Tag archives for Africa
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On the 10th and llth of April 2012, an important series of meetings were convened in Lubumbashi in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) whose process and outcome constitute environmental news worth monitoring by an international audience. In this series of blogs the author will report on the proceedings and insights gained with follow-up visits…
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What a whirlwind of a month it’s been for the SOIL (Sustainable Organic Integrated Livelihoods) team. Last month the team arrived in Cotonou, the capital of Benin, to introduce and demonstrate the process of transforming human waste into rich resources. Since we last caught up with ecologist Sasha Kramer, the team has had many great successes, but also some major setbacks including a team member becoming dangerously ill.
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The Cheetah Conservation Fund, headquartered in Otjiworongo, Namibia, is a recognized leader in the field of big cat conservation. CCF is known for many projects, especially their captive cheetah population which number over fifty, some that can be returned to the wild, some that, for a variety of circumstances, cannot. This creates the specialized need…
I’m not entirely convinced this isn’t a death march. It’s high noon in the oldest desert on earth. Glancing down at the red sand to see a beetle burrowing back under, saving itself from the scorching heat, I’m transported to a long lost nature program viewed from the comfort of a ‘70s wood-paneled family room…
Top 25 Wild Bird Photographs of the Week #10
Posted by Steve Boyes of Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology in Explorers Journal on April 15, 2012 
Advances in digital photography have given us the opportunity to capture the beauty and freedom of birds in the wild like never before. In January 2011, the Wild Bird Trust set up a Facebook page with the intention of celebrating free flight and birds in the wild from around the world. Here are the “Top 25 Wild…
Advances in digital photography have given us the opportunity to capture the beauty and freedom of birds in the wild like never before. In January 2011, the Wild Bird Trust set up a Facebook page with the intention of celebrating free flight and birds in the wild from around the world. Here are the “Top 25 Wild…
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Invisible Children has released a new film in its Kony2012 campaign, one that, unlike its predecessor, puts the focus on the countries in central Africa where the murderous Lord’s Resistance Army is currently operating. The filmmakers clearly hope to make the most of the phenomenal reach of the first Kony2012 video, which has garnered more than 90 million views since it launched one month ago, and to address some of the fierce criticism the campaign attracted.
In Namibia, I visited a foundation with their ear to the ground on the latest technological developments in conservation. From cyber-stalking their GPS collared cheetah via Google Earth and Sirtrack to scanning footprints (spoor) into an analytical database, N/a’an ku sê Foundation is combining new tech with on-the-ground analogue (so to speak) work in the…
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“Planning is not part of our culture. You just get up in the morning and do what you need to do for the day,” said Marilyn Wallace of the Kuku Nyungka ‘mob’ (aboriginal nation) in northern Queensland, Australia. “Bama,” people caring for their local territory, is an important part of aboriginal culture and identity,…
Top 25 Wild Bird Photographs of the Week #7
Posted by Steve Boyes of Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology in Explorers Journal on March 23, 2012 
Advances in digital photography have given us the opportunity to capture the beauty and freedom of birds in the wild like never before. In January 2011, the Wild Bird Trust set up a Facebook page with the intention of celebrating free flight and birds in the wild from around the world. Here are the “Top 25 Wild…
I asked Cheetah Conservation Botswana’s researcher, Jane Horgan, why they needed to capture and collar a female cheetah. “We wanted home range and movement data to look at the movements of cheetahs through the Ghanzi farmlands. Information about how far they move in a day, how large their home ranges are, how long they stay…
Scientists Sound Alarm on Massive Oil Palm Development in Cameroon
Posted by David Robinson on March 20, 2012 
The following is an open letter written by several world-class scientists on the subject of a proposed oil palm farm in Cameroon. To whom it may concern: As established scientists with leading academic and research institutions around the world, we would like to express deep concerns about a proposed, massive oil palm development in Cameroon,…
Cyrenaica, Libya: Part II
Posted by Juan Valdes on March 15, 2012 Map of the Countries Bordering the Mediterranean Supplement, January 1912 A year ago, a blog titled Cyrenaica, Libya was posted on the NGM Blog Central site. It was spurred by a number of letters received about the meaning of this geographic term and how it is portrayed on our maps. Much has happened in Libya…
Cyrenaica, Libya: Part I
Posted by Juan Valdes on March 15, 2012 NG Maps knows that many of our readers are curious about place-names on our maps because of the number of letters we receive. But it’s during times of political upheaval that our maps are more closely scrutinized, and we brace ourselves for receiving many more letters. For example, since the start of the…
My first day in the field with Cheetah Conservation Botswana staff, I met Keith. Manager of the Ko Mogotlhong Game Farm, he drove up with his work crew to check out our activities. Since CCB has many camera traps on the farm in addition to the cage trap, I meet Keith a number of times. …
Help Needed for Survivors of Devastating Floods in Madagascar
Posted by Mireya Mayor, Ph.D. of National Geographic Explorer, Scientist, Correspondent on March 9, 2012 Dozens of people have died and tens of thousand are homeless in the wake of devastating floods that swept through the African island country of Madagascar during a recent cyclone. The disaster was aggravated by ongoing deforestation and environment degradation. Survivors need our help.
