Written by Administrator
Friday, 19 June 2009 09:26
Drought and the increasing marginalisation of production systems have lowered the productivity of Namibian land, said Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, Minister of Environment and Tourism at the commemoration of World Day to Combat Desertification.
She said farmers have difficulty in finding good grazing lands and that resources have become depleted.
“Forests for instance have disappeared at a fast rate. Once a common resource for the lives of families and communities as well as for ecological integrity are extremely acute and call for our immediate intervention. We must combat desertification in ways that reduce poverty,” said Nandi-Ndaitwah.
Land degradation takes a number of different forms including the depletion of soil nutrients, salinization, soil erosion and the degradation of vegetation cover due to overgrazing and deforestation.
Nandi-Ndaitwah said land degradation poses a serious threat to food security and rural livelihoods, particularly in poor and densely populated areas of the country.
“It also constitutes a huge drain on economic resources and has enormous socials costs. Many of the degradation processes are generated by poverty and food insecurity because desperate circumstances force communities to adopt unsustainable environmental practices such as the cutting down of trees, overgrazing through overstocking, amongst others. In order to break this vicious cycle, it is important to support actions that alleviate poverty and food insecurity while at the same time reducing environmental degradation, within the overall context of broad pro-poor national development strategies,” she said.
Desertification and land degradation in Namibia, as well as in the rest of Africa, have far reaching implications in achieving the Millennium Development Goals, said Lebogang Motlana, Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
“Efforts to address desertification and land degradation are instrumental for the achievement of poverty eradication and environmental sustainability.
http://www.economist.com.na/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=17088:land-degradation-a-major-problem&catid=539:general-news&Itemid=60
Unpredictable and extreme droughts threaten food security
UNCCD Executive Secretary concerned over severity of droughts in southern hemisphere and China; urges more coordinated international action
(Bonn, Germany, 9 February 2009) – Preventive action is more effective than costlier emergency relief and rescue missions. The Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) Luc Gnacadja warns that the current droughts in Argentina and Australia, some of the severest in decades in both countries, require the attention and long-term action of the international community. The two countries belong to the largest agricultural producers in the world yet current climatic patterns are subjecting their farmers to extremely dry conditions unlike any in recent memory.
"The world needs to increase its efforts to tackle the unpredictable and extreme occurrences of drought," says Mr. Gnacadja. "In its latest assessment the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) forecast that the length and severity of droughts would intensify in the future. The panel particularly pointed to Australia as a region that would be severely affected. The IPCC report also revealed that climate-related disasters in Latin America have more than doubled since 1970. The drought in Argentina is just a further example."
Indeed recent strong thunderstorms have given Argentine farmers respite, but large crop failures still threaten them. In both Australia and Argentina farmers have watched their plants and livestock wither under the effects of a heatwave this summer. Since March last year in Argentina, rainfall has been significantly below normal. Argentine farmers report that some 800,000 heads of cattle have been lost as a result. Wheat, maize and soy harvests are expected to drop by as high as 80 percent in the usually bountiful Pampas and Entre Ríos regions. Rural associations estimate that total Argentine grain production will fall 39 percent and as many as 1.5 million head of cattle could die.
The "Big Dry" in southeastern Australia has pushed the country's breadbasket along the Murray-Darling Basin river system, home to 43 percent of Australian farms, close to the point of no return. Usable storage is at 16 percent of capacity and 73 percent below normal for this time of the year, according to the Murray-Darling Basin Authority. The authority said the outlook is not hopeful in the next few months to regenerate the rivers.
The dramatic events in these two southern hemisphere cereal exporters are being compounded by a drought in northern China that the Chinese government says is putting half of the country's winter crop under threat and affecting some four million people. The region of Henan is experiencing its worst drought in nearly six decades. The country's drought relief agency called it an event "rarely seen in history". In light of the water shortages in what are usually areas that receive sufficient rain, the world must do more to combat the effects of drought.
The UNCCD is strongly positioned to take on a central role in mitigating the effects of drought around the world. The Convention's 10-year strategic plan that was adopted in 2007 is leading the UNCCD to build effective partnerships between national and international actors.
"The food crisis continues in countries that deal with erratic rainfall, like in Sub-Saharan Africa. In addition, many of these countries are food importers, so to see the extreme drought in Argentina, Australia, and now China, is indeed alarming," says Mr. Gnacadja. "Comprehensive early warning systems are the key in these areas. Such systems could be a precious tool for governments, institutions and farmers to anticipate and better prepare for longer and recurrent dry spells or deluge of rains. It is necessary to coordinate more now than ever the successful sustainable farm practices on a global basis as climate change presents a greater threat to food production." By implementing the Strategy, countries will promote sustainable land management and generate global benefits for farmers and other land users around the world.
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Developed as a result of the Rio Summit, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) is a unique instrument that has brought attention to land degradation to some of the most vulnerable ecosystems and people in the world. Twelve years after coming into force, the UNCCD benefits from the largest membership of the three Rio Conventions and is increasingly recognized as an instrument that can make an important contribution to the achievement of sustainable development and poverty reduction.
http://www.unccd.int/publicinfo/pressrel/showpressrel.php?pr=press09_02_09
Friday 26 June 2009
Land degradation a major problem
Written by Administrator
Friday, 19 June 2009 09:26
Drought and the increasing marginalisation of production systems have lowered the productivity of Namibian land, said Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, Minister of Environment and Tourism at the commemoration of World Day to Combat Desertification.
She said farmers have difficulty in finding good grazing lands and that resources have become depleted.
“Forests for instance have disappeared at a fast rate. Once a common resource for the lives of families and communities as well as for ecological integrity are extremely acute and call for our immediate intervention. We must combat desertification in ways that reduce poverty,” said Nandi-Ndaitwah.
Land degradation takes a number of different forms including the depletion of soil nutrients, salinization, soil erosion and the degradation of vegetation cover due to overgrazing and deforestation.
Nandi-Ndaitwah said land degradation poses a serious threat to food security and rural livelihoods, particularly in poor and densely populated areas of the country.
“It also constitutes a huge drain on economic resources and has enormous socials costs. Many of the degradation processes are generated by poverty and food insecurity because desperate circumstances force communities to adopt unsustainable environmental practices such as the cutting down of trees, overgrazing through overstocking, amongst others. In order to break this vicious cycle, it is important to support actions that alleviate poverty and food insecurity while at the same time reducing environmental degradation, within the overall context of broad pro-poor national development strategies,” she said.
Desertification and land degradation in Namibia, as well as in the rest of Africa, have far reaching implications in achieving the Millennium Development Goals, said Lebogang Motlana, Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
“Efforts to address desertification and land degradation are instrumental for the achievement of poverty eradication and environmental sustainability.
http://www.economist.com.na/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=17088:land-degradation-a-major-problem&catid=539:general-news&Itemid=60
Friday, 19 June 2009 09:26
Drought and the increasing marginalisation of production systems have lowered the productivity of Namibian land, said Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, Minister of Environment and Tourism at the commemoration of World Day to Combat Desertification.
She said farmers have difficulty in finding good grazing lands and that resources have become depleted.
“Forests for instance have disappeared at a fast rate. Once a common resource for the lives of families and communities as well as for ecological integrity are extremely acute and call for our immediate intervention. We must combat desertification in ways that reduce poverty,” said Nandi-Ndaitwah.
Land degradation takes a number of different forms including the depletion of soil nutrients, salinization, soil erosion and the degradation of vegetation cover due to overgrazing and deforestation.
Nandi-Ndaitwah said land degradation poses a serious threat to food security and rural livelihoods, particularly in poor and densely populated areas of the country.
“It also constitutes a huge drain on economic resources and has enormous socials costs. Many of the degradation processes are generated by poverty and food insecurity because desperate circumstances force communities to adopt unsustainable environmental practices such as the cutting down of trees, overgrazing through overstocking, amongst others. In order to break this vicious cycle, it is important to support actions that alleviate poverty and food insecurity while at the same time reducing environmental degradation, within the overall context of broad pro-poor national development strategies,” she said.
Desertification and land degradation in Namibia, as well as in the rest of Africa, have far reaching implications in achieving the Millennium Development Goals, said Lebogang Motlana, Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
“Efforts to address desertification and land degradation are instrumental for the achievement of poverty eradication and environmental sustainability.
http://www.economist.com.na/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=17088:land-degradation-a-major-problem&catid=539:general-news&Itemid=60
Victims of a warming world may be caught in a bureaucratic limbo unless things are done to ease—and better still, pre-empt—their travails
Victims of a warming world may be caught in a bureaucratic limbo unless things are done to ease—and better still, pre-empt—their travails
Panos
THE airstrip at Lokichoggio, in the scorched wastes of north Kenya, was once ground zero for food aid. During Sudan’s civil war, flights from here kept millions of people alive. The warehouses are quieter now, but NGOs keep a toehold, in case war restarts—and to deal with what pundits call the “permanent emergency” of “environmentally induced” migration.
Take the local Turkana people. Their numbers have surged in recent decades, and will double again before 2040. But as the area gets hotter and drier, it has less water, grazing and firewood. The drought cycle in northern Kenya has gone from once every eight years to every three years and may contract further. That means no recovery time for the Turkana and their livestock; the result is an increasingly frantic drift from one dry place to another.
A local crisis with local causes? Only partly. Scientists think it is part of a global phenomenon: people across the world on the move as a result of environmental degradation. Just how many are moving, or about to move, is maddeningly unclear.
The International Organisation for Migration thinks there will be 200m climate-change migrants by 2050, when the world’s population is set to peak at 9 billion. Others put the total at 700m.
These startling numbers may conjure up a picture of huge, desperate masses, trekking long distances and if necessary overrunning border defences because their homelands have dried up or been submerged. But at least initially, the situation in Kenya and other parts of east Africa is likely to be more typical: an already poor population whose perpetual search for adequate pasture and shelter grows harder and harder. In such conditions, local disputes—even relatively petty ones between clans and extended families—can easily worsen, and become embroiled in broader religious or political fights. And that in turn makes it harder for everybody in the area to survive, and more desperate to find new places to live, even if they are not far away.
A new report—“In Search of Shelter”—by the United Nations University, the charity CARE and Columbia University in New York lists the eco-migration “hot spots”: dry bits of Africa; river systems in Asia; the interior and coast of Mexico and the Caribbean; and low islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
A one-metre rise in sea levels could displace 24m people along the Ganges, Brahmaputra, Irrawaddy, Salween, Mekong, Yangtze and Yellow rivers—which together support a quarter of humanity. A two-metre rise could uproot 14m people on the Mekong alone and swamp much of its farmland. Meanwhile, the melting of the Himalayan glacier will cause floods and erosion upstream, boosting the price of rice and other staples. And many regional conflicts could be exacerbated.
The scale of the likely population shift raises big questions. Will climate-change migrants be recognised? The classic definition of refugees—tossed between states by war or tyranny—is outdated. Eco-migrants will be paperless paupers, whose multiple woes are hard to disentangle.
Poverty campaigners want a revised legal regime to protect the new migrants. However, this looks tricky. America resists calling them “environmental refugees”: the word “refugee” implies guarantees that cannot realistically be given to the coming torrent of migrants. As American diplomats quietly admit, their rich country is still reeling from Hurricane Katrina in 2005, which killed 1,800 people and displaced hundreds of thousands.
Can the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) expand to cope with eco-migrants? It has already struggled to widen its remit to include the internally displaced (26m at the end of 2008) as well as strictly-defined refugees (10m, excluding the Palestinians who come under another agency). A tenfold surge in the numbers within its orbit would push the agency out of control, says James Milner, a professor at Ottawa’s Carleton University. Meanwhile some aid workers see signs of a competition between institutions to take ownership of the eco-migration issue, perhaps by oversimplifying it.
Charles Ehrhart of CARE thinks UNHCR will remain central, but wonders how it or anybody can now distinguish between “forced” and “voluntary” migration. He says climate change may cut agricultural output by half in lowland Africa by 2020. “In such a context, does migration constitute a choice or a necessity?”
Migrants’ rights may be easy to assert for islanders whose homes are drowned—but hard in the case of big, messy movements across Africa and Asia. Most of the displaced will drift to the next-most-liveable place, as the poor do anyway.
“Many states are already overwhelmed by internally displaced populations,” says Mr Ehrhart. “Will they be able to support even more people on the move? If not, whose duty is it to make up the difference?”. At the least, the gap between carbon usage and climate change’s effects portends angry North-South rows.
Meles Zenawi, who as Ethiopia’s prime minister will speak for Africa at several global gatherings this year, predicts that some parts of the continent will become uninhabitable and “those who did the damage will have to pay.” At the December summit on climate change in Copenhagen, he hopes that Africa will “aggressively” demand compensation for environmental damage as well as help with migrants and the mitigation of climate change: in his view a demand of $40 billion would be reasonable.
Many agree that more research is needed to pinpoint the reasons why migrants pick up sticks. People concur that climate change fuels conflict in Darfur, but nobody knows how big a factor it is. Drought helped jihadist fighters seize bits of south Somalia, but was it the main reason?
Gloom abounds. James Lovelock, an environmental guru, posits a collapse in human population, in part related to migration, with a few “lifeboat” regions surviving. Then there is the pace of social change. The number of “megacities”—with populations in the tens of millions—may grow to several hundred by the middle of the 21st century. Most are poorly planned.
Would a migrant from a collapsed city receive aid? “We’ve not experienced anything of this kind, where whole regions, whole countries, may well become unviable,” says Jeffrey Sachs, head of Columbia University’s Earth Institute.
No wonder strategists see vast new security risks, and a big expansion in the world’s “ungoverned spaces”. But much can be done before the exodus turns biblical. In West Africa subsistence farming is badly irrigated. Improve that, throw in some seeds and fertiliser, scrap tariffs, build warehouses and roads, and the region may beat the worst of climate change.
Geographers at UN Habitat, a city-planning agency, say conurbations must adapt to the needs of climate-change migrants. “You can’t just stockpile people,” says Alex de Sherbinin of Columbia University. The pressure is tangible in Addis Ababa, which already has teeming slums. The price of teff, a staple, has surged after a famine that is still pushing people to the city. Mr Meles is not alone in his wrath.
http://www.economist.com/world/international/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13925906
Panos
THE airstrip at Lokichoggio, in the scorched wastes of north Kenya, was once ground zero for food aid. During Sudan’s civil war, flights from here kept millions of people alive. The warehouses are quieter now, but NGOs keep a toehold, in case war restarts—and to deal with what pundits call the “permanent emergency” of “environmentally induced” migration.
