis and fixing the carbon in the soil using organic agricultural systems, carbon dioxide concentration can be potentially reduced to 280 ppm in 16 years,   even with continued emissions from burning fossil fuels, though reducing fossil fuel emissions would certainly help.

The key to increasing carbon fixation in the soil is restoring the micro organisms in the soil that convert some of the plant sugars (from photosynthesis) in the roots into humus, which permanently fix the carbon. Grazing animals on grasslands accelerates the process.

The organization providing the speakers for the program  is Biodiversity for a Livable Climate. The D.C. Chapter is directed by Philip Bogdonoff.  Biodiversity for a Livable Climate has presented other conferences on climate change, carbon sequestration, and organic farming, including, Tufts, Harvard Science Center , and University of the District of Columbia.

Climate Change: Sequestering Carbon the Easy Way is sponsored by the Greater Annapolis Climate Stewards, the Maryland Sierra Club, and the Maryland Organic Food and Farming Association, (MOFFA). The program will be  on Saturday afternoon, November 14 at 2 PM. For further information, contact Dick Vanden Heuvel,  410-267-9009.