Food security and agriculture

Traditional transhumance and extensive grazing can reduce wildfire risk in southern Europe by removing dry vegetation, creating natural firebreaks and maintaining biodiversity, but declining pastoralism and weak incentives threaten the practice.

When wildfire smoke blanketed northern Michigan skies last month, Kasey Wierzba thought the vineyard at Shady Lane Cellars in Suttons Bay looked like a different planet.

Mendocino and Monterey could become increasingly favorable for premium vintages under shifting climate, while Napa and Sonoma may face increased pressure in grape cultivation.

Early fires in the Netherlands and Czechia offered a first test of EU emergency coordination

The resource — the first of its kind focused on working grasslands — is designed to track and monitor long-term recovery while supporting farmers, ranchers and land managers as they restore Nebraska’s native grasslands.

The invasive kudzu vine has spread aggressively across the South and now significantly increases wildfire risk by acting as highly flammable “ladder fuel” that allows ground fires to climb into forest canopies.

Every year during December and January, in the Indian Himalayan state of Uttarakhand, rural communities carry out traditional burning on steep hill slopes to regenerate grass.

This report explores the impact of extreme heat on agricultural producers and on crops, livestock, fisheries and aquaculture, and forests worldwide.