Take the local Turkana people. Their numbers have surged in recent decades, and will double again before 2040. But as the area gets hotter and drier, it has less water, grazing and firewood. The drought cycle in northern Kenya has gone from once every eight years to every three years and may contract further. That means no recovery time for the Turkana and their livestock; the result is an increasingly frantic drift from one dry place to another.
A local crisis with local causes? Only partly. Scientists think it is part of a global phenomenon: people across the world on the move as a result of environmental degradation. Just how many are moving, or about to move, is maddeningly unclear.
The International Organisation for Migration thinks there will be 200m climate-change migrants by 2050, when the world’s population is set to peak at 9 billion. Others put the total at 700m.
These startling numbers may conjure up a picture of huge, desperate masses, trekking long distances and if necessary overrunning border defences because their homelands have dried up or been submerged. But at least initially, the situation in Kenya and other parts of east Africa is likely to be more typical: an already poor population whose perpetual search for adequate pasture and shelter grows harder and harder. In such conditions, local disputes—even relatively petty ones between clans and extended families—can easily worsen, and become embroiled in broader religious or political fights. And that in turn makes it harder for everybody in the area to survive, and more desperate to find new places to live, even if they are not far away.
A new report—“In Search of Shelter”—by the United Nations University, the charity CARE and Columbia University in New York lists the eco-migration “hot spots”: dry bits of Africa; river systems in Asia; the interior and coast of Mexico and the Caribbean; and low islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
A one-metre rise in sea levels could displace 24m people along the Ganges, Brahmaputra, Irrawaddy, Salween, Mekong, Yangtze and Yellow rivers—which together support a quarter of humanity. A two-metre rise could uproot 14m people on the Mekong alone and swamp much of its farmland. Meanwhile, the melting of the Himalayan glacier will cause floods and erosion upstream, boosting the price of rice and other staples. And many regional conflicts could be exacerbated.
The scale of the likely population shift raises big questions. Will climate-change migrants be recognised? The classic definition of refugees—tossed between states by war or tyranny—is outdated. Eco-migrants will be paperless paupers, whose multiple woes are hard to disentangle.
Poverty campaigners want a revised legal regime to protect the new migrants. However, this looks tricky. America resists calling them “environmental refugees”: the word “refugee” implies guarantees that cannot realistically be given to the coming torrent of migrants. As American diplomats quietly admit, their rich country is still reeling from Hurricane Katrina in 2005, which killed 1,800 people and displaced hundreds of thousands.
Can the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) expand to cope with eco-migrants? It has already struggled to widen its remit to include the internally displaced (26m at the end of 2008) as well as strictly-defined refugees (10m, excluding the Palestinians who come under another agency). A tenfold surge in the numbers within its orbit would push the agency out of control, says James Milner, a professor at Ottawa’s Carleton University. Meanwhile some aid workers see signs of a competition between institutions to take ownership of the eco-migration issue, perhaps by oversimplifying it.
Charles Ehrhart of CARE thinks UNHCR will remain central, but wonders how it or anybody can now distinguish between “forced” and “voluntary” migration. He says climate change may cut agricultural output by half in lowland Africa by 2020. “In such a context, does migration constitute a choice or a necessity?”
Migrants’ rights may be easy to assert for islanders whose homes are drowned—but hard in the case of big, messy movements across Africa and Asia. Most of the displaced will drift to the next-most-liveable place, as the poor do anyway.
“Many states are already overwhelmed by internally displaced populations,” says Mr Ehrhart. “Will they be able to support even more people on the move? If not, whose duty is it to make up the difference?”. At the least, the gap between carbon usage and climate change’s effects portends angry North-South rows.
Meles Zenawi, who as Ethiopia’s prime minister will speak for Africa at several global gatherings this year, predicts that some parts of the continent will become uninhabitable and “those who did the damage will have to pay.” At the December summit on climate change in Copenhagen, he hopes that Africa will “aggressively” demand compensation for environmental damage as well as help with migrants and the mitigation of climate change: in his view a demand of $40 billion would be reasonable.
Many agree that more research is needed to pinpoint the reasons why migrants pick up sticks. People concur that climate change fuels conflict in Darfur, but nobody knows how big a factor it is. Drought helped jihadist fighters seize bits of south Somalia, but was it the main reason?
Gloom abounds. James Lovelock, an environmental guru, posits a collapse in human population, in part related to migration, with a few “lifeboat” regions surviving. Then there is the pace of social change. The number of “megacities”—with populations in the tens of millions—may grow to several hundred by the middle of the 21st century. Most are poorly planned.
Would a migrant from a collapsed city receive aid? “We’ve not experienced anything of this kind, where whole regions, whole countries, may well become unviable,” says Jeffrey Sachs, head of Columbia University’s Earth Institute.
No wonder strategists see vast new security risks, and a big expansion in the world’s “ungoverned spaces”. But much can be done before the exodus turns biblical. In West Africa subsistence farming is badly irrigated. Improve that, throw in some seeds and fertiliser, scrap tariffs, build warehouses and roads, and the region may beat the worst of climate change.
Geographers at UN Habitat, a city-planning agency, say conurbations must adapt to the needs of climate-change migrants. “You can’t just stockpile people,” says Alex de Sherbinin of Columbia University. The pressure is tangible in Addis Ababa, which already has teeming slums. The price of teff, a staple, has surged after a famine that is still pushing people to the city. Mr Meles is not alone in his wrath.
http://www.economist.com/world/international/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13925906
Thursday 25 June 2009
GLOBAL: HIV, the silent partner in emergencies
NAIROBI, 10 June 2009 (PlusNews) - Food aid and plastic sheeting are the hallmarks of every disaster, but not always condoms and antiretrovirals, even though humanitarian agencies recognize the link between emergencies and the increased risk of HIV and AIDS. "Often HIV prevention is not prioritized, especially in sudden-onset emergencies, but actually HIV prevention is a life-saving issue requiring prioritization in the emergency response," said Mumtaz Mia, UNAIDS regional humanitarian response advisor for East and Southern Africa. Research indicates that the relationship between HIV and emergencies is complex, but experts agree that humanitarian crises deepen vulnerability.
High-risk situations "Recent studies in Haiti, Kenya and Mozambique found an increase in consensual and transactional sex, which is likely to be unprotected, given the frequent unavailability of condoms - an aspect which, clearly, can increase the risk of HIV transmission," said Mia. Unsurprisingly, research by the British think-tank, the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) , found that consensual sex was a natural response to the boredom of camp life, or as a way of seeking solace; transactional sex was equally prevalent as an attempt to benefit from a bad situation.
The meeting and mingling of people, and the erosion of social controls, is one consequence of displacement that humanitarian workers are increasingly recognizing. Sari Seppänen, a programme officer with UNAIDS, noticed that after the outbreak of political violence in Kenya in 2007, young displaced people gravitated to one another. "In one instance, a large group of youth was grouped together in one part of the camp separate from their parents, which created quite an opportunity for sexual networking," she said. James Wanyama, national programme officer with UNAIDS in Uganda, said HIV risk was exacerbated by the lack of access to condoms as a result of a breakdown in supply services during the protracted conflict in northern Uganda.
"The displacement of people into highly congested camps, increased idleness, coupled with poverty, leads to risky sexual behaviour," he said. "There was a breakdown in the community social norms that protected women, girls and other young people from risky behaviour; this was also associated with rape and other forms of gender-based violence.
" Need to follow existing guidelines According to Seppänen, humanitarian workers need to be trained in the guidelines for handling HIV prevention in emergencies as laid out by the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC), a mechanism for coordinating humanitarian assistance by key UN and non-UN partners.
Among the prevention interventions the IASC recommends are: safe blood transfusion services; regular supplies of condoms; management of sexually transmitted infections; education in HIV risk reduction; provision of reproductive health services; availability of prevention of mother-to-child transmission services; creation of measures to prevent and effectively respond to sexual violence, and life-skills training for young people so they can avoid risky casual sex or transactional sex. "People in shelters often receive hygiene or cooking kits that could include condoms," the authors of a recent ODI briefing paper, HIV in Emergencies: One Size Does Not Fit All, suggested.
"The growth of transactional sex, combined with the influx of groups such as truck drivers, humanitarian workers and military personnel, can increase the risk of HIV transmission, especially where condoms are unavailable," they pointed out. "Ways to counteract this coping strategy need to be explored ... such as timely, targeted micro-credit schemes, as well as more HIV prevention campaigns for high-risk groups.
" Better contingency planning Too often, Seppänen said, the response to HIV in humanitarian emergencies is knee-jerk, leading organizations to make on-the-spot decisions that may be flawed. UNAIDS' Mia commented: "HIV can only be managed in emergencies if the response is better coordinated, and HIV is properly integrated into the mainstream emergency response from preparedness to recovery."
"For HIV to be effectively addressed in humanitarian response, it has to be within the framework of the national AIDS response, with the leadership and coordination mechanisms set up for the AIDS response," she noted. "The engagement and leadership of national AIDS authorities, in partnership with civil society, is therefore vital." A 2007 study, Estimates of HIV burden in Emergencies, found that 10 of the 15 countries with the largest number of people living with HIV in 2005 were affected by humanitarian crises or major conflict between 2002 and 2006.
The study also estimated that 1.8 million people living with HIV in 2006 were affected by emergencies, representing 5.4 percent of the global number of people infected with the virus. kr/oa/he Read more: SOMALIA: Fighting AIDS in a war zoneHAITI: HIV masked by the smokescreen of insecurity KENYA: Post-violence sex work boom
Themes: (IRIN) Care/Treatment - PlusNews, (IRIN) Conflict, (IRIN) Early Warning, (IRIN) Gender Issues, (IRIN) Migration, (IRIN) Prevention - PlusNews, (IRIN) PWAs/ASOs - PlusNews
http://www.irinnews.org/PrintReport.aspx?ReportId=84795
High-risk situations "Recent studies in Haiti, Kenya and Mozambique found an increase in consensual and transactional sex, which is likely to be unprotected, given the frequent unavailability of condoms - an aspect which, clearly, can increase the risk of HIV transmission," said Mia. Unsurprisingly, research by the British think-tank, the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) , found that consensual sex was a natural response to the boredom of camp life, or as a way of seeking solace; transactional sex was equally prevalent as an attempt to benefit from a bad situation.
The meeting and mingling of people, and the erosion of social controls, is one consequence of displacement that humanitarian workers are increasingly recognizing. Sari Seppänen, a programme officer with UNAIDS, noticed that after the outbreak of political violence in Kenya in 2007, young displaced people gravitated to one another. "In one instance, a large group of youth was grouped together in one part of the camp separate from their parents, which created quite an opportunity for sexual networking," she said. James Wanyama, national programme officer with UNAIDS in Uganda, said HIV risk was exacerbated by the lack of access to condoms as a result of a breakdown in supply services during the protracted conflict in northern Uganda.
"The displacement of people into highly congested camps, increased idleness, coupled with poverty, leads to risky sexual behaviour," he said. "There was a breakdown in the community social norms that protected women, girls and other young people from risky behaviour; this was also associated with rape and other forms of gender-based violence.
" Need to follow existing guidelines According to Seppänen, humanitarian workers need to be trained in the guidelines for handling HIV prevention in emergencies as laid out by the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC), a mechanism for coordinating humanitarian assistance by key UN and non-UN partners.
Among the prevention interventions the IASC recommends are: safe blood transfusion services; regular supplies of condoms; management of sexually transmitted infections; education in HIV risk reduction; provision of reproductive health services; availability of prevention of mother-to-child transmission services; creation of measures to prevent and effectively respond to sexual violence, and life-skills training for young people so they can avoid risky casual sex or transactional sex. "People in shelters often receive hygiene or cooking kits that could include condoms," the authors of a recent ODI briefing paper, HIV in Emergencies: One Size Does Not Fit All, suggested.
"The growth of transactional sex, combined with the influx of groups such as truck drivers, humanitarian workers and military personnel, can increase the risk of HIV transmission, especially where condoms are unavailable," they pointed out. "Ways to counteract this coping strategy need to be explored ... such as timely, targeted micro-credit schemes, as well as more HIV prevention campaigns for high-risk groups.
" Better contingency planning Too often, Seppänen said, the response to HIV in humanitarian emergencies is knee-jerk, leading organizations to make on-the-spot decisions that may be flawed. UNAIDS' Mia commented: "HIV can only be managed in emergencies if the response is better coordinated, and HIV is properly integrated into the mainstream emergency response from preparedness to recovery."
"For HIV to be effectively addressed in humanitarian response, it has to be within the framework of the national AIDS response, with the leadership and coordination mechanisms set up for the AIDS response," she noted. "The engagement and leadership of national AIDS authorities, in partnership with civil society, is therefore vital." A 2007 study, Estimates of HIV burden in Emergencies, found that 10 of the 15 countries with the largest number of people living with HIV in 2005 were affected by humanitarian crises or major conflict between 2002 and 2006.
The study also estimated that 1.8 million people living with HIV in 2006 were affected by emergencies, representing 5.4 percent of the global number of people infected with the virus. kr/oa/he Read more: SOMALIA: Fighting AIDS in a war zoneHAITI: HIV masked by the smokescreen of insecurity KENYA: Post-violence sex work boom
Themes: (IRIN) Care/Treatment - PlusNews, (IRIN) Conflict, (IRIN) Early Warning, (IRIN) Gender Issues, (IRIN) Migration, (IRIN) Prevention - PlusNews, (IRIN) PWAs/ASOs - PlusNews
http://www.irinnews.org/PrintReport.aspx?ReportId=84795
Tuesday 23 June 2009
RIGHTS: Against Sexual Violence: Solidarity Among African Women
RIGHTS: Against Sexual Violence: Solidarity Among African Women By Wambi Michael
KAMPALA, May 2 (IPS) - Increased cases of rape and sexual abuse of women and girls is closely associated with armed conflict and its aftermath in Africa.
"Rape has been used as a weapon of war by militia, and this hurts women forever, because even in peacetime you find little response in terms of repairing the effects and providing justice," Marie Jalloh told IPS. Jalloh, a member of Parliament from Sierra Leone was among the gender activists brought together in Kampala between April 28-29 by Akina Mama wa Afrika - the name means "solidarity among African women" in Swahili, and the organisation has worked to support African women in identifying issues and organising around them since 1985 - to discuss ways of strengthening the women's movement against gender-based violence in conflict and post-conflict Africa.
