2011

8 Nov 2011	Wageningen expert to address European Parliament
	Today the European Parliament discusses about drought issues in Europe. A few top researchers are invited to give their expert opinion about the issue in this meeting called 'Europe facing water... more
7 Nov 2011	Effective arguments for the protection of biodiversity are needed
	BESAFE - an EU-funded, Framework program 7 (FP7) project investigating how much importance people attribute to alternative arguments for the protection of biodiversity is officially launched on 7th... more
	Wind energy lessens under heat wave conditions
	During the summer 2003, high temperatures and drought conditions in Europe led to a reduction of the wind force with direct consequences on the wind energy power, reduced by 22%. The study was... more
3 Nov 2011	Collaboration between Wageningen UR and Dhaka University of Engineering and Technology
	The collaboration between Wageningen UR and the Dhaka University of Engineering and Technology (DUET) in Bangladesh has successfully started. On 19th and 20th October the inception workshop for a... more
	New research project on the environmental and socio-economic role of European forests
	On the 1st of November, the INTEGRAL project (Future-oriented integrated management of European forest landscapes), funded by the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) of the European Union, has started.... more
27 Sep 2011	LifeWatch and the National Roadmap Large-Scale Research Infrastructure
	On August 31, a unique consortium of 23 leading Dutch institutes with expertise in biodiversity research and eScience submitted a proposal to NWO, with the aim to establish the LifeWatch Research and... more
26 Sep 2011	New EU-South America research on Amazon die-back, climate and deforestation starts in October
	Deforestation in the Amazon has been decreasing over the last 6 years, but it appears that the downward trend may have stopped, this year. Apart from deforestation, the Amazon rainforests are also... more
	A spatial assessment of ecosystem services in Europe: Methods, case studies and policy analysis - phase I
	Present data on ecosystem services are strongly biased towards provisioning services such as food and timber production, while spatial information of so called regulating and cultural ecosystem... more
22 Sep 2011	Book publication: Exploring the Visual Landscape
	The book 'Exploring the Visual Landscape. Advances in Physiognomic Landscape Research in the Netherlands' was recently published by IOS Press. The book is an initiative of Delft University of... more
16 Sep 2011	International innovation needed for more efficient nitrogen management
	Nitrogen is essential to life. Its use in chemical fertilisers has had enormous benefits: feeding the ever-increasing world population would be an impossible task without chemical nitrogen... more
16 Aug 2011	High-quality climate research in the Netherlands guaranteed by ICOS-nl
	At Thursday August 18th 2011, eight knowledge institutes in The Netherlands launch their climate research partnership in the form of ICOS-nl. The launch will take place at the KNMI measurement mast... more
27 Jul 2011	Wageningen University to welcome exchange students from Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan
	Wageningen University is taking part in a major student exchange programme between Europe and Central Asia. The initiative, 'CASIA' is an Erasmus Mundus partnership aimed at establishing a... more
29 Jun 2011	Global plant database set to promote biodiversity research and Earth-system sciences
	The world’s largest database on plants’ functional properties, or traits, has been published. Scientists compiled three million traits for 69,000 out of the world's ~300,000 plant species. The... more
27 Jun 2011	Flood Resilience in the Bangladeshi and Dutch Deltas
	Wageningen University, part of Wageningen UR, has been awarded a NWO WOTRO Integrated Programme Grant to conduct research on flood resilience and flood risk management in Bangladesh and the... more
20 Jun 2011	Let’s plant more trees in drylands - DESIRE shows how forests help to avoid desertification
	Thursday 17 June was Desertification Day, and each year the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) draws attention to one particular aspect of desertification, land degradation... more
18 May 2011	Wageningen UR contributes to ‘Metropolitan Food Security’ in China
	‘Metropolian Food Security’ was a key theme at the Sino Dutch Agricultural Innovation Conference, which was held in Beijing on Wednesday 11 May to mark the official visit to China by Maxime Verhagen,... more
9 May 2011	Students Wageningen University win IFLA-price
	At the yearly Student Design Competition, organised by the International Federation of Landscape Architects, the project 'Vibrant Land' by two students of Wageningen University, part of... more
28 Apr 2011	EU launches EcoFINDERS project: combining science, practice and policy for sustainable soils
	The European Commission has launched a project to establish a policy framework for the sustainable conservation of European soils. Such a framework already exists for the conservation of air and... more
11 Apr 2011	Excessive nitrogen harms the economy and environment – first Europe-wide assessment published
	Nitrogen is needed to feed a growing world population but pollutes air, soil and water A major new study finds that nitrogen pollution is costing each person in Europe around £130 - £650 (€150 -... more
