Environment

Egypt's Mediterranean coast protected in reserve

Wednesday, 10 March 2010 14:23

Egypt wants visitors to discover its Mediterranean coast at a marine reserve being established near the border with Libya, the government said on Tuesday.

Tags: Mediterranean coast - Maged George - ecotourism - endangered species - Sharm el-Sheikh - Egypt

Namibia: Converting bush encroachment problem into clean energy

Friday, 26 February 2010 13:06

Invasive bush species in Namibia makes large areas of land unusable and creates a problem for rural farmers. A new project aims to burn invader bush to produce electricity.

Tags: Invasive bush species - electricity - Combating Bush Encroachment for Namibia's Development - CBEND - Namibia Ministry of Environment and Tourism - Desert Research Foundation of Namibia - Namibia

African countries fight banana disease

Friday, 26 February 2010 12:50

A new front in the war against deadly banana diseases opens next month, with seven African countries uniting to launch a spatial surveillance programme.

(2 Votes)

Tags: International Institute for Tropical Agriculture - IITA - banana bunchy top disease - banana Xanthomonas Wilt - banana - Burundi - Democratic Republic of Congo - Kenya - Rwanda - Tanzania - Uganda - Zambia - disease surveillance and control - Fen Beed - Lava Kumar - Murimi Kinyua - Africa

Fertiliser can offset heat for African farmers

Wednesday, 17 February 2010 15:52

African smallholders in dry areas can overcome climate change and even double crop yields if they invest in fertiliser use and harvest rainwater, researchers have found.

(1 Vote)

Tags: African smallholders - climate change - fertiliser - rainwater - International Crop Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics - Agricultural Production System Stimulator - Karuturi Rao - Peter Cooper - Kenya

Beans climb to new heights in Rwanda

Friday, 05 February 2010 16:02

Climbing beans suited to rainy high-altitude areas are being distributed in Rwanda after a decade of research.

(2 Votes)

Tags: Climbing beans - Rwandan Agricultural Research Institute - International Center for Tropical Agriculture - Robin Buruchara - Paul Kimani - Rwanda

Kenya: Bumper maize harvest in coast and southeast

Friday, 05 February 2010 14:09

Kenya's coastal and southeastern regions will harvest a bumper maize crop from mid-February following El Nino-enhanced rains that fell in December, according to experts.

(2 Votes)

Tags: El Nino - maize - agriculture - Kenya Food Security Steering Group (KFSSG) - Rift Valley Province - Kenya National Cereal and Produce Board - Famine Early Warning Systems Network - UN World Food Program - Ministry of Agriculture - Arid Lands Resource Management Project - Kenya

Cameroon: Creation of national park will protect biodiversity and boost development

Wednesday, 03 February 2010 14:27

In response to the growing threat posed by the human population, the Cameroon government decreed in December that Mount Cameroon and the surrounding area would be designated a national park.

(3 Votes)

Tags: Mount Cameroon - national park - environment - World Wide Fund for Nature - Coastal Forests Programme - tourism - infrastructure - Atanga Ekobo - Cameroon

Top emerging nations pledge climate aid for poor states

Tuesday, 26 January 2010 16:56

Four rapidly developing countries - Brazil, South Africa, India and China (known as BASIC) - have vowed to boost climate science cooperation among themselves and other developing countries.

(1 Vote)

Tags: Brazil - South Africa - India - China - climate - cooperation - developing - economies - environmental ministers - Carlos Minc - Xie Zhenhua - BASIC - Africa

Burkina Faso: Farmers act on climate change

Monday, 25 January 2010 12:59

Disappointed by the "failure" of the Copenhagen talks to adequately help poor countries adapt to climate change, the Burkina Faso government and farmers are working to adjust farming techniques to changing weather patterns.

(2 Votes)

Tags: Copenhagen talks - confederation of farmers in Burkina Faso - Bassiako Dao - World Bank - Emmanual Nikiema - National Action Adaptation to Climate Change Programme - Francois Traore - National Union of Cotton Producers - Burkina Faso

Liberia: Urban gardens to boost food security

Friday, 22 January 2010 11:27

Farmers are turning to urban gardens as a way to boost food security in Liberia's Montserrado County, where just one percent of residents grow their own produce today compared to 70 percent before the war.

