https://news.mongabay.com/list/africa/ Environmental science and conservation news Mon, 09 Oct 2023 08:43:01 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.3 https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/05/16160320/cropped-mongabay_icon-32x32.png https://news.mongabay.com/list/africa/ 32 32 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/cut-down-once-again-uncontrolled-logging-puts-new-sahel-reforestation-projects-at-risk/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/cut-down-once-again-uncontrolled-logging-puts-new-sahel-reforestation-projects-at-risk/#respond 06 Oct 2023 07:00:39 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=273969 - Facing poverty, war and corrupt local authorities, locals and refugees are cutting trees in new protected areas for firewood or to sell charcoal.
- Local environmental defence organizations, officials and administrations who lead these reforestation projects are raising the alarm about the extent of deforestation which is contributing to desertification in these areas.
- Despite alternative solutions to excessive logging being proposed and implemented, locals are still harvesting from reforested areas.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/cut-down-once-again-uncontrolled-logging-puts-new-sahel-reforestation-projects-at-risk/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/world-owes-it-to-tanzania-to-keep-eastern-arc-forests-standing-study-shows/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/world-owes-it-to-tanzania-to-keep-eastern-arc-forests-standing-study-shows/#respond 06 Oct 2023 05:55:17 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=273932 - The authors of a new study recommend that international investments in conservation within the Eastern Arc worth $2 billion need to be made over the next 20 years.
- Without this, the authors say, the mountains’ forests and their extraordinary levels of biodiversity will be lost or degraded as local communities convert them to agricultural land or harvest timber from them.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/world-owes-it-to-tanzania-to-keep-eastern-arc-forests-standing-study-shows/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/bollore-blacklisted-over-alleged-rights-violations-on-plantations-in-africa-and-asia/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/bollore-blacklisted-over-alleged-rights-violations-on-plantations-in-africa-and-asia/#respond 29 Sep 2023 19:46:29 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=273752 - Bolloré failed to act to resolve accusations of human rights abuses committed by its subsidiary, Socfin, around oil palm and rubber plantations in West Africa and Southeast Asia, the Swiss Association for Responsible Investments (SVVK-ASIR) determined.
- Investigators commissioned by Socfin recently found credible claims of sexual harassment, land disputes and unfair recruitment in Liberia and Cameroon; field visits to other sites will take place later this year.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/bollore-blacklisted-over-alleged-rights-violations-on-plantations-in-africa-and-asia/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/10-years-after-land-grab-local-nigerian-farmers-continue-fight-against-palm-oil-producer/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/10-years-after-land-grab-local-nigerian-farmers-continue-fight-against-palm-oil-producer/#respond 22 Sep 2023 20:44:42 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=273583 - The government leased land from several local communities in 1962, but abandoned it in the 1970s.
- In 2012, against the backdrop of a drive to expand Nigeria’s palm oil production, the land was transferred to Wilmar in a move bitterly resisted by local residents.
- Critics say expanding oil palm plantations are accelerating deforestation and local residents complain that Wilmar has encroached on their farms and wastewater from the plantation has contaminated watercourses.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/10-years-after-land-grab-local-nigerian-farmers-continue-fight-against-palm-oil-producer/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/agroecology-holds-promise-in-congo-basin-if-funding-woes-can-be-overcome/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/agroecology-holds-promise-in-congo-basin-if-funding-woes-can-be-overcome/#respond 21 Sep 2023 20:18:06 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=273548 - He was able to invest five years in the project thanks to financial and other support from NGOs, highlighting the main challenge to other farmers who want to transition away from using synthetic fertilizer and other inputs.
- Today, Eku is sharing his experience with other farmers and helping connect them with similar support.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/agroecology-holds-promise-in-congo-basin-if-funding-woes-can-be-overcome/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/newly-described-gecko-from-madagascar-a-master-of-disguise/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/newly-described-gecko-from-madagascar-a-master-of-disguise/#respond 14 Sep 2023 12:50:22 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=273342 - U. garamaso, with a length of 8.3-13.9 cm (3.3-5.5 in), is one of the larger leaf-tailed lizards inhabiting the island, but is still a master at hiding in plain sight.
- The gecko’s known range is restricted to the forests in the north of the island: Montagne des Français, Montagne d’Ambre, and Ankarana in the Diana region.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/newly-described-gecko-from-madagascar-a-master-of-disguise/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/study-wild-meat-trade-from-africa-into-belgium-a-health-and-conservation-risk/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/study-wild-meat-trade-from-africa-into-belgium-a-health-and-conservation-risk/#respond 12 Sep 2023 17:23:53 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=273236 - The source for much of this meat is West and Central Africa, with some of the seized meat found to be from threatened or protected species such as tree pangolins and dwarf crocodiles.
- The study comes more than a decade after the same group of researchers found an estimated 5 metric tons of bushmeat entering via Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris weekly, suggesting enforcement since then hasn’t been effective.
