Niokolo-Koba National Park in Senegal removed from the List of World Heritage in Danger

The UNESCO World Heritage Committee, meeting in New Delhi (India), decided on Wednesday to remove Niokolo-Koba National Park in Senegal from the List of World Heritage in Danger, following the positive steps taken by the State Party, which have contributed to improving the natural site’s state of conservation. Inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage List in 1981 for its unique biodiversity and exceptional ecosystems, Niokolo-Koba National Park has faced a series […]

July 24, 2024 4

Environment

Great white sharks off South Africa’s coast are protected by law, but not in practice. Why this needs to change

By Enrico Gennari, Rhodes University; Neil Hammerschlag, University of Oregon, and Sara Andreotti, Stellenbosch University In less than eight years, white sharks in South Africa have all but disappeared from their historical hotspots in False Bay and Gansbaai, on the Western Cape coast. These areas were once known as the “white shark capital of the world” and were home to a flourishing ecotourism industry. One possible […]

May 6, 2024 46

Africa

Africa’s wildebeest: those that can’t migrate are becoming genetically weaker – new study

By Joseph Ogutu, University of Hohenheim Wildebeest – large African antelopes with distinctively curved horns – are famous for their great migrations on the grasslands of eastern and southern Africa. One hundred and fifty years ago, they migrated in huge numbers across the continent, in search of grazing and water and to find suitable areas for calving. Migration is crucial to sustain their large populations. But their […]

April 15, 2024 53

Africa

SAP Africa Partner Awards recognise excellence in supporting Africa’s digital transformation efforts

SAP has announced the winners of its latest SAP Africa Partner Awards. At a recent event held in the Cape Winelands, the SAP Africa Partner Awards recognised excellence within SAP’s partner ecosystem throughout Africa. According to Nazia Pillay, Head of Partner Ecosystem, SAP Middle East and Africa, says the role of partners has become more critical in the wake of changing customer demands and the impact of technologies […]

March 13, 2024 5

Environment

Rhinos can’t sweat, making them vulnerable to overheating: global warming could wipe them out in southern Africa

By Timothy Randhir, UMass Amherst Southern Africa is home to 22,137 of the world’s 23,432 white and black African rhinos. But they’re facing grave threats because of a warming planet. Now, the first study of how climate change affects rhinos in southern Africa has found that they will cease to exist in the region’s national parks by 2085 if the world takes the worst-case scenario climate change […]

February 16, 2024 15

Africa

Morocco dinosaur discovery gives clues on why they went extinct

By Nicholas R. Longrich, University of Bath 66 million years ago, the last dinosaurs vanished from Earth. We’re still trying to understand why. New fossils of abelisaurs – distant relatives of the tyrannosaurs – from north Africa suggest that African dinosaurs remained diverse up to the very end. And that suggests their demise came suddenly, with the impact of a giant asteroid. The causes of the mass […]

February 13, 2024 12

Africa

Livelihoods at stake as Lake Victoria’s papyrus swamps come under pressure: Photos

By Patrick Newcombe, via MongaBay The papyrus swamps at the edges of Lake Victoria in East Africa have for generations provided a livelihood to communities living here. While some harvest reeds to make into mats, baskets, and handicrafts, others catch the plentiful fish that nurse in the shelter of the reedbeds. The swamps are also home to birds that have become specialized to live amidst the papyrus reeds in a […]

February 7, 2024 27

ecosystem