Africa > Environment

Environment in Africa

  • Africa Sets Demands for Post-2015 Climate Agreement

    AFRICA, 2014/12/15 The post-2015 world climate change agreement should be flexible and fully resourced or else condemn Africa to an extra cycle of poverty resulting from the adverse effects of climate change. Echoing this view, African delegates and civil society groups at the ongoing (Dec. 1-12) U.N. Climate Change Conference in Lima, Peru, said that some of the continent's demands were being relegated, from presently on they are crucial for the post-2015 period. Azeb Girma, an environmental activist from Ethiopia, told IPS that he was disappointed with the way the negotiations were proceeding. "We thought to have a pathway to Paris [venue for the next climate change conference in 2015] but Africa is cheated. Africa is demanding adaptation but this has been pushed away. The discussions are leading nowhere," said Girma.

  • Tourism sources warn of danger: When fishing is not a sport

    TANZANIA, 2014/11/19 At the same time as founding father Mwalimu Julius Nyerere described the principle socio-economic structure of a neighboring country as a “Man eats Man Society,” he probably did not expect that in his very own country of Tanzania a “Man eats Nature Society” would from presently on emerge. There are numerous examples of harebrained schemes in place, a lot of promoted by none other than the country’s current President Jakaya Kikwete – whom on this occasion I wish a speedy and full recovery from a medical condition which necessitated an operation at the Johns Hopkins University Hospital last week – which are bound to impact heavily on Tanzania’s environment and are going to make a lot of large dents in the country’s assertion that conservation remains at the heart of its domestic policies.

  • Uganda: First fallout of lost ivory

    UGANDA, 2014/11/19 A recent routine audit into the contents of the strong rooms at the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) has led to a mystery involving lost ivory. Some 1.35 tons of ivory is missing, valued in excess of US$1 million. Investigations are presently ongoing, and while it cannot be ruled out that an accounting error could have led to this result, it seems additional likely that the ivory was actually stolen as has been suggested by senior government officials, inclunding President Museveni and the American Ambassador to Uganda, in his address a week ago to the delegates of the Africa Travel Association Congress. To pave the way for the unfolding investigations, UWA has presently suspended at least five officials, part them security intelligence officers and the Chief Warden and others with direct access to the vaults.

  • Kenya tourist draw makes IUCN Green List

    KENYA, 2014/11/19 The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is the major professional world conservation network, and considered a leading authority on the environment and sustainable development. They are currently developing a Green Inventory of Protected Areas, which is the only world standard of good practice for protected areas. IUCN aims to recognize and promote success in managing some of the majority precious natural areas on the planet – and Ol Pejeta is one such area and the only one in Kenya as far as could be ascertained. IUCN selected the Ol Pejeta Conservancy as one of only two wildlife conservancies in Africa to be listed on their “Green Inventory of Protected Areas,” a very significant honor and recognition for the sterling work done on the conservancy vis-a-vis rhino conservation but as well, notably, for their incomparable approach of having wildlife and livestock coexist in harmony.

  • Africa: New Report Tracks Illegal Ivory, Rhino Horn Trade

    AFRICA, 2014/11/10 Illegal rhino horn trade has reached the highest levels since the early 1990s, and illegal trade in ivory increased by nearly 300 % from 1998 to 2011, according to a new statement by U.S. Agency for International Improvment(USAID) partner TRAFFIC. "This statement provides critical insights into often violent and complex trade networks that will help nations target their law enforcement efforts. Wildlife trafficking not only endangers rhinos, elephants and a lot of other wildlife species, but as well threatens national and international security inclunding local livelihoods," said Eric Postel, assistant administrator at USAID. The statement, Illegal trade in ivory and rhino horn: an assessment to improve law enforcement, is a key step to achieving USAID's vision to adapt and deploy a range of development tools and interventions to significantly reduce illegal wildlife trafficking, USAID said in a September 22 press release. The statement was prepared by the wildlife monitoring network TRAFFIC in partnership with USAID. The assessment uses robust analysis to identify capacity gaps and key intervention points in nations combating wildlife trafficking.

  • African meteorologists warn of heavy rain in Rwanda, the Great Horn of Africa

    RWANDA, 2014/10/10 The period between September and December 2014 will witness above average rainfall season over the equatorial sector, with heavy rains likely to bring about major disruptions in 11 nations, inclunding Rwanda and the Great Horn of Africa, according to an official statement. Part the nations in the region that are likely to be affected by this climate change includes Burundi, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda, according to the statement issued by the Nairobi-based IGAD Climate Prediction and Applications Centre (ICPAC).

  • Poachers attack on the Seychelles fragile environment

    SEYCHELLES, 2014/10/08 The environmental organisation that manages the Seychelles UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Vallée de Mai has reported that poachers have stripped endangered coco-de-mer nuts from a palm tree in the reserve. Staff from the Seychelles Islands Foundation reported on Saturday morning that one of the majority iconic female coco-de-mer palm trees, thought to be over 40 years old, in the natural palm forest had been attacked, with the poachers leaving only the outer husks of its ten stolen nuts behind on the ground. An extra tree with smaller nuts was as well targeted, bringing the total of stolen nuts to 18. It takes six to seven years for one coco-de-mer nut, which can weigh up to additional than 35 kilograms, to mature.

  • Non-Motorised Transport Network launched in Durban

    SOUTH AFRICA, 2014/10/06 Echoing the vision of the City of Curitiba, Brazil, at the launch of the eThekwini’s Non-Motorised Transport (NMT) Network at the Green Hub in Durban the Mayor of the eThekwini Municipality, James Nxumal, stated that the city “is a city for people and not a city for cars”. Nxumal maintained the city’s “commitment for the development of public transport infrastructure plans to harness people power to propel themselves forward.” A lot of cities throughout the world that have improved their transportation infrastructure by creating sustainable integrated rapid public transport networks have included a Non-Motorised Transport component option.

  • Côte d'Ivoire Chokes On Its Plastic Shopping Bags

    CôTE D'IVOIRE, 2014/09/27 Among downtown Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, the aisles of a thriving supermarket are full of customers. But as they line up to pay for their items, there is one line to a cashier's till that remains blank. It's the "green cash register", where the cashier does not provide plastic bags as this supermarket tries to implement a green policy. "People do not find it convenient to bring their own bags. But they are often angry that they have to line up while nobody comes here [to the green cash register]," the cashier tells IPS. Increasing environmental consciousness is not the sole reason for Ivorian shops adopting green policies: the government has adopted new laws that will affect consumers.

  • Tanzania: Dar Compete With 'Giants' On Climate

    TANZANIA, 2014/09/12 THREE major Tanzanian urban centres namely Dar es Salaam, Arusha and Moshi have been nominated to represent Tanzania in a world competition whereby nations are required to reveal initiatives in sustainable renewable energy. The competition, known as Earth Hour City Challenge (EHCC), is an initiative designed by WWF to mobilise action and support from cities in the world transition towards a 100 % renewable next. It as well aims to stimulate the development and dissemination of best practices for climate mitigation and adaptation. Nations taking part in the contest are Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Finland, India and Indonesia.
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