SUSTAINABILITY - The African Mirror

Aug

22

2020

Sierra Leoneans sue government for alleged environmental failings at diamond mine

SUSTAINABILITY

COOPER INVEEN SIERRA Leoneans living next to the country's largest diamond mine are taking their government to West Africa's regional court for failing to protect them from alleged environmental lapses by the company that runs it, a subsidiary of Octea Limited. The complaint, filed to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) court of justice, alleges that the government failed to act when residents of Koidu, the largest city in the diamond-rich Kono district, complained about water contamination and damage to their houses from blasting at the mine. It also said the government had failed to ensure that the…

Aug

21

2020

By The African Mirror

Japan ship deviated from shipping lane before Mauritius impact, data shows

SUSTAINABILITY

AARON SHELDRICK THE Japanese-owned bulk carrier that ran aground off Mauritius and spilled oil over pristine waters and fragile coral reefs diverted more than 100 kilometres from a regular shipping lane, data from a maritime analysis firm showed. The MV Wakashio, owned by Nagashiki Shipping and chartered by Mitsui OSK Lines Ltd, struck a coral reef on Mauritius's southeast coast on July 25 and later began leaking oil. Two of the ship's officers have since been arrested on charges of endangering safe navigation. The iron-ore carrier was using a well-travelled shipping lane that passes near Mauritius when the accident happened,…

Sep

15

2020

By The African Mirror

Women key to solving climate crisis, says Ugandan school striker

SUSTAINABILITY

SONIA ELKS STUDENT Hilda Flavia Nakabuye is at the forefront of Uganda's Fridays for Future strikes - but it was years until the 22-year-old realised her own family were victims of climate change. Storms and drought forced Nakabuye's family to sell their livestock and almost all their land a decade ago, and she was forced out of school for months over unpaid tuition fees. None of them understood why their luck had turned so bad. "We all didn't know it was because of climate change," Nakabuye told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in a telephone interview from the Ugandan capital, Kampala,…

Sep

03

2020

By The African Mirror

Long-missed pink flamingos return to Kenya’s Lake Nakuru

SUSTAINABILITY

EIGHT years ago, rising water levels in Kenya's Lake Nakuru drove away the clouds of pink coloured flamingos that were the park's biggest draw. Rangers say their disappearance triggered a drop in visitor numbers by for the Nakuru National Park. Now they're back. The return has rekindled hopes of a gradual rebound in an area heavily reliant on tourists for employment and revenues. On a recent visit, flocks of flamingos foraged for food in the lake's turquoise waters, while others flapped in a sine-wave formation above. A rhinoceros grazed nearby. "With the increase now of the number of flamingos we…

Sep

03

2020

By The African Mirror

Mauritius oil spill: how coral reefs, mangroves and seagrass could be affected

SUSTAINABILITY

SIVAJYODEE SANNASSY PILLY, PhD Candidate in Marine Ecology, Bangor University JOHN TURNER, Professor of Marine Biology and Head of School of Ocean Sciences, Bangor University RONAN ROCHE, Research Fellow in Marine Science, Bangor University SOMETIMES bad things happen in the worst possible places – like the MV Wakashio running aground on shallow reefs off the south-east coast of Mauritius on July 25. The wreck of the bulk carrier ship began leaking oil in front of a nature reserve island (Ile aux Aigrettes), a couple of kilometres from a marine park (Blue Bay), and close to an internationally important wetland area…

Sep

30

2020

By The African Mirror

Beyond the pandemic – better governance for a green Africa

SUSTAINABILITY

ABDOULIE JANNEH COVID-19 has joined the climate emergency at a time when Africa is facing what Mo Ibrahim calls “a crisis in leadership and governance.” This crisis seems all the worse when we define governance as the delivery of goods and services that citizens legitimately expect their governments to deliver. Citizen’s expectations relate to the promotion and support of human rights and participation, safety and rule of law, socio-economic opportunities and human development. In view of the very mixed progress made so far in meeting these entirely reasonable expectations, the permanent question is how to apply Africa’s abundant wealth in…

Sep

28

2020

By The African Mirror

How Accra tackled complex challenges in an urban slum

SUSTAINABILITY

JESSICA KRITZ, Assistant Professor--Research Track, Georgetown University WHEN I first heard about the community of Old Fadama in Accra, Ghana, I recognised something. A Ghanaian Catholic sister who visited the green market weekly in that neighbourhood told me about it. She worried about a community of vulnerable migrant women known as “head porters” or kayayei, who earned a pittance transporting heavy items balanced on their heads. Old Fadama reminded me of Appalachia, the part of the US where I grew up in the late 1970s. Nearly everyone in my county lived below the poverty line. We learned to work together…

Sep

26

2020

By The African Mirror

For Ugandan activist, COVID curbs set new hurdle in climate fight

SUSTAINABILITY

ELIAS BIRYABAREMA IN a run-down residential compound in Kampala, Vanessa Nakate thrusts her fist in the air as she rallies 30 young demonstrators to defend their planet against climate change. "What do we want?" she shouts, to a ragged chorus of "climate justice". The youngest protester, two-year-old Manvir Ssozi, sucks his thumb as he flaps a placard that reads: "Money will be ... useless on a dead planet." Nakate's demonstration in the Ugandan capital is part of a global day of youth action against climate change inspired by Sweden's Greta Thunberg. A wiry and vivacious 23-year-old, Nakate founded a climate…

Sep

23

2020

By The African Mirror

Adrar’s problems exposed as Sahara Desert heats up

SUSTAINABILITY

MAHER MEZAHI and ZAHRA RAHMOUNI THE Sahara desert is synonymous with Algeria. It covers more than 80% of its national territory and is responsible for producing most of its wealth through agriculture, natural gas and crude oil. Those populations living in the deepest corners of the desert and most in need of help paradoxically remain the most marginalised. Nowhere is that truer than in the province of Adrar, where it is not uncommon for temperatures to exceed 50°C during the infernal summer months. Local meteorologists have even drawn what they call the “triangle of fire” between the provincial cities of…

Sep

18

2020

By The African Mirror

Battle from below: South African miners fight climate change

SUSTAINABILITY

KIM HARRISBERG FOUR nights a week, Given Zuli packs some food, meets his colleagues at the entrance of an abandoned coal mine in South Africa's eastern Mpumalanga province, and descends into the earth for up to 12 hours, chipping away at the black rock. Zuli is one of thousands of small-scale, illegal miners across South Africa - a number believed to be on the rise as unemployment spikes in a brittle economy - who make a living selling coal collected in abandoned, derelict mine shafts. But Zuli is also part of a growing environmental movement in the coal-rich province, campaigning for…