- Experts are calling for better detection of wild meat trafficking and stricter enforcement of penalties against the trade in protected species, as well as more frequent checks of the legal trade to uncover illegal shipments.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/study-wild-meat-trade-from-africa-into-belgium-a-health-and-conservation-risk/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/african-parks-to-rewild-2000-rhinos-from-controversial-breeding-program/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/african-parks-to-rewild-2000-rhinos-from-controversial-breeding-program/#respond 11 Sep 2023 20:29:52 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=273169 - The conservation organization plans to rewild all 2,000 southern white rhinos in Hume’s project, following a framework to be developed by independent experts.
- The biggest challenge African Parks will face is finding safe spaces to translocate 300 rhinos to every year, as poaching the animals for their horns shows little sign of diminishing.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/african-parks-to-rewild-2000-rhinos-from-controversial-breeding-program/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/balancing-elephant-conservation-and-community-needs-qa-with-award-winning-ranger-fetiya-ousman/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/balancing-elephant-conservation-and-community-needs-qa-with-award-winning-ranger-fetiya-ousman/#respond 08 Sep 2023 14:42:21 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=273068 - Expanding human settlements and poaching are fragmenting areas where endangered elephants range, while elephants at times destroy community crops in search of food or space.
- This daily struggle for survival is exacerbating conflicts between humans and elephants, with nine community members and six elephants killed in violent encounters this year alone.
- To dive into the human-elephant conflicts boiling over in this sanctuary and know how rangers maneuver this tricky reality, Mongabay speaks with the sanctuary’s award-winning chief ranger, Fetiya Ousman.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/balancing-elephant-conservation-and-community-needs-qa-with-award-winning-ranger-fetiya-ousman/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/drc-food-sovereignty-summit-yields-support-for-agroecology-local-land-rights/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/drc-food-sovereignty-summit-yields-support-for-agroecology-local-land-rights/#respond 07 Sep 2023 19:25:00 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=273044 - Civil society groups, donors, government representatives and small-scale farmers gathered to exchange views on challenges and solutions to food security.
- Across Africa, agricultural policy is geared toward greater reliance on large-scale farms and mechanization, commercial seeds, pesticides and synthetic fertilizer.
- A declaration issued at the close of the summit instead called for investment in agroecological methods, as well as recognition of and protection for Indigenous and local peoples’ land rights.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/drc-food-sovereignty-summit-yields-support-for-agroecology-local-land-rights/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/road-upgrade-through-remote-tanzanian-park-threatens-wildlife-commentary/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/road-upgrade-through-remote-tanzanian-park-threatens-wildlife-commentary/#respond 31 Aug 2023 20:21:46 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=272772 - Critics worry about the possible effects on long term conservation of protected wildlife populations in the park, the loss of thousands of trees, and a decline in tourist revenue.
- “Once the road is paved, it will never be unpaved. Instead, a compromise solution lies in sensitive thinking of where the large mammals collect,” a wildlife biologist argues in this commentary.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/road-upgrade-through-remote-tanzanian-park-threatens-wildlife-commentary/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/for-south-africas-small-fishers-co-ops-prove-a-necessary-but-bumpy-step-up/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/for-south-africas-small-fishers-co-ops-prove-a-necessary-but-bumpy-step-up/#respond 31 Aug 2023 18:13:28 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=272680 - As fishing communities draw closer to finally claiming equal rights in a fishing industry that has been dominated by the commercial sector, they are currently forming cooperatives to access collective fishing rights and co-manage local marine resources.
- The rollout of the new policy has been long and bumpy, with many issues still to be resolved, and long-time fishers complaining they’ve been excluded.
- Even so, hope remains that cooperatives can hold new opportunities for income generation and equity building.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/for-south-africas-small-fishers-co-ops-prove-a-necessary-but-bumpy-step-up/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/what-would-it-cost-to-protect-the-congo-rainforest/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/what-would-it-cost-to-protect-the-congo-rainforest/#respond 29 Aug 2023 22:23:57 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=272757 - However, the DRC is a nation with the second-highest rate of tropical deforestation behind Brazil. Meanwhile, Gabon says it has acted to protect its forests but hasn’t reaped the promised rewards.
- International commitments to protect the Congo Rainforest are historically meager compared with what experts say is actually needed, and many of these commitments go unfulfilled.
- On this episode of Mongabay Explores the Congo Basin, we speak with experts about what’s needed to overcome hurdles to financing forest protection to benefit conservation, climate and communities: Paolo Cerutti, senior scientist and DRC unit head at the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR-ICRAF); Chadrack Kafuti at Ghent University; Wahida Patwa Patwa-Shah, senior regional technical specialist, UNDP Climate Hub; and Lee White, minister of water, forests, the sea and environment in Gabon.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/what-would-it-cost-to-protect-the-congo-rainforest/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/community-members-decry-traditional-leaders-power-amid-south-african-mine-plans/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/community-members-decry-traditional-leaders-power-amid-south-african-mine-plans/#respond 28 Aug 2023 16:13:04 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=272612 - Due to the structure of South African law, traditional leaders tend to see themselves as the sole decision-makers in their communities and approve of extractive projects for their stated economic benefits in the region.