"To be honest with you, people - even women - don’t take rape seriously [in Sierra Leone]," she said. "To them, it is a way of life but they don’t know how it is affecting them. Even when the victims try to speak out they don’t get justice. If they go to the police station, the rapist will go and pay money to police and the victims will remain suffering. So some resort to silence but suffer from trauma forever." Françoise Mukuku, the coordinator of a young feminist group in Democratic Republic of Congo, told IPS that rape remains rampant in the eastern part of the country. "The people who are fighting in DRC, they come from Rwanda, Burundi, some are coming from Uganda like the LRA who are active in Congo. We have the same culture where the woman belongs to men. So if you want to humiliate the husband, you rape his wife or daughter," Mukuku said. "I have come across women who have been gang-raped and contracted HIV/AIDS as a result.
Eastern DRC has [so many] cases of fistula not just resulting from childbirth but mainly as a result of gang rape." Mukuku said rape and other forms of sexual violence not only humiliate women but break their confidence, and prevent them from participating in development activities. "We are raising awareness of women on taking the floor, speaking out on rape. We are telling women that our culture is not helping us, religion is not helping us to end rape.
We should find a third way of speaking out because it is we who understand what it feels like when we are raped." she said. Akina Mama Wa Africa (AMwA) executive director Solome Nakaweesi Kimbugwe said the failure of legal protections, as well as poverty and illiteracy have left women vulnerable to gender-based violence.
She said women generally lack economic independence, and denied the opportunity to decide how to use even the limited resources available to them, face an uphill task to defend their legal rights. "Even if a woman sold a chicken, the money is not even enough to hire a lawyer. The laws are there but they are not implemented. The judicial systems and procedures are to the disadvantage of a woman," said Kimbugwe. Activists at the regional meeting in Kampala noted that cases of rape and sexual abuse have not been properly documented, with limited exceptions in Sierra Leone, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
AMwA has launched a three-year gender-based violence programme in the Great Lakes Region and West Africa that will, among other activities, involve the documentation of abuse to strengthen advocacy for better policies. Annie Chikwanha, Senior Fellow at the African Human Security Initiative Institute For Security Studies, said documentation of such experiences is necessary to overcome the silence imposed on survivors of sexual violence.
"There is an aspect of shame that constrains many women’s actions. What will communities say if the whole world knows that I have been raped? We stigmatise ourselves even more because of the whole aspect of shame," she asserted. "And women who are violated are the poorest, so they don’t have any recourse because they don't have a voice. But it is women who suffer these atrocities so they should talk about them instead of a third party who can distort the information." Chikwanha pointed out the difficulty in gathering information about gender-based violence.
"There are so many cultural inhibitions against women. It is very difficult for women to speak out freely; sometimes women require permission just to speak to a stranger," she said. "I have experience in conducting surveys in rural areas in Africa. Most times you have to seek permission of men to access the woman’s voice. Men insist on listening to the conversation. So the women feel constrained to speak out.
We are now saying let us empower women with skills to have these experiences documented." She said that the lack of statistics has affected planning for pro-women services in areas affected by conflict. Taking up a similar theme, Awino Okech told IPS there is a need to include responses to gender-based violence in political interventions in conflict and post- conflict situations. "In situations where there is no psycho-social support for traumatised women, girls and even men whose relatives have been raped - how do you expect recovery of that family?
Women are dying silently from rape-related effects like fistula. Many have HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections... But where can they go for treatment?" Okech works works for the Agency for Cooperation and Research in Development (ACORD) as Gender and Conflict Themes Manager. She said that responding to gender violence has rarely been a priority, but such a response is important for recovery.
Hyacinthe Budomo, gender advisor at International Conference on the Great Lakes Region secretariat told IPS that impunity for perpetrators of sexual crimes could be eliminated if countries took advantage of existing regional institutions and legal frameworks. "We need to reform penal codes in member states of the Great Lakes region.
We need judicial cooperation among member states in the region. We need to train the police in order to end gender-based violence," said Budomo. "I strongly believe if the women come together as a network and push for reforms where there are no laws, and implementation where the laws exist, I believe we shall find a way out of this.
We have good laws at international level but most of these laws have not been domesticated. So the implementation of these laws is still far-fetched. So there is a lot of work to first of all ratify and domesticate them other wise they have remained on shelves as women continue to be raped and sexually abused." (END/2009)
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=46702
KAMPALA, May 2 (IPS) - Increased cases of rape and sexual abuse of women and girls is closely associated with armed conflict and its aftermath in Africa.
"Rape has been used as a weapon of war by militia, and this hurts women forever, because even in peacetime you find little response in terms of repairing the effects and providing justice," Marie Jalloh told IPS. Jalloh, a member of Parliament from Sierra Leone was among the gender activists brought together in Kampala between April 28-29 by Akina Mama wa Afrika - the name means "solidarity among African women" in Swahili, and the organisation has worked to support African women in identifying issues and organising around them since 1985 - to discuss ways of strengthening the women's movement against gender-based violence in conflict and post-conflict Africa.
"To be honest with you, people - even women - don’t take rape seriously [in Sierra Leone]," she said. "To them, it is a way of life but they don’t know how it is affecting them. Even when the victims try to speak out they don’t get justice. If they go to the police station, the rapist will go and pay money to police and the victims will remain suffering. So some resort to silence but suffer from trauma forever." Françoise Mukuku, the coordinator of a young feminist group in Democratic Republic of Congo, told IPS that rape remains rampant in the eastern part of the country. "The people who are fighting in DRC, they come from Rwanda, Burundi, some are coming from Uganda like the LRA who are active in Congo. We have the same culture where the woman belongs to men. So if you want to humiliate the husband, you rape his wife or daughter," Mukuku said. "I have come across women who have been gang-raped and contracted HIV/AIDS as a result.
Eastern DRC has [so many] cases of fistula not just resulting from childbirth but mainly as a result of gang rape." Mukuku said rape and other forms of sexual violence not only humiliate women but break their confidence, and prevent them from participating in development activities. "We are raising awareness of women on taking the floor, speaking out on rape. We are telling women that our culture is not helping us, religion is not helping us to end rape.
We should find a third way of speaking out because it is we who understand what it feels like when we are raped." she said. Akina Mama Wa Africa (AMwA) executive director Solome Nakaweesi Kimbugwe said the failure of legal protections, as well as poverty and illiteracy have left women vulnerable to gender-based violence.
She said women generally lack economic independence, and denied the opportunity to decide how to use even the limited resources available to them, face an uphill task to defend their legal rights. "Even if a woman sold a chicken, the money is not even enough to hire a lawyer. The laws are there but they are not implemented. The judicial systems and procedures are to the disadvantage of a woman," said Kimbugwe. Activists at the regional meeting in Kampala noted that cases of rape and sexual abuse have not been properly documented, with limited exceptions in Sierra Leone, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
AMwA has launched a three-year gender-based violence programme in the Great Lakes Region and West Africa that will, among other activities, involve the documentation of abuse to strengthen advocacy for better policies. Annie Chikwanha, Senior Fellow at the African Human Security Initiative Institute For Security Studies, said documentation of such experiences is necessary to overcome the silence imposed on survivors of sexual violence.
"There is an aspect of shame that constrains many women’s actions. What will communities say if the whole world knows that I have been raped? We stigmatise ourselves even more because of the whole aspect of shame," she asserted. "And women who are violated are the poorest, so they don’t have any recourse because they don't have a voice. But it is women who suffer these atrocities so they should talk about them instead of a third party who can distort the information." Chikwanha pointed out the difficulty in gathering information about gender-based violence.
"There are so many cultural inhibitions against women. It is very difficult for women to speak out freely; sometimes women require permission just to speak to a stranger," she said. "I have experience in conducting surveys in rural areas in Africa. Most times you have to seek permission of men to access the woman’s voice. Men insist on listening to the conversation. So the women feel constrained to speak out.
We are now saying let us empower women with skills to have these experiences documented." She said that the lack of statistics has affected planning for pro-women services in areas affected by conflict. Taking up a similar theme, Awino Okech told IPS there is a need to include responses to gender-based violence in political interventions in conflict and post- conflict situations. "In situations where there is no psycho-social support for traumatised women, girls and even men whose relatives have been raped - how do you expect recovery of that family?
Women are dying silently from rape-related effects like fistula. Many have HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections... But where can they go for treatment?" Okech works works for the Agency for Cooperation and Research in Development (ACORD) as Gender and Conflict Themes Manager. She said that responding to gender violence has rarely been a priority, but such a response is important for recovery.
Hyacinthe Budomo, gender advisor at International Conference on the Great Lakes Region secretariat told IPS that impunity for perpetrators of sexual crimes could be eliminated if countries took advantage of existing regional institutions and legal frameworks. "We need to reform penal codes in member states of the Great Lakes region.
We need judicial cooperation among member states in the region. We need to train the police in order to end gender-based violence," said Budomo. "I strongly believe if the women come together as a network and push for reforms where there are no laws, and implementation where the laws exist, I believe we shall find a way out of this.
We have good laws at international level but most of these laws have not been domesticated. So the implementation of these laws is still far-fetched. So there is a lot of work to first of all ratify and domesticate them other wise they have remained on shelves as women continue to be raped and sexually abused." (END/2009)
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=46702
PROTOCOL TO THE AFRICAN CHARTER ON HUMAN AND PEOPLES' RIGHTS ON THE RIGHTS OF WOMEN IN AFRICA
PROTOCOL TO THE AFRICAN CHARTER ON HUMAN AND PEOPLES' RIGHTS ON THE RIGHTS OF WOMEN IN AFRICA
The States Parties to this Protocol,
CONSIDERING that Article 66 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights provides for special protocols or agreements, if
necessary, to supplement the provisions of the African Charter, and that the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the
Organization of African Unity meeting in its Thirty-first Ordinary Session in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in June 1995, endorsed by
resolution AHG/Res.240 (XXXI) the recommendation of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights to elaborate a Protocol on
the Rights of Women in Africa;
CONSIDERING that Article 2 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights enshrines the principle of non-discrimination on the
grounds of race, ethnic group, colour, sex, language, religion, political or any other opinion, national and social origin, fortune, birth or other status;
FURTHER CONSIDERING that Article 18 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights calls on all States Parties to eliminate
every discrimination against women and to ensure the protection of the rights of women as stipulated in international declarations and
conventions;
NOTING that Articles 60 and 61 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights recognise regional and international human rights
instruments and African practices consistent with international norms on human and peoples' rights as being important reference points for
the application and interpretation of the African Charter;
RECALLING that women's rights have been recognised and guaranteed in all international human rights instruments, notably the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic,
Social and Cultural Rights, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and its Optional Protocol, the
African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, and all other international and regional conventions and covenants relating to the
rights of women as being inalienable, interdependent and indivisible human rights;
NOTING that women's rights and women's essential role in development, have been reaffirmed in the United Nations Plans of
Action on the Environment and Development in 1992, on Human Rights in 1993, on Population and Development in 1994 and on Social
Development in 1995;
RECALLING ALSO United Nations Security Council’s Resolution 1325 (2000) on the role of Women in promoting peace and security;
REAFFIRMING the principle of promoting gender equality as enshrined in the Constitutive Act of the African Union as well as the
New Partnership for Africa’s Development, relevant Declarations, Resolutions and Decisions, which underline the commitment of the
African States to ensure the full participation of African women as equal partners in Africa’s development;
FURTHER NOTING that the African Platform for Action and the Dakar Declaration of 1994 and the Beijing Platform for Action of 1995 call on
all Member States of the United Nations, which have made a solemn commitment to implement them, to take concrete steps to give greater
attention to the human rights of women in order to eliminate all forms of discrimination and of gender-based violence against women;
RECOGNISING the crucial role of women in the preservation of African values based on the principles of equality, peace, freedom, dignity,
justice, solidarity and democracy;
BEARING IN MIND related Resolutions, Declarations,
Recommendations, Decisions, Conventions and other Regional and Sub-Regional Instruments aimed at eliminating all forms of
discrimination and at promoting equality between women and men;
CONCERNED that despite the ratification of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights and other international human rights
instruments by the majority of States Parties, and their solemn commitment to eliminate all forms of discrimination and harmful
practices against women, women in Africa still continue to be victims of discrimination and harmful practices;
FIRMLY CONVINCED that any practice that hinders or endangers the normal growth and affects the physical and psychological development
of women and girls should be condemned and eliminated;
http://www.africa-union.org/root/au/Documents/Treaties/Text/Protocol%20on%20the%20Rights%20of%20Women.pdf
The States Parties to this Protocol,
CONSIDERING that Article 66 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights provides for special protocols or agreements, if
necessary, to supplement the provisions of the African Charter, and that the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the
Organization of African Unity meeting in its Thirty-first Ordinary Session in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in June 1995, endorsed by
resolution AHG/Res.240 (XXXI) the recommendation of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights to elaborate a Protocol on
the Rights of Women in Africa;
CONSIDERING that Article 2 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights enshrines the principle of non-discrimination on the
grounds of race, ethnic group, colour, sex, language, religion, political or any other opinion, national and social origin, fortune, birth or other status;
FURTHER CONSIDERING that Article 18 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights calls on all States Parties to eliminate
every discrimination against women and to ensure the protection of the rights of women as stipulated in international declarations and
conventions;
NOTING that Articles 60 and 61 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights recognise regional and international human rights
instruments and African practices consistent with international norms on human and peoples' rights as being important reference points for
the application and interpretation of the African Charter;
RECALLING that women's rights have been recognised and guaranteed in all international human rights instruments, notably the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic,
Social and Cultural Rights, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and its Optional Protocol, the
African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, and all other international and regional conventions and covenants relating to the
rights of women as being inalienable, interdependent and indivisible human rights;
NOTING that women's rights and women's essential role in development, have been reaffirmed in the United Nations Plans of
Action on the Environment and Development in 1992, on Human Rights in 1993, on Population and Development in 1994 and on Social
Development in 1995;
RECALLING ALSO United Nations Security Council’s Resolution 1325 (2000) on the role of Women in promoting peace and security;
REAFFIRMING the principle of promoting gender equality as enshrined in the Constitutive Act of the African Union as well as the
New Partnership for Africa’s Development, relevant Declarations, Resolutions and Decisions, which underline the commitment of the
African States to ensure the full participation of African women as equal partners in Africa’s development;
FURTHER NOTING that the African Platform for Action and the Dakar Declaration of 1994 and the Beijing Platform for Action of 1995 call on
all Member States of the United Nations, which have made a solemn commitment to implement them, to take concrete steps to give greater
attention to the human rights of women in order to eliminate all forms of discrimination and of gender-based violence against women;
RECOGNISING the crucial role of women in the preservation of African values based on the principles of equality, peace, freedom, dignity,
justice, solidarity and democracy;
BEARING IN MIND related Resolutions, Declarations,
Recommendations, Decisions, Conventions and other Regional and Sub-Regional Instruments aimed at eliminating all forms of
discrimination and at promoting equality between women and men;
CONCERNED that despite the ratification of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights and other international human rights
instruments by the majority of States Parties, and their solemn commitment to eliminate all forms of discrimination and harmful
practices against women, women in Africa still continue to be victims of discrimination and harmful practices;
FIRMLY CONVINCED that any practice that hinders or endangers the normal growth and affects the physical and psychological development
of women and girls should be condemned and eliminated;
http://www.africa-union.org/root/au/Documents/Treaties/Text/Protocol%20on%20the%20Rights%20of%20Women.pdf
Central Africa's 'most beautiful waterfall' under threat
Described as the most beautiful waterfall in Central Africa, Gabon's Kongou Falls are also at the heart of an environmental controversy that some believe has far-reaching implications for conservation in the country. Kongou has apparently been earmarked as the site for a hydro-electric dam to power the Bélinga project, a 3.5 billion dollar initiative to mine iron ore in north-eastern Gabon that is being carried out with financing from Chinese firms in a consortium headed by CMEC.
