Environment

Agriculture Ministry calls for national drought emergency

The Ministry of Agriculture, Water, and Land Reform has advised the government to declare a national drought emergency following its assessment of crop prospects and food security. According to Nampa, the recommendation was made after monitoring the situation in the seven major northern communal crop-producing regions from 12 February to 11 March 2024. Executive Director Ndiyakupi Nghituwamata highlighted significant distress grazing in the southern, western, and eastern parts of the […]

23 April, 2024

Environment

Report links H&M and Zara to major environmental damage in biodiverse Cerrado

A report by U.K. investigative NGO Earthsight links supply chains of fashion giants H&M and Zara to large-scale illegal deforestation, land-grabbing, violence and corruption in Brazil. The country’s Cerrado region, home to a third of Brazil’s species, has already lost half of its vegetation to large-scale agriculture and is under increasing pressure from a booming cotton industry. The two major producers linked to illicit activities, SLC Agrícola and Grupo Horita, […]

23 April, 2024

Environment

A web of front people conceals environmental offenders in the Amazon

A paper trail left by a notorious land grabber reveals how he used relatives and an employee as fronts to evade environmental fines and lawsuits, shedding light on this widespread practice in the Brazilian Amazon. Fronts prevent the real criminals from having their assets seized to pay for environmental fines, besides consuming time and resources from the authorities, who spend years trying to prove who the real financier of the […]

23 April, 2024

Africa

Planting trees in grasslands won’t save the planet – rather protect and restore forests

By Susanne Vetter, Rhodes University Tree planting is one of the nature-based solutions being used to offset greenhouse gas emissions. Trees absorb atmospheric carbon dioxide. Many of these tree planting projects target Africa’s rangelands (open grasslands or shrublands used by livestock and wild animals). They include agroforestry initiatives such as the Great Green Wall in the Sahel, or commercial timber plantations that double as carbon offset projects. […]

23 April, 2024

Environment

World marks 54th Earth Day

It is Earth Day, an annual event to show support for environmental protection. First held on April 22, 1970, it now includes a wide range of events coordinated globally by Earthday.org including 1 billion people in more than 193 countries. The official theme for 2024 is "Planet vs. Plastics." Choking our oceans, plastic waste makes up 80 percent of all marine pollution. Over 10 million metric tonnes of plastic end up […]

22 April, 2024

Africa

Insurance payouts expected for some Southern African drought hit countries

A drought driven by the El Nino weather pattern is likely to trigger insurance payouts to four southern African countries that took out cover with an agency of the African Union. Bloomberg reports that Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique will receive payments at the end of the harvesting season, according to current projections, African Risk Capacity said in a statement but the payments are unlikely to meet regional needs.

22 April, 2024

Environment

Snack giant PepsiCo sourced palm oil from razed Indigenous land – investigation

By Andrew Wasley, Aramís Castro, Elisângela Mendonça In the last few years it is likely that PepsiCo has been using in its production palm oil from deforested land claimed by the Shipibo-Konibo people in eastern Peru, a new investigation has found. Palm oil from Peru enters PepsiCo’s supply chain via a consortium that shares storage facilities with Ocho Sur, the second largest palm oil producer in the country which […]

22 April, 2024

Africa

Blue whales: first discovery near Seychelles in decades – what our study found

By Jeremy Kiszka, Florida International University Blue whales are fascinating animals. At 24-30 metres in length (longer than a basketball court) they are the largest creatures on Earth. They are also among the rarest. Estimates suggest that there are only around 5,000 to 15,000 blue whales left in the world. Their populations experienced a 89-97% decline due to commercial whaling activities worldwide that started in the North […]

22 April, 2024

Environment

Namibia stops Russian uranium exploration because of pollution concerns

Namibia has suspended Russia's state atomic energy agency's uranium exploration due to fears of groundwater contamination. Despite being Africa's largest producer of nuclear fuel, the government through the Ministry of Agriculture, Water, and Land reform has withheld the necessary mining permit, citing concerns over One Uranium's failure to demonstrate a pollution-free extraction method. Here is Petra Witbooi the Chairperson of Leonardville Village Council. Minister of Agriculture, Water, and Land Reform […]

18 April, 2024