- Many communities sit on valuable resources like platinum and titanium, and there is a significant possibility that with the current structure of the law, people will be removed from their lands to make way for extractive industries, say land policy researchers.
- Traditional leaders maintain that it is important for the law to recognize traditional authorities after decades and centuries of fighting for formal recognition after colonization.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/community-members-decry-traditional-leaders-power-amid-south-african-mine-plans/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/agroecology-alliance-calls-for-more-food-at-less-cost-to-nature-in-congo-basin/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/agroecology-alliance-calls-for-more-food-at-less-cost-to-nature-in-congo-basin/#respond 28 Aug 2023 12:49:41 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=272595 - Food security across the Congo Basin is threatened by impoverished soils, climate change, and displacement due to armed conflict, forum attendees say.
- Governments in the region back improved seeds and synthetic fertilizer for small-scale farmers as well as large-scale agriculture projects to boost yields and revenue.
- AFSA argues these strategies cause more harm than good to both farmers and forests, and calls for a turn to agroecological methods instead.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/agroecology-alliance-calls-for-more-food-at-less-cost-to-nature-in-congo-basin/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/conservationists-work-to-restore-last-remnant-of-a-once-great-ugandan-forest/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/conservationists-work-to-restore-last-remnant-of-a-once-great-ugandan-forest/#respond 25 Aug 2023 16:09:28 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=272561 - A remnant of a much larger forest ecosystem, Mabira is home to 300 bird species, 23 reptile species, and 360 different species of plants.
- A community forest management scheme has successfully engaged nearby communities in self-regulating use of forest resources, but delays in renewing the scheme threaten that progress.
- “When we enter these agreements,” says one community leader, “we promote the sense of ownership so that we can share the roles of making the forest available and managing it sustainably.”
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/conservationists-work-to-restore-last-remnant-of-a-once-great-ugandan-forest/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/communities-not-the-true-threat-to-mabira-forest-qa-with-ugandan-conservationist-achilles-byaruhanga/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/communities-not-the-true-threat-to-mabira-forest-qa-with-ugandan-conservationist-achilles-byaruhanga/#respond 25 Aug 2023 16:09:20 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=272579 - The NGO Nature Uganda, led by Achilles Byaruhanga, is working with communities and government agencies to preserve and restore degraded sections of the forest reserve.
- Having seen off a government plan to clear a third of the forest to grow sugarcane, Byaruhanga says community use of Mabira is not necessarily a threat.
- By supporting alternative income activities that replace commercial harvesting of firewood and other forest products for sale in nearby Kampala, and helping local communities reduce their own demand for wood, Byaruhanga says the forest can be preserved.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/communities-not-the-true-threat-to-mabira-forest-qa-with-ugandan-conservationist-achilles-byaruhanga/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/do-virus-detecting-ants-hold-the-key-to-preventing-zoonotic-diseases/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/do-virus-detecting-ants-hold-the-key-to-preventing-zoonotic-diseases/#respond 23 Aug 2023 21:20:05 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=272520 - According to the World Health Organization, the number of zoonotic epidemics recorded in Africa between 2012 and 2022 rose by 63% compared to the previous decade.
- Researchers collected 200 army ants from 29 colonies in Gabon’s rainforest for analysis. They found nearly 50,000 different viral sequences, half of them belonging to viruses currently unknown to science.
- They hope that by regularly collecting ants for analysis from selected sites, they will be able to identify potentially-dangerous viruses as well as which animal species harbour them, and use this information to guide public health strategy to control zoonotic diseases.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/do-virus-detecting-ants-hold-the-key-to-preventing-zoonotic-diseases/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/elephants-invade-as-habitat-loss-soars-in-nigerian-forest-reserve/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/elephants-invade-as-habitat-loss-soars-in-nigerian-forest-reserve/#respond 21 Aug 2023 21:33:15 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=272446 - This uptick in human-wildlife conflict comes as satellite data show continuing and increasing deforestation in the Afi River reserve and other protected areas.
- The habitat in Afi River Forest Reserve provides a crucial corridor that connects critically endangered Cross River gorilla populations in adjacent protected areas.
- As in other Nigerian forest reserves, agriculture, poverty and a lack of monitoring and enforcement resources are driving deforestation in the Afi River reserve.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/elephants-invade-as-habitat-loss-soars-in-nigerian-forest-reserve/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/zimbabwe-sees-recycling-boom-as-waste-picking-becomes-lucrative-business/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/zimbabwe-sees-recycling-boom-as-waste-picking-becomes-lucrative-business/#respond 21 Aug 2023 16:03:17 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=272421 - Community-based recycling organizations, which handpick litter, quadrupled in the last few years, now picking up 15% of all plastic waste generated in the country, says Zimbabwe’s Environmental Management Agency.
- Zimbabwe struggles under the weight of its plastic waste found in rivers, streets and open areas, which causes water pollution and breaks down into microplastics.
- However, environmentalists say relying on recycling itself, which can cause its own pollution, is still not enough to tackle the country and world’s plastic waste problem at its root.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/zimbabwe-sees-recycling-boom-as-waste-picking-becomes-lucrative-business/feed/ 0