Botanists are disappearing – just when the world needs them most

Re:Botanists are disappearing – just when the world needs th... by status200 on Sunday July 31, 2022 @11:37AM (#32296270)

I am a researcher / explorer of Arecaceae species and pay the bills with cybersecurity work, this article definitely struck a chord. It is very difficult to get anyone to care about even the rare and beautiful species these days, let alone help the efforts in conservation.

I am working on a website that helps links people wanting to help learn and protect forests with the people with the background knowledge and those who are getting their fingers in the dirt, please reach out if you are interested in participating.

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Re:Botanists are disappearing – just when the world needs th... by vjk800 on Sunday July 31, 2022 @12:41PM (#32296739)

Did you get into cybersecurity or plants first? Do you have some kind of formal qualifications for the plant research or how did you get started with it?

I would very much like to make a career switch to something that allows me to spend time in the nature, but I have no idea how that world works.

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Re:Botanists are disappearing – just when the world needs th... by pvaldes on Sunday July 31, 2022 @01:56PM (#32297248)

With Rhynchophorus roaming around, investing into rare palms is a high risk activity

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Re:Botanists are disappearing – just when the world needs th... by xmunoz on Sunday July 31, 2022 @01:06PM (#32296946)

This is very relevant to my interests, but there is no contact info in your bio...

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Re:Botanists are disappearing – just when the world needs th... by im3w1l on Sunday July 31, 2022 @11:45AM (#32296337)

I know this is unsatisfying, but I suspect that our approach to conservation will soon be "remember to slap the genome on S3 before turning their habitat into farmland".

Nature is gradually turning into a luxury we cannot afford.

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Re:Botanists are disappearing – just when the world needs th... by dunefox on Sunday July 31, 2022 @12:32PM (#32296682)

> Nature is gradually turning into a luxury we cannot afford.

That makes no sense. We need nature more than ever.

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Re:Botanists are disappearing – just when the world needs th... by im3w1l on Sunday July 31, 2022 @12:57PM (#32296877)

There are more people than ever. That want to eat farmed food. Drive on roads. And live in houses. All of this takes land.

Then there is the renewable energy production that needs land too. Rivers valleys turn into hydro dams. Grass fields into solar fields.

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Re:Botanists are disappearing – just when the world needs th... by adrianN on Sunday July 31, 2022 @01:05PM (#32296938)

Renewable energy production takes a minuscule amount of land compared to agriculture, and a lot of that land can be things like parking lots and roofs.

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Re:Botanists are disappearing – just when the world needs th... by newman555 on Sunday July 31, 2022 @01:40PM (#32297148)

and majority of that agriculture land is for animal agriculture (which is probably obvious to everyone by now)

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Re:Botanists are disappearing – just when the world needs th... by im3w1l on Sunday July 31, 2022 @02:23PM (#32297499)

Due to the situation in Ukraine (big exporter of vegetable oil), the world is currently quite dependent on palm oil. You know the one they cut down rainforests to make. It was interesting to follow the politics around the Indonesia's temporary export ban back in May.

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