SUSTAINABILITY - The African Mirror

Aug

10

2020

Chimpanzees once helped African rainforests recover from a major collapse

SUSTAINABILITY

ALEX CHEPSTOW-LUSTY, Associate Researcher, Quaternary Palaeoenvironments Group, University of Cambridge MOST people probably think that the rainforest of central and west Africa, the second largest in the world, has been around for millions of years. However recent research suggests that it is mostly just 2,000 or so years old. The forest reached roughly its modern state following five centuries of regeneration after it was massively fragmented when the dry season suddenly became longer some 2,500 years ago. This process was not linked to humans. The forest recovery was instead made possible by seed dispersers including chimpanzees, which helped spread the…

Aug

10

2020

By The African Mirror

France helping Mauritius over MV Wakashio oil spill accident

SUSTAINABILITY

FRANCE is sending a military plane and a naval boat to Mauritius to help the government deal with the oil spill caused by the MV Wakashio accident, said the French defence ministry has announced. The MV Wakashio, operated by Mitsui OSK Lines, struck a reef on Mauritius' southeast coast on July 25. Fuel started leaking from the cracked vessel last week and officials and environmentalists say the incident risks becoming an ecological disaster. The operator of a Japanese bulk carrier which ran aground off Mauritius in the Indian Ocean has apologised. The MV Wakashio, operated by Mitsui OSK Lines, struck…

Aug

13

2020

By The African Mirror

Kenya elephant numbers more than double in 1980-2018 – tourism minister

SUSTAINABILITY

BAZ RATNER KENYA's elephant numbers more than doubled between 1989 and 2018, thanks to increased anti-poaching efforts, the tourism minister said on Wednesday. Kenya had just 16,000 elephants in 1989, and this rose to more than 34,000 in 2018, Minister Najib Balala said. "In the last couple of years, we have managed to tame poaching in this country," he told reporters during a visit to the Amboseli National Park. The number of elephants poached so far this year stood at seven, down from 34 in all of 2019, and 80 in 2018. While at the park, Balala participated in attaching…

Aug

15

2020

By The African Mirror

These African World Heritage Sites are under threat from climate change

SUSTAINABILITY

JOANNE CLARKE, Senior lecturer, University of East Anglia; ELIZABETH EDNA WANGUI, Associate professor, Ohio University GRACE W. NGARUIYA, Lecturer, Kenyatta University NICK BROOKS, Research fellow, University of East Anglia VERY few academics or policymakers are talking about the impact of climate change on heritage. Yet heritage is essential for social wellbeing, for identity creation, for safeguarding traditional knowledge and livelihoods and for sustainable development. The conversations taking place are mainly on the effects of climate change in wealthier countries. One recent study estimates that only 1% of research on the impacts of climate change on heritage is related to Africa.…

Aug

20

2020

By The African Mirror

Beetles threaten Ugandan coffee crop

SUSTAINABILITY

ELIAS BIRYABAREMA SHRINKING forest cover and climate change threaten Uganda's coffee industry by creating conditions for the destructive black twig borer beetle to spread into plantations, according to an official. Africa's largest coffee exporter, Uganda mostly cultivates the robusta coffee bean variety. Shipments of the beans are a major source of foreign exchange. Exports in the 2015/16 (Oct-Sept) crop were expected to reach 3.6 million 60-kg bags, modestly higher than the previous period's 3.46 million bags, according to state regulator Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA). But David Muwonge, head of marketing at the National Union of Coffee Agribusiness and Farmer…

Aug

19

2020

By The African Mirror

Mauritius arrests captain of Japanese ship that caused oil spill

SUSTAINABILITY

Mauritius has arrested the captain of a Japanese bulk carrier that ran aground off its coast, causing a devastating oil spill in one of the world's most pristine maritime environments, police said on Tuesday. "We have arrested the captain of the vessel and another member of the crew. After having been heard by the court they have been denied bail and are still in detention," Inspector Siva Coothen told Reuters. - Thomson Reuters Foundation. In Pictures: Ship leaking oil off #Mauritius breaks apart @AJEnglish https://t.co/Yc7IS0OoRd pic.twitter.com/JUXoLWGusi— showkat shafi (@ShowkatShafi) August 17, 2020 A drone footage showing the extent of the…

Aug

18

2020

By The African Mirror

Hit by worsening drought, Zimbabwe taps funding for water-wise farming

SUSTAINABILITY

LUNGELO NDHLOVU AFTER long-running drought slashed their harvests, small-scale farmers in Lupane, western Zimbabwe, decided to switch away from irrigating their fields by flooding them, which wastes huge amounts of water. They tested out more precise drip irrigation that saves water by delivering it to plants efficiently, while monitoring soil moisture and temperature with pressure sensors. Those practices have enabled farmers in the Tshongokwe Irrigation Scheme in Matabeleland North province to grow vegetables and adapt to more challenging climate conditions. "We started growing cabbages at a larger scale last May," said Soneni Dube, chairperson of the scheme's committee. "We had…

Aug

16

2020

By The African Mirror

Japanese ship involved in Mauritius oil spill breaks apart

SUSTAINABILITY

OMAR MOHAMMED A Japanese bulk carrier that ran aground on a reef in Mauritius last month threatening a marine ecological disaster around the Indian Ocean island has broken apart, authorities said on Saturday. The condition of the MV Wakashio was worsening early on Saturday and it split by the afternoon, the Mauritius National Crisis Committee said. "At around 4.30 pm, a major detachment of the vessel's forward section was observed," it said in a statement. "On the basis of the experts' advice, the towing plan is being implemented." The vessel struck a coral reef on July 25, spilling about 1,000…

Aug

15

2020

By The African Mirror

Oil spill in Mauritius may thwart years of conservation efforts

SUSTAINABILITY

ZEENAT HANSROD Follow Conservationists in Mauritius are navigating unchartered territory as they struggle to assess the damage from the Wakashio oil spill in one of the island's most ecologically sensitive areas. All efforts have been deployed to protect the fragile ecosystem, which has existed for millions of years. “Even in my worst of nightmares, I would never have thought something like that could happen to us,” says Dr Vikash Tatayah, conservation director of the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation (MWF). “We are used to cyclones, droughts or an invasive species, it’s part of nature and we know how to cope with that. But we never thought we would have to…

Aug

29

2020

By The African Mirror

‘Heartwrenching’: at least 40 dolphins dead near Mauritius oil spill

SUSTAINABILITY

GIULIA PARAVICINI and KATHARINE HOURELD At least 40 dolphins have mysteriously died in an area of Mauritius affected by an oil spill from a Japanese boat, officials and witnesses said on Friday, as witnesses described the deaths of one mother dolphin and her baby. Environmentalists have demanded an investigation into whether the dolphins were killed as a result of the spill from a Japanese ship, which was scuttled on Monday after running aground in July and leaking oil. The death toll may rise: fisherman Yasfeer Heenaye said he saw between 25 and 30 apparently dead dolphins floating in the lagoon…