Work on Bélinga is scheduled to get underway before the end of the year, with the first cargo of ore making its way to China by 2011. China will be the sole client of the project, which also involves the construction of 560 kilometres of railroad and a deepwater port. In addition, some 30,000 jobs are said to be in the offing. Such figures understandably galvanize politicians in a country looking to diversify its economy in the face of dwindling oil revenues, long the economic mainstay of Gabon.
But, conservation groups fear the construction of a dam at Kongou, located in the Ivindo National Park, could have a negative effect on this forest environment.
While an official decision on the hydro-electric site is still pending, Brainforest - a non-governmental organisation (NGO) based in the Gabonese capital, Libreville - claims in the Sep. 1 issue of 'Brainforest Info' that the director-general of energy and hydraulic resources has confirmed the choice of Kongou. The concerns of the conservation groups were laid out in a document presented to President Omar Bongo towards the end of September under the auspices of a coalition called Environnement Gabon (Environment Gabon).
The groups question why a decision on dam location appears to have been made before an environmental impact assessment of construction was undertaken, as required by law.
The statement further calls on the Ministry of Mines to make public the feasibility study which indicates that about 30,000 jobs stand to be created. Of these jobs, it asks, "how many are reserved for the Gabonese, when we know the natural tendency for Chinese firms...to bring in, extensively, workers from their country...?" Furthermore, "if we consider the state of impoverishment of most Gabonese, in spite of significant oil, mining and logging revenues, we may think that it will be the same for revenues from the iron exploitation of Bélinga!"
Gabon's oil sector has been surrounded by allegations of corruption, and claims that oil revenues have not fully benefited the country's citizens. Conservation groups suggest that the dam rather be built at the Tsengué-Lélédi falls, a site recommended in a study dating back to the 1960s that was carried out by Electricité de France (Electricity of France), a public enterprise. They claim that construction of the dam at this site would be cheaper, and more beneficial for local communities.
The Tsengué-Lélédi falls are located outside the Ivindo park. But, they are also further away from Bélinga - an added distance that will increase project costs, says Mines Minister Richard Auguste Onouviet. He claims that about 1.2 billion dollars are needed to build a dam at Tsengué-Lélédi and 435 million dollars to conduct electricity from this location to the Bélinga mine, compared to 754 million dollars for construction at Kongou.
Other points raised in the September statement include concerns about how the contract for the Bélinga project has yet to be made available for public consideration.
Government reportedly views the environmental groups as puppets for Western multinationals opposed to China's exclusive involvement in the project. In addition, officials are encouraging demonstrations in support of the Bélinga project. These have taken place throughout the country under the slogan "Bélinga Will Go Ahead". But, says the Environnement Gabon statement, "The question is not whether this iron mine must be exploited or not, as it will be exploited at some time or other." "The question is rather how will this exploitation be carried out? In a completely uncontrolled way and going against a policy of sustainable development? Or, in a way that is transparent, considered and that meets the criteria of sustainable development?"
Certain environmentalists believe that construction of the dam will also lead to the declassification of Ivindo National Park, opening the door to commercial exploitation of Gabon's 12 other parks. These reserves were only created in 2002, when government made a decision to set aside about 10 percent of national territory for conservation.
The country's sole national maritime park, a home to whales and marine turtles, is already under threat: a permit has been issued to the Chinese petrol firm Sinopec to prospect for petrol in this conservation area. In a development that may have given hope to conservations groups, Deputy Environment Minister Georgette Koko recently ordered Chinese investors to stop work on a road leading to the Kongou falls that was linked to the hydro-electric project.
For their part, the Chinese companies funding Bélinga have remained silent. Trade between Africa and China has increased substantially in recent years as the Asian giant has turned to Africa in search of raw materials to fuel its economic growth.
However, China has been accused of disregarding human rights and environmental concerns in its efforts to secure African resources. Gabonese NGO representatives have agreed to take part in a commission that has been put in place to address the Bélinga controversy. But, they say they will not allow themselves to be silenced on this issue.
http://www.afrika.no/Detailed/18445.html
Work on Bélinga is scheduled to get underway before the end of the year, with the first cargo of ore making its way to China by 2011. China will be the sole client of the project, which also involves the construction of 560 kilometres of railroad and a deepwater port. In addition, some 30,000 jobs are said to be in the offing. Such figures understandably galvanize politicians in a country looking to diversify its economy in the face of dwindling oil revenues, long the economic mainstay of Gabon.
But, conservation groups fear the construction of a dam at Kongou, located in the Ivindo National Park, could have a negative effect on this forest environment.
While an official decision on the hydro-electric site is still pending, Brainforest - a non-governmental organisation (NGO) based in the Gabonese capital, Libreville - claims in the Sep. 1 issue of 'Brainforest Info' that the director-general of energy and hydraulic resources has confirmed the choice of Kongou. The concerns of the conservation groups were laid out in a document presented to President Omar Bongo towards the end of September under the auspices of a coalition called Environnement Gabon (Environment Gabon).
The groups question why a decision on dam location appears to have been made before an environmental impact assessment of construction was undertaken, as required by law.
The statement further calls on the Ministry of Mines to make public the feasibility study which indicates that about 30,000 jobs stand to be created. Of these jobs, it asks, "how many are reserved for the Gabonese, when we know the natural tendency for Chinese firms...to bring in, extensively, workers from their country...?" Furthermore, "if we consider the state of impoverishment of most Gabonese, in spite of significant oil, mining and logging revenues, we may think that it will be the same for revenues from the iron exploitation of Bélinga!"
Gabon's oil sector has been surrounded by allegations of corruption, and claims that oil revenues have not fully benefited the country's citizens. Conservation groups suggest that the dam rather be built at the Tsengué-Lélédi falls, a site recommended in a study dating back to the 1960s that was carried out by Electricité de France (Electricity of France), a public enterprise. They claim that construction of the dam at this site would be cheaper, and more beneficial for local communities.
The Tsengué-Lélédi falls are located outside the Ivindo park. But, they are also further away from Bélinga - an added distance that will increase project costs, says Mines Minister Richard Auguste Onouviet. He claims that about 1.2 billion dollars are needed to build a dam at Tsengué-Lélédi and 435 million dollars to conduct electricity from this location to the Bélinga mine, compared to 754 million dollars for construction at Kongou.
Other points raised in the September statement include concerns about how the contract for the Bélinga project has yet to be made available for public consideration.
Government reportedly views the environmental groups as puppets for Western multinationals opposed to China's exclusive involvement in the project. In addition, officials are encouraging demonstrations in support of the Bélinga project. These have taken place throughout the country under the slogan "Bélinga Will Go Ahead". But, says the Environnement Gabon statement, "The question is not whether this iron mine must be exploited or not, as it will be exploited at some time or other." "The question is rather how will this exploitation be carried out? In a completely uncontrolled way and going against a policy of sustainable development? Or, in a way that is transparent, considered and that meets the criteria of sustainable development?"
Certain environmentalists believe that construction of the dam will also lead to the declassification of Ivindo National Park, opening the door to commercial exploitation of Gabon's 12 other parks. These reserves were only created in 2002, when government made a decision to set aside about 10 percent of national territory for conservation.
The country's sole national maritime park, a home to whales and marine turtles, is already under threat: a permit has been issued to the Chinese petrol firm Sinopec to prospect for petrol in this conservation area. In a development that may have given hope to conservations groups, Deputy Environment Minister Georgette Koko recently ordered Chinese investors to stop work on a road leading to the Kongou falls that was linked to the hydro-electric project.
For their part, the Chinese companies funding Bélinga have remained silent. Trade between Africa and China has increased substantially in recent years as the Asian giant has turned to Africa in search of raw materials to fuel its economic growth.
However, China has been accused of disregarding human rights and environmental concerns in its efforts to secure African resources. Gabonese NGO representatives have agreed to take part in a commission that has been put in place to address the Bélinga controversy. But, they say they will not allow themselves to be silenced on this issue.
http://www.afrika.no/Detailed/18445.html
Africa weather information network launched by UN, public-private partnership
http://www.conserveafrica.org.uk/donate.php
About 5,000 new automatic weather stations are set to be deployed across Africa, under a climate change initiative announced today by the United Nations World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the Global Humanitarian Forum, the Earth Institute at Columbia University, and mobile telecommunications companies Ericsson and Zain. The innovative public-private partnership launched the "Weather Info for All" initiative to improve Africa's weather monitoring network in the face of the growing impact of climate change.
Sub-Saharan Africa is the region facing the most immediate risk of droughts and floods due to climate change, according to a recent Global Humanitarian Forum report. Agricultural yields in some areas are expected to fall by 50 per cent as early as 2020. The 5,000 automatic weather stations will be installed at new and existing mobile network sites throughout Africa over the coming years, aiming to increase dissemination of weather information via mobile phones that can reach the continent's most remote communities. At the launch in Geneva, former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, President of the Global Humanitarian Forum, said "This is a great example for twenty-first century collaborative humanitarian and development work between public and private sectors."
Through its Mobile Innovation Center in Africa, Ericsson will develop mobile applications to help communicate weather information developed by National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) via mobile phones. "The massive growth of mobile subscribers in Africa is the perfect opportunity for the telecoms community to collaborate with national partners to strengthen weather networks and systems across the continent," said Carl-Henric Svanberg, President and CEO of Ericsson. The initial deployment, already begun in Zain networks, focuses on the area around Lake Victoria in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.
The first 19 automatic weather stations installed will double the weather monitoring capacity of the Lake region. "Once the switch is turned on, a flow of extensive weather data will become available throughout Africa, with benefits extending from the national policy makers to the smallholder farmers," said Jeffrey Sachs, head of Columbia University's Earth Institute.
Approximately 70 per cent of Africans rely on farming for their livelihood. Meteorological information will become increasingly critical as changing weather patterns render obsolete traditional knowledge relating to agriculture that African farmers have relied on for centuries. "For food production, almost every decision is linked to weather, climate and water parameters," said Michel Jarraud, Secretary-General of the WMO. "Working through NMHSs, WMO will identify weather information needs, advise on technical requirements and help disseminate the information. This initiative may prove to be one of the most important for African meteorology in decades."
http://www0.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=31193
http://www.conserveafrica.org.uk/donate.php
About 5,000 new automatic weather stations are set to be deployed across Africa, under a climate change initiative announced today by the United Nations World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the Global Humanitarian Forum, the Earth Institute at Columbia University, and mobile telecommunications companies Ericsson and Zain. The innovative public-private partnership launched the "Weather Info for All" initiative to improve Africa's weather monitoring network in the face of the growing impact of climate change.
Sub-Saharan Africa is the region facing the most immediate risk of droughts and floods due to climate change, according to a recent Global Humanitarian Forum report. Agricultural yields in some areas are expected to fall by 50 per cent as early as 2020. The 5,000 automatic weather stations will be installed at new and existing mobile network sites throughout Africa over the coming years, aiming to increase dissemination of weather information via mobile phones that can reach the continent's most remote communities. At the launch in Geneva, former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, President of the Global Humanitarian Forum, said "This is a great example for twenty-first century collaborative humanitarian and development work between public and private sectors."
Through its Mobile Innovation Center in Africa, Ericsson will develop mobile applications to help communicate weather information developed by National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) via mobile phones. "The massive growth of mobile subscribers in Africa is the perfect opportunity for the telecoms community to collaborate with national partners to strengthen weather networks and systems across the continent," said Carl-Henric Svanberg, President and CEO of Ericsson. The initial deployment, already begun in Zain networks, focuses on the area around Lake Victoria in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.
The first 19 automatic weather stations installed will double the weather monitoring capacity of the Lake region. "Once the switch is turned on, a flow of extensive weather data will become available throughout Africa, with benefits extending from the national policy makers to the smallholder farmers," said Jeffrey Sachs, head of Columbia University's Earth Institute.
Approximately 70 per cent of Africans rely on farming for their livelihood. Meteorological information will become increasingly critical as changing weather patterns render obsolete traditional knowledge relating to agriculture that African farmers have relied on for centuries. "For food production, almost every decision is linked to weather, climate and water parameters," said Michel Jarraud, Secretary-General of the WMO. "Working through NMHSs, WMO will identify weather information needs, advise on technical requirements and help disseminate the information. This initiative may prove to be one of the most important for African meteorology in decades."
http://www0.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=31193
http://www.conserveafrica.org.uk/donate.php
Tuesday 16 June 2009
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA
http://www.conserveafrica.org.uk/donate.php
WORLD SUMMIT ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT (WSSD)JOHANNESBURG, AUGUST 26 - SEPTEMBER 4, 2002
Welcome to the World Summit Web Site of the Heinrich Boell Foundation. This Web Site wants to provide you with basic information about the World Summit, outline its main policy issues and present civil society activities in the run up to and during the summit, as well as analysises of the summit outcomes.
