Gobbled up by Agriculture
Agriculture is the biggest driver of forest destruction around the world, especially in well-known places like the Amazon rainforest.
But new research finds that other ecosystems—the world’s grasslands, savannas and wetlands—are being gobbled up for agriculture at nearly four times the rate as forests. As with forests, the main reason is livestock.
Georgina, who reports on agriculture for Inside Climate News, describes what makes grasslands and wetlands such important ecosystems, what happens when they are replaced by cropland and pasture, and what’s driving the destruction in the United States.
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Reporter, Washington, D.C.
Georgina Gustin covers agriculture for Inside Climate News, and has reported on the intersections of farming, food systems and the environment for much of her journalism career. Her work has won numerous awards, including the John B. Oakes Award for Distinguished Environmental Journalism, and she was twice named the Glenn Cunningham Agricultural Journalist of the Year, once with ICN colleagues. She has worked as a reporter for The Day in New London, Conn., the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and CQ Roll Call, and her stories have appeared in The New York Times, Washington Post and National Geographic’s The Plate, among others. She is a graduate of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and the University of Colorado at Boulder.