Sustainability

Efforts to restore degraded ecosystems have so far fallen short of meeting global targets. Sound restoration must better incorporate social processes promoting equity in order to effectively benefit people, climate and biodiversity, says Sara Löfqvist.

Empa researchers want to develop a novel type of insulating material from plant-based raw materials or waste products that can permanently bind the CO₂ it contains by means of a special heat treatment – and thus act as a CO₂ sink. What's more, once the buildings have been deconstructed, this "biochar" and the CO₂ it contains can be used in agriculture to increase soil fertility. The promising idea convinced several funding institutions, which are now supporting the concept financially.

Until now, mountain regions have been largely spared from biological invasions. But a new monitoring study shows that alien plants are spreading rapidly to higher altitudes along transport routes worldwide.

ETH Zurich researchers have been able to show which genes inhibit self-fertilisation in grasses. Plant scientists can now use this mechanism in a more targeted way to breed new varieties of forage grasses as well as rice or barley.