"With the world's most powerful governments fully behind the corporate globalisation agenda, it was agreed even before the Summit that there would be no new mandatory agreements. Rather the focus was to be on implementation of old agreements, mainly through partnerships with the private sector. In other words, those aspects of sustainability that are convenient for private sector would be implemented." Kenny Bruno, CorpWatch ++ [ The Earth Summit's Deathblow to Sustainable Development; CorpWatch article; September 4 ]
http://www.worldsummit2002.org/
Sustainable Development and Climate change in South Africa:
http://developmentfirst.org/Studies/SouthAfricaCountryStudies.pdf
Sustainable development in North Africa: experiences and lessons
http://www.uneca-na.org/anglais/seminaires/Aide%20memoire_English%20_DD1107_V3_.pdf
MEETING THE CHALLENGES OF IMPLEMENTING INTEGRATED AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
IN AFRICA: AGRICULTURE AND WATER
http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=Africa+Sustainable+Development&hl=en&num=100&newwindow=1&start=100&sa=N
http://www.conserveafrica.org.uk/donate.php
WORLD SUMMIT ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT (WSSD)JOHANNESBURG, AUGUST 26 - SEPTEMBER 4, 2002
Welcome to the World Summit Web Site of the Heinrich Boell Foundation. This Web Site wants to provide you with basic information about the World Summit, outline its main policy issues and present civil society activities in the run up to and during the summit, as well as analysises of the summit outcomes.
"With the world's most powerful governments fully behind the corporate globalisation agenda, it was agreed even before the Summit that there would be no new mandatory agreements. Rather the focus was to be on implementation of old agreements, mainly through partnerships with the private sector. In other words, those aspects of sustainability that are convenient for private sector would be implemented." Kenny Bruno, CorpWatch ++ [ The Earth Summit's Deathblow to Sustainable Development; CorpWatch article; September 4 ]
http://www.worldsummit2002.org/
Sustainable Development and Climate change in South Africa:
http://developmentfirst.org/Studies/SouthAfricaCountryStudies.pdf
Sustainable development in North Africa: experiences and lessons
http://www.uneca-na.org/anglais/seminaires/Aide%20memoire_English%20_DD1107_V3_.pdf
MEETING THE CHALLENGES OF IMPLEMENTING INTEGRATED AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
IN AFRICA: AGRICULTURE AND WATER
http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=Africa+Sustainable+Development&hl=en&num=100&newwindow=1&start=100&sa=N
http://www.conserveafrica.org.uk/donate.php
Friday 12 June 2009
Climate Change News update
http://www.conserveafrica.org.uk/donate.php
1.United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
Countdown to Copenhagen:
http://unfccc.int/2860.php
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.Accra Climate Change Talks 2008
The latest round of United Nations climate change negotiations took place in Accra, Ghana, from 21-27 August. The Accra Climate Change Talks took forward work on a strengthened and effective international climate change deal under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, as well as work on emission reduction rules and tools under the Kyoto Protocol. This is part of a negotiating process that will be concluded in Copenhagen at the end of 2009. Over 1600 participants attended the Accra meeting, which was the third major UNFCCC gathering this year.The venue for the sessions was the Accra International Conference Center (AICC). A limited number of side events and exhibits focused on the Accra Climate Talks took place.
http://unfccc.int/meetings/intersessional/accra/items/4437.php
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.African countries ask for climate change funding
UN: Africa needs at least $1 billion a year to manage the effects of climate change such as sinking islands, changing farming techniques and relocating people from areas affected by extreme weather.
AP/Michael von Bülow 02/06/2009 10:30
Africa contributes little to global warming but suffers disproportionately from its effects, the continent's environment ministers said Friday, calling for more money and support from rich nations ahead of a landmark climate conference. The ministers, meeting in Nairobi, said they will ask for funding from rich nations at December's U.N. conference in Copenhagen of 190 countries. They did not give a figure, but the U.N. says Africa needs at least $1 billion a year to manage the effects of climate change such as sinking islands, changing farming techniques and even relocating people from areas affected by extreme weather. Buyelwa Sonjica, South Africa's water affairs and environment minister, said she wants "stronger leadership from the developed world ... I am not sure it is there yet." In recent years, Africa has begun to experience the effects of a swiftly warming planet, exacerbating an already existing litany of woes on the world's poorest continent. (Photo of Buyelwa Sonjica: Scanpix/AFP)
Read more
AP: African officials ask for climate change funding
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4. African environment ministers reach significant climate change accord – UN
29 May 2009 – The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) today announced a landmark agreement reached by over 30 African ministers to mainstream climate change adaptation measures into national and regional development plans, policies and strategies.
The Nairobi Declaration adopted at the Special Session of the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN) aims to ensure adequate adaptation to climate change in the areas of water resources, agriculture, health, infrastructure, biodiversity and ecosystems, forest, urban management, tourism, food and energy security and management of coastal and marine resources.
The Declaration also calls on the international community to support the continent in implementing climate change programmes while at the same time achieving sustainable development, with an emphasis on the most vulnerable, such as women and children, who bear the brunt of the impact of global warming.
“Africa’s environment ministers have today signalled their resolve to be part of the solution to the climate change challenge by forging a unified position, within their diversity of economies, in advance of the crucial UN climate change convention meeting in Copenhagen in just 192 days time,” said UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner.
The head of UNEP, which hosts the AMCEN secretariat, added that the “development prize for Africa is an acceleration of clean and renewable energy projects and payments for carbon-storing ecosystems from forests up to eventually perhaps dry land soils, grasslands and sustainable agriculture.”
Mr. Steiner stressed that Africa has “shouldered its domestic and global responsibilities. It is now time for other continents and countries, especially the developed economies, to now seriously shoulder theirs.”
According to UNEP, Africa has the lowest per capita greenhouse gas emissions rate, but bears the highest impact of climate change. It is predicted that some African countries will suffer reduced harvests of up to 50 per cent from rain-fed agriculture by 2020. During the same timeframe, between 75 million and 250 million people are expected to be exposed to increased water stress due to changes in the continent’s environment.
Since the Kyoto Protocol – a UN treaty designed to limit greenhouse gas emissions – was drawn up in 1997, there has been some progress in acknowledging the need to support adaptation in developing countries. However, little has been done, with the cost of adaptation in Africa estimated between $1 billion to $50 billion per year.
The AMCEN gathering brought around 300 African negotiators, high-level experts, civil society organizations and ministers together with a view to work towards a shared vision on climate change and develop a single African voice in Copenhagen and to advance the continent’s interests in negotiations for the climate change regime beyond 2012, when the Kyoto Protocol expires.
The Declaration highlights the need for a coherent financial mechanism to battle climate change, with equitable governance and simplified access procedures.
In this regard, African ministers are advocating for the improvement and modification of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) in order to ensure equitable geographical distribution of projects that contribute to sustainable development efforts on the continent.
They are also calling for the expansion of eligible categories to benefit from carbon credits and other international incentives to include sustainable land use, agriculture and forest management, in order to promote agricultural productivity in a way that improves resilience and adaptation to climate change.
They recommend that the Group of Eight (G-8) industrialized nations implement the recommendation to create a regional climate centre in Africa to improve climate risk management and to carry out the regional strategy for disaster-risk reduction.
As well as pressing for modification in the CDM and other international incentives – such as carbon credits – to include sustainable land use, agriculture and forest management, the ministers called on developed countries to set ambitious targets to reduce their emissions by 2020.
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=30965&Cr=climate+change&Cr1
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.Africa to present common voice at climate conference
Adjust font size:
African countries are expected to present a common voice at the forthcoming conference on climate change to be held in December in Copenhagen, Demark, a Nigerian official said in Abuja on Wednesday.
Victor Fodeke, Head of the Climate Change Special Unit in the Federal Ministry of Environment, said Nigeria's position on climate change is not different from the position of most African countries.
He said presenting a common voice at the talks is necessary for African countries, which, like other developing countries, contribute a meager 3 percent of green house gases but are the most vulnerable to the impact of climate change.
Fodeke said Africa's position at the conference would be geared at strengthening the continent's resolve to adapt to policies that would help it to curtail the adverse impact of climate change.
He said such policies should be proactive, in order to help the continent manage the adverse consequences of climate change.
Fodeke added that to mitigate the effects posed to Africa by climate change, African leaders have to reach the conclusion that four issues must be addressed in the efforts to combat climate change.
He listed the issues as adaptation, mitigation, capacity building and technology transfer.
Fodeke said the issues would constitute the four pillars in negotiations with developed countries to assist African countries absorb the impact of climate change, and challenge the developed nations to honor their commitment to Africa.
"It is important for developed countries to make short term commitments to Africa that are measurable, verifiable and reportable,'' the News Agency of Nigeria quoted him as saying.
The climate change expert said unlike the developed nations, Africa does not possess the technology and know-how to absorb the adverse impact of climate change.
"That is why Africa is more vulnerable to climate change, because it does not possess the capacity and technology to tackle its adverse impact,'' he added.
(Xinhua News Agency June 11, 2009)
http://www.china.org.cn/environment/news/2009-06/11/content_17927158.htm
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6.Statement to the Special AMCEN Session on Climate change
by Mithika Mwenda, PACJA Coordinator
Your Excellency the President of the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment;
Distinguished Delegates;
The able Secretariat of UNEP/ROA;
Ladies and Gentlemen;
The Pan African Climate Justice Alliance is delighted to have the opportunity to address this important Forum in such a historic and important year as we marshal our troops to win a climate change deal in Copenhagen that assures vulnerable people in Africa descent livelihoods.
Achieving a deal that is fair, equitable, ecologically just and adequate will not be easy, but it is almost indispensable. Copenhagen, thus, must be a key turning point for climate justice – a crucial milestone on the journey to stabilizing the Earth’s climate and securing the rights and aspirations of all people.
The injustice of climate change in Africa
The global impacts of, and responsibilities for, climate change are unequally shared. The tragic irony is that those with the least responsibility for climate change stand to suffer most from current and future consequences. Without intervention, climate change is likely to exacerbate existing global inequalities. The developmental gains secured in Africa are at risk of being wiped out and the challenge of achieving sustainable development, particularly the Millennium Development Goals, will become even more difficult and urgent.
The 53 African countries are responsible for less than 4% of global emissions and have over 15% of the global population. The developed countries have emitted almost three quarters of all historical emissions but they represent less than one fifth of the world’s population. Africa is not historically responsible for climate change, but must all take responsibility for responding to its impacts and demanding climate justice from developed nations.
Gender
Climate change impacts men and women differently. The majority of the poor in Africa are women, and we believe that women are the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. It is our submission that climate change response strategies need to take the specific needs of women into account – this must go beyond rhetoric and become a fundamental and practical element of all African climate change response strategies and actions.
Calling on Annex 1 Mitigation action
PACJA believes that the proposals by developed countries in the climate negotiations, on both mitigation and adaptation, are inadequate. They seek to pass on the costs of adaptation and mitigation, avoiding their responsibility to finance climate change response efforts in Africa. As the basis of a fair and effective climate solution, we call on Annex 1 countries to acknowledge and repay the full measure of their climate debt to African countries. We also call on Annex 1 countries to collectively agree to cut their emissions to at least 45% below 1990 levels by 2020 and at least 90% by 2050 - with all reductions to be achieved within those countries, not through carbon offsetting.
We note with concern that the draft declaration for this AMCEN meeting only refers to emissions cuts that are “towards the upper end of the 25-40% range”, once more leaving a loophole to be exploited by those who are not interested in taking action.
Adaptation
PACJA would like to highlight the following points:
Adaptation finance must be additional to existing ODA commitments and in the form of grants and not loans.
Adaptation should foster the realisation of fundamental human rights and should build social, economic and environmental resilience.
The financial governance of adaptation funds must be representative, robust and accountable and under the auspices of the UNFCCC. The governance structure should include civil society representation.
Furthermore, Africa is one of the world’s most important reservoirs of soil and other terrestrial carbon, estimated to account for at least 20% of the world’s entire stock of forest carbon and a great share of its agricultural carbon with very large potential for additional sequestration and other mitigation efforts.
We recommend that the programmmes and the structures currently being developed, including the proposed mechanism for crediting reduced emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) be suited to the conditions that prevail in Africa. It is essential to ensure synergy between REDD and the full range of agriculture, forestry and other land uses (AFOLU). Further more, deforestation and other land uses change are currently estimated to account for over 30% of green house gas emissions.
The Global Environment Facility (GEF)
PACJA realises that while new funding mechanisms are being put in place, some interim measures will have to exist. If the GEF is to be used as one of the interim financing mechanisms, its governance must be given a significant and rapid overhaul to make it more efficient and easier to access. There is widespread frustration with, and distrust towards, the GEF in Africa. One member of our alliance related that in his country, people joke that it is easier to get a camel through the eye of a needle than it is to get money out of the GEF.
African Governments’ support for climate change negotiations and national action
The recent global financial crisis and enthusiasm with which the developed nations responded with generous bail outs and other rescue measures demonstrate their capacity to deal with emergencies. However, their reluctance to exhibit similar response to the climate-induced catastrophes in Africa clearly shows their lack of good faith. Our negotiators must not fail to bear that in mind while dialoguing for a post-2012 climate change agreement.
Recognizing that African governments are the primary duty bearers for our peoples, PACJA urges them to demonstrate leadership on climate change by:
Developing an international engagement strategy that puts pressure on the industrialized countries primarily responsible for historic emissions to repay their adaptation debt to developing countries by committing to full financing and compensation for the adverse effects of climate change on all affected countries, groups and people;
Ensuring that our climate change negotiation teams are well supported and resourced, both financially and in terms of skilled experts.
Ensuring consistency and continuity of skilled African negotiators at UNFCCC meetings.
Urgently establishing and implementing national climate change strategies in a consultative, multi-stakeholder manner, ensuring buy-in from all ministries. These strategies must be gender sensitive.
Ensuring that climate change is mainstreamed in all national developmental agenda.
