EPISODE · Jul 21, 2022 · 17 MIN

Episode 18 - Understorey stories

from Never Lick the Spoon · host Institute for Molecular Science and Engineering, Imperial College London

In the last few decades, thousands of acres of rainforest have been cleared for palm oil plantations in southeast Asia, with a consequent loss of biodiversity. Currently in Africa, coconut palm production is industrialising. Can this be done more sustainably than in Southeast Asia? I talk to two PhD students at Imperial who are using DNA sampling to explore biodiversity in coconut agriculture, and its links to ecosystem resilience and also economic resilience for farmers.