Cut to April 8, 2026: War in Iran pushes up food prices | Two conversations about nature are coming to an end The return of Britain’s tallest bird

We select and explain the most important stories at the intersection of climate, land, food and nature from the past two weeks.

This is the online version of Carbon Brief’s bi-weekly Cropped e-newsletter.
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The Iran War and Food Systems

LANDING AT RISK: The war in the Middle East has “hit the epicenter of global fertilizer production”, threatening both the Northern Hemisphere’s spring planting season and Australia’s winter planting, the commentary said. Daily TelegraphEditor of the world economy. Ambrose Evans-Pritchard noted that supplies of urea, ammonia and sulfur transported through the Persian Gulf had been “shut down” for almost a month. The world’s two biggest fertilizer producers, China and Russia, have recently cut fertilizer exports, he added.

THE NEXT CRISIS: Fuel and food prices are rising sharply in Asia and Africa as the war in Iran unfolds, according to the Financial Timeson the eve of a new “two-week ceasefire”. According to the publication, the consequences “may be even greater than the crisis caused by a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.” Even regions less directly exposed to the conflict, such as the United States, “will feel the effects through higher (food) prices,” the publication added.

Climatic FACTORS: A new scientist noted that the severity of the increase in food prices will depend on the duration of the conflict and “how strong the impact of extreme weather events caused by global warming” will affect crops this year. Separate A new scientist the piece noted that reducing agriculture’s dependence on fossil fuels could “prevent this from happening again (and) help reduce the huge greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture.”

Nature speaks of results

SAVE WINS: The 15th Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Migratory Species ended on March 29 with an agreement to add 40 migratory species, including cheetahs, striped hyenas and snowy owls, to the convention’s “protected list”. Down to the ground. The conference in Brazil also presented plans to conserve multiple species that live in the same ecosystems, such as the Amazon. The convention’s executive secretary said the new compliance rules are expected to be implemented “immediately,” the paper added.

MARITIME GUARD: The conference was hailed as a “significant step forward” for marine species as it reached a number of agreements, including commitments to reduce bycatch and a decision for countries to include “critical marine designations in their national biodiversity strategies”, it said. Oceanographic. Transboundary action plans for the conservation of the endangered European eel and shark were also adopted at the meeting.

MEETING IN THE OPEN SEA: Final preparatory meetings for the High Seas Treaty ended on Friday with “significant progress in several key areas”, according to Daily fishing. The countries agreed on “the functioning of most subsidiary bodies” and several financial issues, but “negotiations lost momentum by the end of the session,” the publication noted. The Financial Times reported that China is pushing for the placement of a permanent UN body to oversee negotiations on the High Seas Treaty. Earth Negotiations Bulletin It is reported that the first summit of the treaty is likely to take place in New York in January 2027.

• FOREST LOSS: Deforestation in Indonesia is set to rise by 66% in 2025, the highest rate in eight years, as a result of “weak environmental protections and ambitious food and energy self-sufficiency,” the report said. Reuters.
• REGULATION OF FOREST CUTTING: Last week, Brazil introduced a new rule requiring banks to use satellite data provided by the government to verify that borrowers of rural loans are cutting down farmland in the Amazon or other forests from July 2019, according to reports Folia de Sao Paulo.
• FACTORY POTION: According to documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, the UK government is overhauling planning rules to “make it easier to build intensive livestock farms despite concerns about water pollution, air quality and local opposition”. Guardian.
• “Abandoned” INITIATIVE: The European Commission has officially “abandoned” its initiative on a sustainable EU food system, the commission said in a statement. site. The framework was designed to integrate sustainability into all food-related policies, including food labeling and public procurement.
• BLUE MILESTONE: The World Conservation Monitoring Center of the United Nations Environment Program has announced that 10% of the world’s oceans are officially protected; however, this number needs to triple if the world is to meet its 2030 conservation commitments. EFE Green.

The return of Britain’s tallest bird

This week’s Carbon Brief looks at how cranes, the UK’s tallest birds at over 1 metre, are making a remarkable comeback from extinction.

At over 1m tall with a wingspan of 2m, cranes are the tallest birds in the UK.

Hundreds of years ago they were common in Britain. But in the 1600s they became extinct in Britain due to overhunting and major losses their wetland habitat. (Henry III is reported to have served 115 cranes at one of his Christmas feasts in 1251)

However, in 1979, a small number of wild cranes flew from Europe and settled in Norfolk, in eastern England. As efforts to restore and protect Britain’s wetlands have grown over the past few decades, so have crane numbers.

In 2025, the UK had a record breeding season for whooping cranes, with 87 pairs raising 37 chicks. data from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB). Thanks to this, the total number of cranes in the country was about 250, according to the charity.

Cranes and carbon

The majority of the UK’s growing population of cranes can be found in moorlands that have been actively restored and are protected by the RSPB and other conservation groups.

This includes Lakenheath Fena former carrot field in Suffolk, east England, which has been restored over the past 30 years into a diverse wetland habitat for birds, otters and water voles, among other species.

The cranes first arrived at Lakenheath from Europe in 2007, plant manager Dave Rogers explained to Carbon Brief:

“The conditions we created – a variegated reedbed interspersed with shallow flooded areas – were ideal for the cranes. In 2007 there was an influx of birds from Europe. Two pairs flew over Lakenheath, landed and have been nesting here ever since.”

Restoring Lakenheath Marsh and other places like it not only provides a home for cranes and other vulnerable waterfowl, but also helps reduce the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions.

This is because Lakenheath Fen is a peatland.

Peatlands are wetlands where plants decompose very slowly, eventually forming a carbon-rich soil called peat. All over the world, peatlands cover only 3% land area, but store more carbon than all the Earth’s trees combined.

In the UK approx 80% all peatlands have been degraded, the greenhouse gases they emit are approx 5% from the country’s total emissions.

Rogers explained:

“By re-wetting the peat, we almost completely prevent further carbon loss from the soil.”

Flying future

According to the RSPB, whooping cranes are now found in several moors in south-east and south-west England. Some even settled as far as Scotland.

With the restoration of wetlands across the country, including in cities such as London and Bristolthe birds will likely continue to spread into new areas, Rogers said:

“There are many swamps in the country suitable for nesting cranes, which are not currently occupied.

“Carefully, we need to get taps more widely distributed across the country so that people who don’t have them now can see them within the next 10 years.”

NEW CHANCE FOR BEAVERS: Video from Guardian showed the positive effects of reintroducing beavers into the wild in England.

INKCAP RESTART: UK Nature Online, Inkwellled by former Carbon Brief reporter Sophie Yeo, has relaunched with a new look.

THE BIRDS ARE RETURNING: Mangabay covered five species of birds that were thought to be extinct and were rediscovered in 2025.

THE BIG SHIFT: this Nature Answers The podcast told the story of a community in Côte d’Ivoire where farmers went from climate skepticism to climate adaptation.

• Many insects in the tropics are already approaching their thermal limits – the upper limit of temperatures at which they can live | Nature
• More than 8,000 species may face increased impacts from wildfires by 2100 as a result of moderate warming climate change | Nature Climate change
• Two temperate tree species, European beech and downy oak, can adapt to rising temperatures, but not when those high temperatures are accompanied by drought | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Cropped researched and written Dr. Giuliano Viglione, Aruna Chandrasekhar, Daisy Dunn, Orla Dwyer and Yanin Kiroz. Please send tips and feedback to (email protected)