Madam President, distinguished delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen, PACJA thanks AMCEN and the African Group of negotiators for their continued effort and leadership in consolidating a common negotiating position, which, no doubt, will tilt the scale towards a pro-people agreement once the community of nations gather in Copenhagen later in the year. We have the numbers, and this is the time to put them into use. The African civil society, and indeed the people of Africa, will be watching the run up to Copenhagen and the work of our delegations and Governments with keen interest and expectation. PACJA is willing to constructively engage with you, and continually contribute to this effort wherever possible, and wherever called upon to.
Thank you.
http://www.unep.org/roa/Amcen/Amcen_Events/3rd_ss/Docs/Speeches/PACJA.pdf
Related Posts:
• Youth Statement to the 3rd Special Session of AMCEN on Climate Change (Nairobi, Kenya. 25 - 29 May 2009)
• Scientists to Create First-Ever Detailed Digital Map of Sub-Saharan Africa’s Depleted Soils
• Global Climate Talks Must Address Agriculture OneWorld.net (U.S.)
• Global Climate
• Anila Stove for Pyrolysis
http://www.conserveafrica.org.uk/donate.php
1.United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
Countdown to Copenhagen:
http://unfccc.int/2860.php
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.Accra Climate Change Talks 2008
The latest round of United Nations climate change negotiations took place in Accra, Ghana, from 21-27 August. The Accra Climate Change Talks took forward work on a strengthened and effective international climate change deal under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, as well as work on emission reduction rules and tools under the Kyoto Protocol. This is part of a negotiating process that will be concluded in Copenhagen at the end of 2009. Over 1600 participants attended the Accra meeting, which was the third major UNFCCC gathering this year.The venue for the sessions was the Accra International Conference Center (AICC). A limited number of side events and exhibits focused on the Accra Climate Talks took place.
http://unfccc.int/meetings/intersessional/accra/items/4437.php
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.African countries ask for climate change funding
UN: Africa needs at least $1 billion a year to manage the effects of climate change such as sinking islands, changing farming techniques and relocating people from areas affected by extreme weather.
AP/Michael von Bülow 02/06/2009 10:30
Africa contributes little to global warming but suffers disproportionately from its effects, the continent's environment ministers said Friday, calling for more money and support from rich nations ahead of a landmark climate conference. The ministers, meeting in Nairobi, said they will ask for funding from rich nations at December's U.N. conference in Copenhagen of 190 countries. They did not give a figure, but the U.N. says Africa needs at least $1 billion a year to manage the effects of climate change such as sinking islands, changing farming techniques and even relocating people from areas affected by extreme weather. Buyelwa Sonjica, South Africa's water affairs and environment minister, said she wants "stronger leadership from the developed world ... I am not sure it is there yet." In recent years, Africa has begun to experience the effects of a swiftly warming planet, exacerbating an already existing litany of woes on the world's poorest continent. (Photo of Buyelwa Sonjica: Scanpix/AFP)
Read more
AP: African officials ask for climate change funding
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4. African environment ministers reach significant climate change accord – UN
29 May 2009 – The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) today announced a landmark agreement reached by over 30 African ministers to mainstream climate change adaptation measures into national and regional development plans, policies and strategies.
The Nairobi Declaration adopted at the Special Session of the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN) aims to ensure adequate adaptation to climate change in the areas of water resources, agriculture, health, infrastructure, biodiversity and ecosystems, forest, urban management, tourism, food and energy security and management of coastal and marine resources.
The Declaration also calls on the international community to support the continent in implementing climate change programmes while at the same time achieving sustainable development, with an emphasis on the most vulnerable, such as women and children, who bear the brunt of the impact of global warming.
“Africa’s environment ministers have today signalled their resolve to be part of the solution to the climate change challenge by forging a unified position, within their diversity of economies, in advance of the crucial UN climate change convention meeting in Copenhagen in just 192 days time,” said UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner.
The head of UNEP, which hosts the AMCEN secretariat, added that the “development prize for Africa is an acceleration of clean and renewable energy projects and payments for carbon-storing ecosystems from forests up to eventually perhaps dry land soils, grasslands and sustainable agriculture.”
Mr. Steiner stressed that Africa has “shouldered its domestic and global responsibilities. It is now time for other continents and countries, especially the developed economies, to now seriously shoulder theirs.”
According to UNEP, Africa has the lowest per capita greenhouse gas emissions rate, but bears the highest impact of climate change. It is predicted that some African countries will suffer reduced harvests of up to 50 per cent from rain-fed agriculture by 2020. During the same timeframe, between 75 million and 250 million people are expected to be exposed to increased water stress due to changes in the continent’s environment.
Since the Kyoto Protocol – a UN treaty designed to limit greenhouse gas emissions – was drawn up in 1997, there has been some progress in acknowledging the need to support adaptation in developing countries. However, little has been done, with the cost of adaptation in Africa estimated between $1 billion to $50 billion per year.
The AMCEN gathering brought around 300 African negotiators, high-level experts, civil society organizations and ministers together with a view to work towards a shared vision on climate change and develop a single African voice in Copenhagen and to advance the continent’s interests in negotiations for the climate change regime beyond 2012, when the Kyoto Protocol expires.
The Declaration highlights the need for a coherent financial mechanism to battle climate change, with equitable governance and simplified access procedures.
In this regard, African ministers are advocating for the improvement and modification of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) in order to ensure equitable geographical distribution of projects that contribute to sustainable development efforts on the continent.
They are also calling for the expansion of eligible categories to benefit from carbon credits and other international incentives to include sustainable land use, agriculture and forest management, in order to promote agricultural productivity in a way that improves resilience and adaptation to climate change.
They recommend that the Group of Eight (G-8) industrialized nations implement the recommendation to create a regional climate centre in Africa to improve climate risk management and to carry out the regional strategy for disaster-risk reduction.
As well as pressing for modification in the CDM and other international incentives – such as carbon credits – to include sustainable land use, agriculture and forest management, the ministers called on developed countries to set ambitious targets to reduce their emissions by 2020.
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=30965&Cr=climate+change&Cr1
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.Africa to present common voice at climate conference
Adjust font size:
African countries are expected to present a common voice at the forthcoming conference on climate change to be held in December in Copenhagen, Demark, a Nigerian official said in Abuja on Wednesday.
Victor Fodeke, Head of the Climate Change Special Unit in the Federal Ministry of Environment, said Nigeria's position on climate change is not different from the position of most African countries.
He said presenting a common voice at the talks is necessary for African countries, which, like other developing countries, contribute a meager 3 percent of green house gases but are the most vulnerable to the impact of climate change.
Fodeke said Africa's position at the conference would be geared at strengthening the continent's resolve to adapt to policies that would help it to curtail the adverse impact of climate change.
He said such policies should be proactive, in order to help the continent manage the adverse consequences of climate change.
Fodeke added that to mitigate the effects posed to Africa by climate change, African leaders have to reach the conclusion that four issues must be addressed in the efforts to combat climate change.
He listed the issues as adaptation, mitigation, capacity building and technology transfer.
Fodeke said the issues would constitute the four pillars in negotiations with developed countries to assist African countries absorb the impact of climate change, and challenge the developed nations to honor their commitment to Africa.
"It is important for developed countries to make short term commitments to Africa that are measurable, verifiable and reportable,'' the News Agency of Nigeria quoted him as saying.
The climate change expert said unlike the developed nations, Africa does not possess the technology and know-how to absorb the adverse impact of climate change.
"That is why Africa is more vulnerable to climate change, because it does not possess the capacity and technology to tackle its adverse impact,'' he added.
(Xinhua News Agency June 11, 2009)
http://www.china.org.cn/environment/news/2009-06/11/content_17927158.htm
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6.Statement to the Special AMCEN Session on Climate change
by Mithika Mwenda, PACJA Coordinator
Your Excellency the President of the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment;
Distinguished Delegates;
The able Secretariat of UNEP/ROA;
Ladies and Gentlemen;
The Pan African Climate Justice Alliance is delighted to have the opportunity to address this important Forum in such a historic and important year as we marshal our troops to win a climate change deal in Copenhagen that assures vulnerable people in Africa descent livelihoods.
Achieving a deal that is fair, equitable, ecologically just and adequate will not be easy, but it is almost indispensable. Copenhagen, thus, must be a key turning point for climate justice – a crucial milestone on the journey to stabilizing the Earth’s climate and securing the rights and aspirations of all people.
The injustice of climate change in Africa
The global impacts of, and responsibilities for, climate change are unequally shared. The tragic irony is that those with the least responsibility for climate change stand to suffer most from current and future consequences. Without intervention, climate change is likely to exacerbate existing global inequalities. The developmental gains secured in Africa are at risk of being wiped out and the challenge of achieving sustainable development, particularly the Millennium Development Goals, will become even more difficult and urgent.
The 53 African countries are responsible for less than 4% of global emissions and have over 15% of the global population. The developed countries have emitted almost three quarters of all historical emissions but they represent less than one fifth of the world’s population. Africa is not historically responsible for climate change, but must all take responsibility for responding to its impacts and demanding climate justice from developed nations.
Gender
Climate change impacts men and women differently. The majority of the poor in Africa are women, and we believe that women are the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. It is our submission that climate change response strategies need to take the specific needs of women into account – this must go beyond rhetoric and become a fundamental and practical element of all African climate change response strategies and actions.
Calling on Annex 1 Mitigation action
PACJA believes that the proposals by developed countries in the climate negotiations, on both mitigation and adaptation, are inadequate. They seek to pass on the costs of adaptation and mitigation, avoiding their responsibility to finance climate change response efforts in Africa. As the basis of a fair and effective climate solution, we call on Annex 1 countries to acknowledge and repay the full measure of their climate debt to African countries. We also call on Annex 1 countries to collectively agree to cut their emissions to at least 45% below 1990 levels by 2020 and at least 90% by 2050 - with all reductions to be achieved within those countries, not through carbon offsetting.
We note with concern that the draft declaration for this AMCEN meeting only refers to emissions cuts that are “towards the upper end of the 25-40% range”, once more leaving a loophole to be exploited by those who are not interested in taking action.
Adaptation
PACJA would like to highlight the following points:
Adaptation finance must be additional to existing ODA commitments and in the form of grants and not loans.
Adaptation should foster the realisation of fundamental human rights and should build social, economic and environmental resilience.
The financial governance of adaptation funds must be representative, robust and accountable and under the auspices of the UNFCCC. The governance structure should include civil society representation.
Furthermore, Africa is one of the world’s most important reservoirs of soil and other terrestrial carbon, estimated to account for at least 20% of the world’s entire stock of forest carbon and a great share of its agricultural carbon with very large potential for additional sequestration and other mitigation efforts.
We recommend that the programmmes and the structures currently being developed, including the proposed mechanism for crediting reduced emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) be suited to the conditions that prevail in Africa. It is essential to ensure synergy between REDD and the full range of agriculture, forestry and other land uses (AFOLU). Further more, deforestation and other land uses change are currently estimated to account for over 30% of green house gas emissions.
The Global Environment Facility (GEF)
PACJA realises that while new funding mechanisms are being put in place, some interim measures will have to exist. If the GEF is to be used as one of the interim financing mechanisms, its governance must be given a significant and rapid overhaul to make it more efficient and easier to access. There is widespread frustration with, and distrust towards, the GEF in Africa. One member of our alliance related that in his country, people joke that it is easier to get a camel through the eye of a needle than it is to get money out of the GEF.
African Governments’ support for climate change negotiations and national action
The recent global financial crisis and enthusiasm with which the developed nations responded with generous bail outs and other rescue measures demonstrate their capacity to deal with emergencies. However, their reluctance to exhibit similar response to the climate-induced catastrophes in Africa clearly shows their lack of good faith. Our negotiators must not fail to bear that in mind while dialoguing for a post-2012 climate change agreement.
Recognizing that African governments are the primary duty bearers for our peoples, PACJA urges them to demonstrate leadership on climate change by:
Developing an international engagement strategy that puts pressure on the industrialized countries primarily responsible for historic emissions to repay their adaptation debt to developing countries by committing to full financing and compensation for the adverse effects of climate change on all affected countries, groups and people;
Ensuring that our climate change negotiation teams are well supported and resourced, both financially and in terms of skilled experts.
Ensuring consistency and continuity of skilled African negotiators at UNFCCC meetings.
Urgently establishing and implementing national climate change strategies in a consultative, multi-stakeholder manner, ensuring buy-in from all ministries. These strategies must be gender sensitive.
Ensuring that climate change is mainstreamed in all national developmental agenda.
Madam President, distinguished delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen, PACJA thanks AMCEN and the African Group of negotiators for their continued effort and leadership in consolidating a common negotiating position, which, no doubt, will tilt the scale towards a pro-people agreement once the community of nations gather in Copenhagen later in the year. We have the numbers, and this is the time to put them into use. The African civil society, and indeed the people of Africa, will be watching the run up to Copenhagen and the work of our delegations and Governments with keen interest and expectation. PACJA is willing to constructively engage with you, and continually contribute to this effort wherever possible, and wherever called upon to.
Thank you.
http://www.unep.org/roa/Amcen/Amcen_Events/3rd_ss/Docs/Speeches/PACJA.pdf
Related Posts:
• Youth Statement to the 3rd Special Session of AMCEN on Climate Change (Nairobi, Kenya. 25 - 29 May 2009)
• Scientists to Create First-Ever Detailed Digital Map of Sub-Saharan Africa’s Depleted Soils
• Global Climate Talks Must Address Agriculture OneWorld.net (U.S.)
• Global Climate
• Anila Stove for Pyrolysis
http://www.conserveafrica.org.uk/donate.php
Saturday 6 June 2009
Sustainable Forest Management in Africa
http://www.conserveafrica.org.uk/donate.php
1.Lessons Learnt on Sustainable Forest Management in Africa
DR. J. ODERA,National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya, July 2004
The search for sustainable methods of land use goes back to the 1950s when planned community development thrusts were introduced but later abandoned in the 1960s. In the late 1960s to early 1970s the concept of equity and participation re-emerged, to be buttressed a little later by the concept and approaches based on integrated rural development projects. This period was also dominated by campaigns to avert an impending fuelwood crisis in Africa. These projects promoted tree planting on-farm and reforestation of degraded community forests on hilltops and areas of low agricultural potential. In response to the outcry over the loss of tropical forests in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), many countries,with donor support, attempted in the 1970s and 1980s to bring more forests under state tenure and protection, and urged farmers to plant trees in their farms to relieve pressure from natural forests. Rural development initiatives focused on decentralisation, following recognition that centralised forest regimes, which exclude local knowledge and customary practices, were not achieving sustainable forest management. During this time, the heightened concern about energy supplies, following the energy crisis in
1973, created an awareness of developing countries’ dependence on wood for cooking and other household needs. Increased investments were directed to development of improved charcoal and cooking stoves. Forest plantation programmes were intensified in many countries during this period, normally with donor
support.
http://www.ksla.se/sv/retrieve_file.asp?n=745
2.Conservation and sustainable management of tropical moist forest
ecosystems in Central Africa.
