Visiting a semi-arid region of Uganda where the economic and environmental effects of climate change have been added to humanitarian needs and chronic under-development, the top United Nations emergency relief official today saw first-hand an area of potential conflict over increasingly shrinking resources. “They are living on the edge, daily facing the biggest challenges we […]
By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS, Oct 22 (IPS) – As African leaders meet in Ethiopia to discuss the devastating impacts of climate change, the United Nations has released a report warning that the economically-troubled continent will be one of the hardest hit by the ravages of global warming. “Projected climatic changes for Africa suggest a […]
By Tristan McConnell in Mwingi “The last time I had a good harvest was 2003 — there has been nothing at all for the last three years,” said Mutindi Maithya, 36, a widow who lives with her six children on a four- acre plot of sun-baked land. Sitting beneath a thorny acacia tree, she picks […]
By Lester R. Brown, October 22, 2009 Our early twenty-first century civilization is being squeezed between advancing deserts and rising seas. Measured by the biologically productive land area that can support human habitation, the earth is shrinking. Mounting population densities, once generated solely by population growth, are now also fueled by the relentless advance of […]
By STEVEN BULL, Thursday, October 22 2009 The rains are finally here, heralding a new start for the agricultural masses. But welcome as they are, they came a bit too late for the country’s prime tourist attraction – the wildlife. According to the Kenya Wildlife Services, hundreds of animals died solely due to the drought. […]
By Argaw Ashine, 22 October 2009 Addis Ababa — Ethiopian Government has appealed for an emergency food aid for 6.2 million people suffering from malnutrition and hunger due to drought. The Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr Mitiku Kassa, today presented the government’s humanitarian requirement to donor Community in Addis Ababa. According to Mr […]
By John Platt Twenty years after the international ban on ivory trade took effect, poachers are still slaughtering more than 100 elephants a day, according to a report by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW). The ban on ivory trade, established by the U.N.’s Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna […]
From Treehugger: New analysis of the bushmeat trade in central Africa by TRAFFIC shows that the scale of trade has been severely underestimated and is actually increasing as forest cover declines. By studying statistical data from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, the wildlife trade monitoring organization found that in some places the amount of […]
African elephants could be extinct within 15 years because of the illegal ivory trade, conservation experts have warned. By Amy Willis The population – currently 600,000 – is diminishing by 38,000 each year. These figures, calculated using the annual number of illegal tusk seizures, significantly exceed elephant birth rates meaning the species could face extinction […]
From Treehugger: Last week it was house flies at the Mount Everest base camp, now it’s mosquitoes and malaria in the highlands around Mount Kenya that are in the spotlight, in this video clip from the UN Environment Programme. It’s a short clip, but puts a human face on the sort of changes already being […]