(1 Vote)

Tags: Urban gardens - Food security - Montserrado county - World Bank - Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) - Bomi - Grand Bassa - Bong - Margibi - Albert Kpassawah - Liberia

Kew shows Africa's plant wealth

Wednesday, 20 January 2010 12:53

East and tropical Southern Africa yielded the greatest number of new plant species in 2009, according to the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, which celebrated 250 years of existence last year and has just released its anniversary report.

(1 Vote)

Tags: Royal Botanic Gardens - Kew - Plant species - Isoetes eludens - Stephen Hopper - Dioscorea strydomiana - David Mabberley - International Year of Biodiversity - Madagascar - South Africa - Cameroon - Tanzania - Zambia - Uganda - Malawi Mozambique - Zimbabwe - Ethiopia - Somalia - Sudan - Nigeria - Angola - Congo - Burundi - Namibia - Botswana - Africa

Kenya plans open-ended green energy fund

Friday, 15 January 2010 11:23

Kenya plans to launch an open-ended green energy fund in the next fiscal year to step up generation of environmentally friendly energy, a senior government official said on Thursday.

(2 Votes)

Tags: green - energy - fund - environmentally friendly - Geoffrey Mwau - power - clean - Kenya

WWF commends Zuma

Tuesday, 08 December 2009 11:58

President Jacob Zuma has been commended for attending the United Nations Climate Change Summit in Copenhagen and taking with him South Africa's contribution towards the global effort to reduce emissions.

(2 Votes)

Tags: Climate Change Summit - Copenhagen - Jacob Zuma - WWF - Morne du Plessis - Tasneem Essop - South Africa

Commonwealth leaders agree to help poor countries deal with impact of climate change

Monday, 07 December 2009 11:58

Commonwealth Heads of Government ended their meeting Sunday in the Trinidad and Tobago capital of Port of Spain with an agreement for poor countries to get special funding to cope with the impact of climate change.

(1 Vote)

Tags: Commonwealth - government - Trinidad and Tobago - UN Climate Conference - Copenhagen - African Union - Jean Ping - Africa

African climate policy centre receives $8.5 million from Sweden

Wednesday, 02 December 2009 12:43

Sweden has signed an agreement with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, committing about $8.5 million in support of ECA's African Climate Policy Centre.

(2 Votes)

Tags: Sweden - United Nations Economic Commission for Africa - Abdoulie Janneh - Jens Odlander - climate change - Africa

Kenya seizes tonne of ivory, arrests 65 in major op

Tuesday, 01 December 2009 13:45

Kenya has seized 1,100 kg of ivory and arrested 65 people in the past three months in a major international operation stretching across six African nations, its director of wildlife said on Monday.

(2 Votes)

Tags: Operation Costa - Ivory - wildlife - Kenya Wildlife Service - Julius Kipng'etich - Interpol - Peter Younger - Kenya

Nigeria set for 'Green Big Brother' show

Thursday, 26 November 2009 13:46

Nigeria's most celebrated environmental campaigner is about to launch a reality TV show to highlight the dangers of global warming for Africans.

(3 Votes)

South African activist is new Greenpeace head

Tuesday, 17 November 2009 13:02

An African took over as director of Greenpeace Monday, bringing experience honed as a teenage opponent of white rule in South Africa and a network of powerful contacts to the battle against global warming.

(4 Votes)

Tags: Greenpeace - global warming - Kumi Naidoo - South Africa

Senegalese NGO plants 34 million mangroves to offset carbon emissions

Monday, 09 November 2009 12:23

A Senegalese environmental NGO announced Friday that it had planted 34 million mangrove trees in three months in a project largely financed by French dairy giant Danone to offset its carbon footprint.

(4 Votes)

Tags: NGO - France - Danone - carbon - Oceanium - mangrove - Haidar El Ali - climate change - Senegal

Africa presents united front at climate change negotiations

Friday, 06 November 2009 11:40

Determined not to get a "raw deal", Africa has emerged with "the most unified voice" compared with other negotiating blocs at the current United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Barcelona negotiations.

(2 Votes)

Tags: United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change - climate change - enviroment - impact - Africa

World's fastest man adopts world's fastest feline

Tuesday, 03 November 2009 12:48

The world's fastest man has adopted the animal kingdom's fastest sprinter, as Usain Bolt welcomed a new baby cheetah into his life. The sprinter's sponsorship of the three-month-old male Cheetah is part of an effort to boost Kenyan conservation.