Case study of exemplary forest management in Central Africa: Community forest management at the Kilum-Ijim
mountain forest region Cameroon
Because of the important role of the Kilum-Ijim Forest in local economy and culture, forest conservation, to be successful, must involve local people and address their needs. Recognising this, MINEF and the project agreed to shelf the original plans to gazette thewhole forest and work towards the establishment of community forests covering most of the Kilum-Ijim Forest, with a core gazetted conservation area at the center of the forest (Plant life Sanctuary). This was made possible by the new Forestry law of 1994, which allowed for the establishment of legally recognized community forests, in which management of a forest can be devolved to the communities bordering the forest, on the basis of an agreed forest management plan.
Thus, since 1994, the project has been working with communities
surrounding the forest for the establishment of legally recognized community forests that will cover most of the Kilum-Ijim Forest. During the previous phase of the project, which ran from July 1995 to June 2000, project efforts were focused on assisting Forest Management
Institutions established by the forest-adjacent communities to go through the legal steps needed for the legal attribution of their community forests. A crucial part of the process involved negotiation of forest use limits based on MINEF conservation objectives for the
forest and local use objectives by the communities around the forest. On this basis, the project facilitated a meeting bringing together Divisional MINEF staff, traditional authorities and community representatives from all three fondoms in which forest-wide rules were agreed. All simple management plans for the individual community forests would take into consideration these rules. Currently, the project is in its final (winding down) phase, which is expected to end in June 2004.
ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/008/ae731e/ae731e.pdf
http://www.conserveafrica.org.uk/donate.php
1.Lessons Learnt on Sustainable Forest Management in Africa
DR. J. ODERA,National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya, July 2004
The search for sustainable methods of land use goes back to the 1950s when planned community development thrusts were introduced but later abandoned in the 1960s. In the late 1960s to early 1970s the concept of equity and participation re-emerged, to be buttressed a little later by the concept and approaches based on integrated rural development projects. This period was also dominated by campaigns to avert an impending fuelwood crisis in Africa. These projects promoted tree planting on-farm and reforestation of degraded community forests on hilltops and areas of low agricultural potential. In response to the outcry over the loss of tropical forests in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), many countries,with donor support, attempted in the 1970s and 1980s to bring more forests under state tenure and protection, and urged farmers to plant trees in their farms to relieve pressure from natural forests. Rural development initiatives focused on decentralisation, following recognition that centralised forest regimes, which exclude local knowledge and customary practices, were not achieving sustainable forest management. During this time, the heightened concern about energy supplies, following the energy crisis in
1973, created an awareness of developing countries’ dependence on wood for cooking and other household needs. Increased investments were directed to development of improved charcoal and cooking stoves. Forest plantation programmes were intensified in many countries during this period, normally with donor
support.
http://www.ksla.se/sv/retrieve_file.asp?n=745
2.Conservation and sustainable management of tropical moist forest
ecosystems in Central Africa.
Case study of exemplary forest management in Central Africa: Community forest management at the Kilum-Ijim
mountain forest region Cameroon
Because of the important role of the Kilum-Ijim Forest in local economy and culture, forest conservation, to be successful, must involve local people and address their needs. Recognising this, MINEF and the project agreed to shelf the original plans to gazette thewhole forest and work towards the establishment of community forests covering most of the Kilum-Ijim Forest, with a core gazetted conservation area at the center of the forest (Plant life Sanctuary). This was made possible by the new Forestry law of 1994, which allowed for the establishment of legally recognized community forests, in which management of a forest can be devolved to the communities bordering the forest, on the basis of an agreed forest management plan.
Thus, since 1994, the project has been working with communities
surrounding the forest for the establishment of legally recognized community forests that will cover most of the Kilum-Ijim Forest. During the previous phase of the project, which ran from July 1995 to June 2000, project efforts were focused on assisting Forest Management
Institutions established by the forest-adjacent communities to go through the legal steps needed for the legal attribution of their community forests. A crucial part of the process involved negotiation of forest use limits based on MINEF conservation objectives for the
forest and local use objectives by the communities around the forest. On this basis, the project facilitated a meeting bringing together Divisional MINEF staff, traditional authorities and community representatives from all three fondoms in which forest-wide rules were agreed. All simple management plans for the individual community forests would take into consideration these rules. Currently, the project is in its final (winding down) phase, which is expected to end in June 2004.
ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/008/ae731e/ae731e.pdf
http://www.conserveafrica.org.uk/donate.php
Thursday 4 June 2009
Seeking alternatives to charcoal in Somaliland
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Seeking alternatives to charcoal in Somaliland
Posted by News Desk on May 27th, 2009 and filed under Latest News.
HARGEISA, 27 May 2009 (IRIN) - Insufficient cheaper alternatives and a large former refugee population are fuelling tree-felling and dependence on charcoal in the self-declared republic of Somaliland, adversely affecting the environment, say analysts.
Most urban households use charcoal for everyday cooking. “We use a sack of charcoal every four days because our family is large,” said Zahra Omar, a mother of 12, in the capital, Hargeisa.
According to a 2007 study by the Academy for Peace and Development, more than 2.5 million trees are felled annually and burned for charcoal in Somaliland. The report stated that each household in Somaliland consumed an equivalent of 10 trees a month.
Deforestation exacerbates soil erosion and reduces rainfall availability. Trees are also important in carbon fixing - reducing the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
Despite charcoal prices going up since 1991 with the resettlement of former refugees, demand remains high. “Before, 10 years ago, one sack of charcoal [cost] only 5,000 Somaliland shillings [US$0.76] but now here in Hargeisa it is about Sh30,000 [$5],” said Nimo Ahmed, a resident. “When [it] rains… charcoal [becomes] more expensive… because [the] trees become wet.”
Wood for energy
High and rising gas prices have also encouraged charcoal use. Previously, Nimo said, gas was cheaper than charcoal but the price has increased dramatically, with one litre of gas now costing about Sh4,000 ($0.61) up from Sh1,500 ($0.23).
It is the preferred fuel even in hotels, which consume even larger quantities of the commodity. “I use a sack of charcoal for a day’s cooking,” said Anab Mohamed Ismail, a Hargeisa chef.
According to researchers, one of the main drivers of deforestation in Africa is the need for fuel.
In sub-Saharan Africa only 7.5 percent of the rural population has access to electricity, according to a 2009 report on the state of the world’s forests. “As household incomes and investment in appropriate alternatives remain low, wood is likely to remain an important energy source in Africa in the coming decades…” it stated.
Forecasts made in 2001 suggested a 34 percent increase in wood fuel consumption from 2000 to 2020. “However, the rise in fuel prices in the past two years suggests that this increase is likely to be even greater. The share of wood fuel in the total energy supply is likely to decline, but the absolute number of people dependent on wood energy is predicted to grow,” it stated. “The forest situation in Africa presents enormous challenges, reflecting the larger constraints of low income, weak policies and inadequately developed institutions.”
“Charcoal… demand is increasing daily and burning [of] trees is increasing… but we are trying to [encourage] awareness among the people and give them other sources of income,” said Abdirisaq Bashir, the emergency and environment coordinator of Candlelight, an NGO working in environmental management. The NGO is helping young people become involved in alternative activities such as bee-keeping.
Trade ban
Local environmentalists are worried that the trade in charcoal may wipe out some tree species. “One of the … trees used for charcoal [production] is [the] Acacia bussei tree. Unfortunately its type is now going to be [extinct] in the Somaliland territories,” said Bashir. Each tree produces about eight to 10 sacks of charcoal.
Concerned with the impact of charcoal-burning on the environment, Hargeisa’s regional governor, Maroodi Jeeh, on 30 April banned trade in charcoal and the burning of trees.
Other attempts at protecting the environment have included the introduction of solar cookers and gas stoves in the main urban centres of Burou, Las-anod, Gabiley, Wajalea and Borama.
Since January, Somgas Company has been supplying gas to residents. “We have different gas cylinders [which] we sell… and train [the public on] how to use,” said Subeir Mouse Abdi of Somgas. An ordinary household uses an 11kg cylinder for six weeks, according to Abdi.
Although initial gas and cylinder prices are high, an 11kg gas cylinder and gas costs $44.50 and is recharged at $19. This, he said, is not expensive compared with the monthly charcoal consumption of about $15 for three 20kg sacks of charcoal per household. The gas cylinders range from 2-22kg.
“We now have 600 customers since we started in January,” he said.
While charcoal consumption fell in 2008 compared with 2007, there is still cause for concern, according to Somaliland’s Ministry of Pastoral Development and Environment.
“We are concerned [about the] environmental degradation caused by the charcoal, and we are working with several organisations to search [for] alternatives [to] charcoal energy,” said Mohamoud Ibrahim Mohamoud, head of the forestry section in the ministry. “The problem that increases… forest burning for charcoal is the poverty in the countryside and the high demand [for] charcoal energy in the urban [areas].”
http://www.bartamaha.com/?p=3694
http://www.conserveafrica.org.uk/donate.php
Seeking alternatives to charcoal in Somaliland
Posted by News Desk on May 27th, 2009 and filed under Latest News.
HARGEISA, 27 May 2009 (IRIN) - Insufficient cheaper alternatives and a large former refugee population are fuelling tree-felling and dependence on charcoal in the self-declared republic of Somaliland, adversely affecting the environment, say analysts.
Most urban households use charcoal for everyday cooking. “We use a sack of charcoal every four days because our family is large,” said Zahra Omar, a mother of 12, in the capital, Hargeisa.
According to a 2007 study by the Academy for Peace and Development, more than 2.5 million trees are felled annually and burned for charcoal in Somaliland. The report stated that each household in Somaliland consumed an equivalent of 10 trees a month.
Deforestation exacerbates soil erosion and reduces rainfall availability. Trees are also important in carbon fixing - reducing the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
Despite charcoal prices going up since 1991 with the resettlement of former refugees, demand remains high. “Before, 10 years ago, one sack of charcoal [cost] only 5,000 Somaliland shillings [US$0.76] but now here in Hargeisa it is about Sh30,000 [$5],” said Nimo Ahmed, a resident. “When [it] rains… charcoal [becomes] more expensive… because [the] trees become wet.”
Wood for energy
High and rising gas prices have also encouraged charcoal use. Previously, Nimo said, gas was cheaper than charcoal but the price has increased dramatically, with one litre of gas now costing about Sh4,000 ($0.61) up from Sh1,500 ($0.23).
It is the preferred fuel even in hotels, which consume even larger quantities of the commodity. “I use a sack of charcoal for a day’s cooking,” said Anab Mohamed Ismail, a Hargeisa chef.
According to researchers, one of the main drivers of deforestation in Africa is the need for fuel.
In sub-Saharan Africa only 7.5 percent of the rural population has access to electricity, according to a 2009 report on the state of the world’s forests. “As household incomes and investment in appropriate alternatives remain low, wood is likely to remain an important energy source in Africa in the coming decades…” it stated.
Forecasts made in 2001 suggested a 34 percent increase in wood fuel consumption from 2000 to 2020. “However, the rise in fuel prices in the past two years suggests that this increase is likely to be even greater. The share of wood fuel in the total energy supply is likely to decline, but the absolute number of people dependent on wood energy is predicted to grow,” it stated. “The forest situation in Africa presents enormous challenges, reflecting the larger constraints of low income, weak policies and inadequately developed institutions.”
“Charcoal… demand is increasing daily and burning [of] trees is increasing… but we are trying to [encourage] awareness among the people and give them other sources of income,” said Abdirisaq Bashir, the emergency and environment coordinator of Candlelight, an NGO working in environmental management. The NGO is helping young people become involved in alternative activities such as bee-keeping.
Trade ban
Local environmentalists are worried that the trade in charcoal may wipe out some tree species. “One of the … trees used for charcoal [production] is [the] Acacia bussei tree. Unfortunately its type is now going to be [extinct] in the Somaliland territories,” said Bashir. Each tree produces about eight to 10 sacks of charcoal.
Concerned with the impact of charcoal-burning on the environment, Hargeisa’s regional governor, Maroodi Jeeh, on 30 April banned trade in charcoal and the burning of trees.
Other attempts at protecting the environment have included the introduction of solar cookers and gas stoves in the main urban centres of Burou, Las-anod, Gabiley, Wajalea and Borama.
Since January, Somgas Company has been supplying gas to residents. “We have different gas cylinders [which] we sell… and train [the public on] how to use,” said Subeir Mouse Abdi of Somgas. An ordinary household uses an 11kg cylinder for six weeks, according to Abdi.
Although initial gas and cylinder prices are high, an 11kg gas cylinder and gas costs $44.50 and is recharged at $19. This, he said, is not expensive compared with the monthly charcoal consumption of about $15 for three 20kg sacks of charcoal per household. The gas cylinders range from 2-22kg.
“We now have 600 customers since we started in January,” he said.
While charcoal consumption fell in 2008 compared with 2007, there is still cause for concern, according to Somaliland’s Ministry of Pastoral Development and Environment.
“We are concerned [about the] environmental degradation caused by the charcoal, and we are working with several organisations to search [for] alternatives [to] charcoal energy,” said Mohamoud Ibrahim Mohamoud, head of the forestry section in the ministry. “The problem that increases… forest burning for charcoal is the poverty in the countryside and the high demand [for] charcoal energy in the urban [areas].”
http://www.bartamaha.com/?p=3694
http://www.conserveafrica.org.uk/donate.php
Concern over falling lake level
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Concern over falling lake level
By NATION Correspondent
Posted Wednesday, May 27 2009 at 19:55
East African Community ministers have expressed concern at the declining water levels of Lake Victoria.
RELATED STORIES
The EAC’s council of ministers called for urgent measures to address environmental degradation in the lake basin, warning of dire consequences if this was not addressed.