4 Apr 2011	How do tropical forests respond to climate change?
	Carbon sequestration in tropical forests has increased in recent decades. The forests have then tempered climate change to some extent. Dr Pieter Zuidema of Wageningen University is studying whether... more
28 Mar 2011	Alterra helps Japan relief effort by updating map
	Some forty students and employees of Alterra, Wageningen UR, lent a hand to the humanitarian assistance effort in Japan by working to update the map of the country. The idea came from Equadorian PhD... more
24 Mar 2011	Biodiversity: general public has a soft spot for species in trouble
	Decisions about nature and biodiversity management are increasingly being made based on indicators. Factors considered may include nativeness, rarity, endangeredness and the (economic) value of... more
22 Mar 2011	Dutch trade is causing loss of biodiversity in tropical countries
	The Netherlands is a large importer of soya, palm oil and tropical timber products. These imports require large area of land in the exporting countries. The imports of soya from Brazil, palm oil from... more
21 Mar 2011	The Dutch otter is back
	The otter population is on the moveIt was well over twenty years ago that the last otter in the Netherlands was run over by a car in Friesland. Now, after a successful reintroduction, the population... more
	Dutch water experts want to improve water management of Hafar Al-Batin
	A delegation of the Netherlands Water Partnership (NWP) visited the city of Hafar Al-Batin to minimize the flood risk and solve other water related problems. The city, which has been built in de... more
18 Mar 2011	Teacher of the year: Gert Peek
	'I want to enthuse them in any way I can''He can even make a handful of soil interesting. 'This is how his students talk about him, so it came as no suprise to them when he was announced teacher of... more
16 Mar 2011	New international peer-reviewed journal on greenhouse gas
	The new international peer-reviewed journal Greenhouse Gas Measurement and Management brings together information on the application of methods and techniques to estimate, measure, account and audit... more
15 Mar 2011	Visitors to Natura 2000 areas use their iPhone as guide
	Smartphones are replacing maps and guide booklets, offering people a new way to find their way in unfamiliar territory. This is now also true for the Natura 2000 sites in the Netherlands. Alterra,... more
	Is the Netherlands simply too small for big game?
	Every winter when some of the wild cattle, horses and red deer in the Oostvaardersplassen nature reserve starve to death, a heated debate blows up again in the Netherlands: should the policy of... more
1 Mar 2011	Former Dutch minister Tineke Huizinga new chairperson of Delta Alliance
	Tineke Huizinga-Heringa, former Dutch minister of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment (VROM), has been named chairperson of the International Governing Board of Delta Alliance. The... more
28 Feb 2011	Land use even affects the composition of the atmosphere
	Tropical deforestation not only has a large impact on the carbon cycle and climate, but also affects the chemistry of the atmosphere. That conclusion, by Laurens Ganzeveld (researcher at Wageningen... more
15 Feb 2011	Paul van den Brink chosen as SETAC president
	Paul van den Brink (researcher at Alterra, part of Wageningen UR) has been chosen as the new president of the World Council of SETAC, the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry. SETAC is a... more
3 Feb 2011	Alterra and Ethiopia combine efforts to raise food production
	In 2009, 6.2 million Ethiopians were still dependent on emergency food aid. With the recent signing of the CASCAPE project agreement, a three-year research and capacity building initiative was... more
	New European Topic Centre will help improve information on climate change impacts, vulnerability and adaptation across Europe
	Vulnerability of natural and human systems is increasing across Europe due to climate change combined with many other factors such as intensified land use, urban expansion and infrastructure... more
2 Feb 2011	Alterra and Ethiopia combine efforts to raise food production
	In 2009, 6.2 million Ethiopians were still dependent on emergency food aid. With the recent signing of the CASCAPE project agreement, a three-year research and capacity building initiative was... more
	Experiment with temporary water storage on sports field
	In Naaldwijk a turf-covered sports field was put under water this week. It was part of an experiment by the Municipality of Westland and the Delftland Water Board to find out whether sports fields... more
1 Feb 2011	Smartphone as guidebook
	Where nature lovers used to have to lug around flora guides, maps and tourist guidebooks, soon all you will need is the latest mobile phone. Alterra has developed an application which provides all... more
28 Jan 2011	Climate adaptation in Ethiopia
	Living with droughtIn the climate change hotspot of Ethiopia, increasingly frequent droughts affect nomads more than anyone. They have no choice but to adapt their lifestyle. Some pastoralists have... more
	Dutch paradise for geese
	The Netherlands has become a winter paradise for geese, but much to the distress of Dutch farmers,the birds find such rich pickings that more and more of them are staying all summer as well. Some... more
25 Jan 2011	Healthy ageing with a hoe and spade
	People older than 62 who have an allotment garden are significantly more healthy than people without an allotment. In general, people of all ages with an allotment get more physical exercise. This... more