The latest from cheetah country comes to you in 3 parts: Part I: Ghanzi District, Botswana. Late October, 2011 – Cheetah Conservation Botswana It is Sunday at last, time to rest. A lazy feeling takes hold of cheetah camp, even Murphy is pretty low key and Cat…
Bush Boyes on Expedition: Pel’s Fishing Owl, More Research and Mokoro Surveys
Posted by Steve Boyes of Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology in Explorers Journal on February 22, 2012 
Watching a pair of fishing owls watching him was all in another day’s work for National Geographic Grantee Steve Boyes, on Vundumtiki Island, deep in Botswana’s Okavango wetlands wilderness. The Okavango Nest Box Project has found that the artificial shelters have become homes to a variety of birds and other animals, including bushbabies (Lesser galagos), woodland dormice, squirrels … and bees.
Bush Boyes on Expedition: Starry, Starry Night
Posted by Steve Boyes of Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology in Explorers Journal on February 22, 2012 
“We all sat in wonder in the darkness, trying not to talk and feeling like kings of the world, flying among the stars of the Kalahari big sky,” writes National Geographic Grantee Steve Boyes, in this latest dispatch from the Okavango wilderness in Botswana. Boyes and colleagues are checking nest boxes and doing transects on Vundumtiki Island, deep in one of the world’s most remote wetlands.
Bush Boyes on Expedition: Research, Rain and Walking on Water
Posted by Steve Boyes of Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology in Explorers Journal on February 17, 2012 
In the second dispatch from Botswana’s Okavango wilderness, National Geographic Grantee Steve Boyes writes that traveling through the vast wetlands by traditional mokoro (dug-out canoe) across channels, lagoons and floodplains is like “walking on water.”
Bush Boyes on Expedition: Nata to Vundumtiki
Posted by Steve Boyes of Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology in Explorers Journal on February 15, 2012 
Join National Geographic Scientist Steve Boyes on an expedition into the heart of Botswana’s Okavango wilderness, on a mission to an island in the wetlands seldom visited by humans, where the “Bush Boyes” are researching cavity-nesting bird communities.
Shellfish Poaching Fuels Illicit Economy in South Africa
Posted by Leon Marshall of Environmental Journalist, News Watch South African Contributor on February 9, 2012 The tough shellfish known as abalone is highly prized as a delicacy in the Far East, where it is fetches excessive prices. Poachers picking abalone off the rocky shallows of South Africa’s southern coast have become brazen, plying their illegal trade in open view in daylight. Is the abalone trade fueling its own economy through corruption and big spending by the poachers?
These people work hard out here; the conservationists, the farmers, everyone. The hot days of October dictate an early rise to reach the far-flung locations that entail research, data gathering and community outreach. I’m in the central Kalahari region, just outside the town of Ghanzi in Botswana. It’s hot, like… Africa hot… as the cliché…
Community-Based Conservation Saves Big Cats in Iconic African Park
Posted by Marcus & Kate Westberg on February 8, 2012 
Text and photos by Kate and Marcus Westberg The Masai Mara is a place of great beauty and drama where people and wildlife live side by side. While having a savannah full of wildlife on your doorstep seems amazing to us, living with lions is never easy. With the generous support of the National Geographic…
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We have the knowledge that can contribute to finding solutions to the crisis of climate change. But if you’re not prepared to listen, how can we communicate this to you? — Marcos Terena, Xané leader, Brazil. The precipitous rise in the world’s human population and humankind’s ever-increasing dependence on fossil fuel-based ways of living have…
