Africa > Southern Africa > Environment

Environment in Southern Africa

  • To save famous park’s rhino, dehorning being considered

    SOUTH AFRICA, 2017/04/26  IT WOULD have been unthinkable just a few years ago that rhinos would be dehorned for their own protection in a park as large and famous as the HluhluweiMfolozi Park in KwaZuluNatal. The 96 000ha park is the province’s flagship Large Five reserve and is often referred to as the “cradle” of African rhino conservation. This is the park where a tiny remnant people of Africa’s southern white rhino species was rescued from world extinction just over a century ago. From a people of just 50 or so survivors in the 1890s, these animals were guarded carefully by the former Natal Parks Board and multiplied slowly to reach just over 20 000 a decade ago. POACHERS RESORT TO ANYTHING: Rhino horns hidden in the engine compartment of a car by poachers, poaching dropped in the Kruger National Park by almost 20% last year while the killing rate in KZN shot up by 38% in 2016.

  • Zimbabwe: The Agony of Villagers Cut Off By Floods

    ZIMBABWE, 2017/03/12 "These bridges were built by Ian Smith's government, I was born in 1978 and this has always been the bridge I've known; presently it's broken. "So from 1978 until presently, this new Zimbabwe, I haven't seen anything new. Nothing." These are the lamenting words from Nkosilathi Khumalo (38), from Sibhula village under Chief Khulumani Mathema in Gwanda District. Sibhula, 41km south westerly of Gwanda town, is surrounded by the Hovi and Maleme rivers, which have their sources somewhere in the Matobo National Park and are tributaries of Tuli River.

  • South Africa: Landmark Court Ruling On Climate Change

    SOUTH AFRICA, 2017/03/12 The Department of Environmental Affairs erred in granting authorisation for the proposed Thabametsi coal-fired power station in Limpopo without initial having established what impact it would have on climate change, the North Gauteng High Court has ruled. The court as well said Environment Minister Edna Molewa, who had recognised this shortcoming, erred by nevertheless upholding her department's decision rather than overturning it next the public had lodged an appeal.

  • Fighting drought with orange peels: S. African girl, 16, wins Google award

    SOUTH AFRICA, 2016/10/29 For her scientific innovation aimed at combating drought in her native South Africa, a 16-year old girl, Kiara Nirghin, has been adjudged winner of the Google Science equitable. Her innovation is aimed at retaining soil water and combating the effects of drought on crops by retaining soil moisture, whilst still recycling waste products of the juice manufacturing industry. What was her project about?

  • South African summer to be hotter than normal amid drought

    SOUTH AFRICA, 2016/10/03 Severe drought conditions are still afflicting most of South Africa and temperatures are expected to remain above normal until mid-summer, which would be around December, the national weather service said on Monday.

  • ‘Southern Africa must brace for floods’

    AFRICA, 2016/09/05 UN agencies warned on Thursday that southern African nations were at risk of an extra year of food shortages as the drought-hit region is expected to be hit by above-average rainfall likely to trigger floods. The region is still reeling from the effects of the El Nino weather phenomenon which devastated crops leaving some 18 million people in need of food aid, according to the World Food Programme.Meteorologists estimate the region will this year experience additional rainfall than normal due to an extreme weather pattern known as La Nina. “What La Nina brings is both good news and bad news,” Lewis Hove, regional agricultural coordinator with the UN’s Food and Agricultural Organisation told AFP.

  • End all ivory sales worldwide

    AFRICA, 2016/08/25 Throughout my life, I have been an avid hunter, fisherman and outdoorsman. I hunt quail, wild turkey, dove and other birds. I’ve been on safari in Africa a number of times to hunt Cape buffalo and other plains game. I hunt elk in the Rocky Mountains each year. In my native Texas, I fish the Gulf Coast’s bays for redfish and trout, and I fish Wyoming’s cool streams for freshwater trout.

  • More than 41 million in southern Africa face food insecurity

    AFRICA, 2016/06/17 An estimated 41 million people are food insecure with 21 million people requiring immediate assistance in Southern Africa, a regional economic bloc said on Wednesday, next a drought ravaged the region. The Southern African Development Community director for food, agriculture and natural resources, Margaret Nyirenda, said in a statement that a new statement as well showed that nearly 2.7 million children are suffering from severe acute malnutrition.

  • Smallholder farmers can overcome the negative effects of the climate change by using new varieties of seeds.

    AFRICA, 2016/06/04

  • Africa: To Burn or Sell Ivory - Which Can Put an End to Elephant Poaching?

    AFRICA, 2016/04/30 Tens of thousands of elephants are killed each year for their tusks. The Kenyan government plans to burn additional than 100 metric tons of ivory, the majority ever to be destroyed. But can burning ivory really help end poaching? A towering pyre of burning ivory - it's a powerful image, and one that the Kenyan government hopes will send a clear message: the illegal trade in ivory, which kills around 30,000 elephants across Africa each year, will not be tolerated. Hollywood stars such as Leonardo DiCaprio and Nicole Kidman have been invited to join conservationists and politicians to attend the mass burning on April 30, 2016, at the same time as Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta will set fire to 105 metric tons of ivory - that's seven times the size of the major stockpile before destroyed - along with 1.35 metric tons of rhino horn.
Trending Articles