Mr Vincent Karega, the Rwandan minister for Natural Resources, said conflicts would increase in the region if the trend was not reversed.
The trend
He called for a review of the conservation strategies of the basin, adding that many rivers feeding the lake are threatened.
“We will end up losing the lake’s economic benefits and our capacity to combat and adapt to climate change,” Mr Karega said.
The Tanzanian minister for Water and Irrigation, Prof Mark Mwandosya, said addressing the declining water levels needed to be prioritised.
Ms Jennifer Namunyangu Byakatonda, the head of the Ugandan delegation, said her country had enforced the EAC policy on water release and abstraction to curb the receding water levels.
Effect on lake
Kenya’s Forestry and Wildlife minister Noah Wekesa said the destruction of forests in the country was having a devastating effect on the lake.
However, he added that the government was committed to reversing the trend.
Burundi minister for Environment Deo Ndikumana said there was a need for equal rights for populations upstream and downstream in the Lake Victoria basin.
The ministers have gathered in Kisumu for the sixth ordinary meeting of the sectoral EAC council of ministers on the Lake Victoria basin.
http://www.nation.co.ke/News/regional/-/1070/603878/-/7j85hc/-/
http://www.conserveafrica.org.uk/donate.php
Concern over falling lake level
By NATION Correspondent
Posted Wednesday, May 27 2009 at 19:55
East African Community ministers have expressed concern at the declining water levels of Lake Victoria.
RELATED STORIES
The EAC’s council of ministers called for urgent measures to address environmental degradation in the lake basin, warning of dire consequences if this was not addressed.
Mr Vincent Karega, the Rwandan minister for Natural Resources, said conflicts would increase in the region if the trend was not reversed.
The trend
He called for a review of the conservation strategies of the basin, adding that many rivers feeding the lake are threatened.
“We will end up losing the lake’s economic benefits and our capacity to combat and adapt to climate change,” Mr Karega said.
The Tanzanian minister for Water and Irrigation, Prof Mark Mwandosya, said addressing the declining water levels needed to be prioritised.
Ms Jennifer Namunyangu Byakatonda, the head of the Ugandan delegation, said her country had enforced the EAC policy on water release and abstraction to curb the receding water levels.
Effect on lake
Kenya’s Forestry and Wildlife minister Noah Wekesa said the destruction of forests in the country was having a devastating effect on the lake.
However, he added that the government was committed to reversing the trend.
Burundi minister for Environment Deo Ndikumana said there was a need for equal rights for populations upstream and downstream in the Lake Victoria basin.
The ministers have gathered in Kisumu for the sixth ordinary meeting of the sectoral EAC council of ministers on the Lake Victoria basin.
http://www.nation.co.ke/News/regional/-/1070/603878/-/7j85hc/-/
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Eucalyptus dilemma: Is the tree worth growing commercially?
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Eucalyptus dilemma: Is the tree worth growing commercially?
By ISAIAH ESIPISU Posted Sunday, May 31 2009 at 16:20
THE CONTROVERSY SURRO-unding the eucalyptus and its penchant for consuming far too much water leading to environmental depletion has led to confusion among commercial growers. Environmentalists, supported by government officials through the Ministry of Environment, are persuading Kenyans to uproot all trees of this genus grown near riverbeds and water catchment areas, without explaining where, and how best they should be grown.
At the same time, some forestry scientists and researchers claim that the stricture has no legal and scientific backing. But if Kenya followed the example of Punjab province of Pakistan, which has ordered all eucalyptus trees uprooted without replacement, then it means it will need to import most of the products best made from eucalyptus.
TO SUSTAIN THIS GROWING INDUStry without hurting the environment, the country should borrow a leaf from countries that have succeeded in eucalyptus farming as a heavy commercial venture. Critics say that growing eucalyptus disrupts hydrological balance in the soils, depletes soil nutrients, and inhibits the growth of other plants nearby.
Though no scientific studies have been done to ascertain that by the time of harvest, eucalyptus trees consume more water than indigenous trees, riverbeds and water catchment areas have evidently dried up more in areas where eucalyptus trees are grown than in areas with indigenous forests.
For example, it is reported that when South Africa’s natural forests and grasslands were converted into eucalyptus plantations, the flow of streams reduced in many parts of the country. This presents clear evidence that the trees have an enhanced capacity to exploit underground water.
Similar evidence has been gathered in nearly all countries where eucalyptus trees have been domesticated, Kenya included. However, this notwithstanding, it is not easy for one to understand how a genus with outstanding evolutionary adaptation to infertile soils and a dry climate in Australia will use excessive water when grown in other countries.
Explanations by critics put all blame on the tree’s rooting architecture and its deep penetration into the soils. However, a comparative study done a few years ago in São Paulo, Brazil (the world leading producer of eucalyptus products) indicated that a six-year-old Eucalyptus saligna plantation lost 12.2 per cent of rainfall water through canopy interception by the time of harvest.
Two 13-year-old pine plantations lost 12 per cent of rainfall water by the time of harvest. But savannah-like vegetation showed a loss of 27 per cent. The South African government teamed up with the private sector to conduct ecological zoning aimed at determining particular areas fit for growing eucalyptus without affecting water flow.
The same happens in Brazil, Chile and many other countries that have embraced commercial growing of eucalyptus. Kenya can do the same. Already, one ecological zoning done in Kenya through a study headed by Prof Senelwa Kingiri of Moi University has identified a potential of 4.2 million acres of land as ecologically suitable for growing eucalyptus.
Most of the eucalyptus trees grown in South Africa are technologically engineered to make them environment-friendly, to enhance faster growth, and to make them grow straight and uniform, making them ideal for products needed in the market.
AS A RESULT, THE COUNTRY HAS BEcome Africa’s leading producer of hardwood products made out of eucalyptus woodlots grown on an estimated 2.4 million acres countrywide. This figure compares poorly to Kenya’s 148,000 acres. Eucalyptus products from South Africa are therefore exported to different countries including Australia (the motherland of eucalyptus).
At times, Kenya pays up to Sh21,000 to buy and import a single electricity pole from South Africa. Eucalyptus trees have so far been identified as the best and cheapest raw material for making such poles. They mature faster than all indigenous trees, they grow uniformly and straight, and they are hardwood. So far, Kenya has adopted the cloning technology of the tree genus, and generates the seedlings through the populous tissue culture technology.
Mr Esipisu writes on the environment for the ‘Horizons’ pullout
http://www.nation.co.ke/oped/Opinion/-/440808/604926/-/4kp4lj/-/
http://www.conserveafrica.org.uk/donate.php
Eucalyptus dilemma: Is the tree worth growing commercially?
By ISAIAH ESIPISU Posted Sunday, May 31 2009 at 16:20
THE CONTROVERSY SURRO-unding the eucalyptus and its penchant for consuming far too much water leading to environmental depletion has led to confusion among commercial growers. Environmentalists, supported by government officials through the Ministry of Environment, are persuading Kenyans to uproot all trees of this genus grown near riverbeds and water catchment areas, without explaining where, and how best they should be grown.
At the same time, some forestry scientists and researchers claim that the stricture has no legal and scientific backing. But if Kenya followed the example of Punjab province of Pakistan, which has ordered all eucalyptus trees uprooted without replacement, then it means it will need to import most of the products best made from eucalyptus.
TO SUSTAIN THIS GROWING INDUStry without hurting the environment, the country should borrow a leaf from countries that have succeeded in eucalyptus farming as a heavy commercial venture. Critics say that growing eucalyptus disrupts hydrological balance in the soils, depletes soil nutrients, and inhibits the growth of other plants nearby.
Though no scientific studies have been done to ascertain that by the time of harvest, eucalyptus trees consume more water than indigenous trees, riverbeds and water catchment areas have evidently dried up more in areas where eucalyptus trees are grown than in areas with indigenous forests.
For example, it is reported that when South Africa’s natural forests and grasslands were converted into eucalyptus plantations, the flow of streams reduced in many parts of the country. This presents clear evidence that the trees have an enhanced capacity to exploit underground water.
Similar evidence has been gathered in nearly all countries where eucalyptus trees have been domesticated, Kenya included. However, this notwithstanding, it is not easy for one to understand how a genus with outstanding evolutionary adaptation to infertile soils and a dry climate in Australia will use excessive water when grown in other countries.
Explanations by critics put all blame on the tree’s rooting architecture and its deep penetration into the soils. However, a comparative study done a few years ago in São Paulo, Brazil (the world leading producer of eucalyptus products) indicated that a six-year-old Eucalyptus saligna plantation lost 12.2 per cent of rainfall water through canopy interception by the time of harvest.
Two 13-year-old pine plantations lost 12 per cent of rainfall water by the time of harvest. But savannah-like vegetation showed a loss of 27 per cent. The South African government teamed up with the private sector to conduct ecological zoning aimed at determining particular areas fit for growing eucalyptus without affecting water flow.
The same happens in Brazil, Chile and many other countries that have embraced commercial growing of eucalyptus. Kenya can do the same. Already, one ecological zoning done in Kenya through a study headed by Prof Senelwa Kingiri of Moi University has identified a potential of 4.2 million acres of land as ecologically suitable for growing eucalyptus.
Most of the eucalyptus trees grown in South Africa are technologically engineered to make them environment-friendly, to enhance faster growth, and to make them grow straight and uniform, making them ideal for products needed in the market.
AS A RESULT, THE COUNTRY HAS BEcome Africa’s leading producer of hardwood products made out of eucalyptus woodlots grown on an estimated 2.4 million acres countrywide. This figure compares poorly to Kenya’s 148,000 acres. Eucalyptus products from South Africa are therefore exported to different countries including Australia (the motherland of eucalyptus).
At times, Kenya pays up to Sh21,000 to buy and import a single electricity pole from South Africa. Eucalyptus trees have so far been identified as the best and cheapest raw material for making such poles. They mature faster than all indigenous trees, they grow uniformly and straight, and they are hardwood. So far, Kenya has adopted the cloning technology of the tree genus, and generates the seedlings through the populous tissue culture technology.
Mr Esipisu writes on the environment for the ‘Horizons’ pullout
http://www.nation.co.ke/oped/Opinion/-/440808/604926/-/4kp4lj/-/
http://www.conserveafrica.org.uk/donate.php
Deforestation 'faster in Africa'
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Deforestation 'faster in Africa'
Africa's forests are disappearing faster than those in other parts of the world because of a lack of land ownership, a report says.
Less than 2% of Africa's forests are under community control, compared to a third in Latin America and Asia, say the Rights and Resources Initiative.
The deforestation rate in Africa is four times the world's average.
At the current rate, it will take Congo Basin countries 260 years to reach the level of reform achieved in the Amazon.
Action on land tenure could help to halt deforestation, slow climate change and alleviate poverty, says the report, entitled Tropical Forest Tenure Assessment: Trends, Challenges and Opportunities.
The study was presented in Cameroon's capital, Yaounde, at a meeting of forest community representatives from Africa, Latin America and Asia.
Slow progress
The authors compared the distribution of land ownership in 39 tropical countries, which represent 96% of global tropical forests.
“ The slowness of reform is suppressing opportunities to reduce poverty and improve livelihoods ” ITTO's Emmanuel Ze Meka
They found that African citizens have far less control over the forests they inhabit than do the peoples of other tropical regions.
Several countries have introduced or amended laws to strengthen community land rights - including Angola, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Gambia, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Sudan and Tanzania.
However, the report calls for these nations to "quickly scale up" the process.
"Recognising local land rights alone doesn't solve all the problems," said Andy White, coordinator of the Rights and Resources Initiative.
"Governments need to follow up by supporting local management and enterprises.
"There are some countries that have recognised local land rights, but the government still controls the forest, and hands out concessions to industrial loggers - leading to more degradation and corruption."
Failure to ensure land rights for indigenous peoples and particularly women, will impede efforts to stop deforestation and mitigate climate change, say the authors.
Clearing of land for agriculture, logging, and other extractive industries accounts for as much as one third of some countries' total carbon emissions.
Carbon payments
Payments for reducing deforestation could be a potential source of income in the region. But without tenure reform, the authors argue, these potential benefits will remain unreachable.
The conference aims to kickstart new initiatives to establish forest tenure rights in west and central Africa, building on recent steps to decentralise governance.
Cameroon has begun by negotiating a legally binding bilateral pact, known as a Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA), with the European Union.
The VPA will help ensure that wood products exported from Cameroon to the EU contain no illegally harvested timber and are derived from managed forests that benefit local communities.
"The slowness of reform is suppressing a whole range of opportunities to reduce poverty and improve livelihoods," said Emmanuel Ze Meka, Executive Director of the International Tropical Timber Organisation (ITTO), co-authors of the report.
"Africa's forest communities already generate millions of jobs and dollars in domestic and regional trade, and in indigenous livelihoods, but current laws keep some of these activities illegal and also undermine opportunities to improve forest management."
Story from BBC NEWS:http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/africa/8066871.stm
Published: 2009/05/26 06:57:49 GMT© BBC MMIX
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/8066871.stm
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Deforestation 'faster in Africa'
Africa's forests are disappearing faster than those in other parts of the world because of a lack of land ownership, a report says.
Less than 2% of Africa's forests are under community control, compared to a third in Latin America and Asia, say the Rights and Resources Initiative.
The deforestation rate in Africa is four times the world's average.
At the current rate, it will take Congo Basin countries 260 years to reach the level of reform achieved in the Amazon.
Action on land tenure could help to halt deforestation, slow climate change and alleviate poverty, says the report, entitled Tropical Forest Tenure Assessment: Trends, Challenges and Opportunities.
The study was presented in Cameroon's capital, Yaounde, at a meeting of forest community representatives from Africa, Latin America and Asia.
Slow progress
The authors compared the distribution of land ownership in 39 tropical countries, which represent 96% of global tropical forests.
“ The slowness of reform is suppressing opportunities to reduce poverty and improve livelihoods ” ITTO's Emmanuel Ze Meka
They found that African citizens have far less control over the forests they inhabit than do the peoples of other tropical regions.
Several countries have introduced or amended laws to strengthen community land rights - including Angola, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Gambia, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Sudan and Tanzania.
However, the report calls for these nations to "quickly scale up" the process.
"Recognising local land rights alone doesn't solve all the problems," said Andy White, coordinator of the Rights and Resources Initiative.
"Governments need to follow up by supporting local management and enterprises.
"There are some countries that have recognised local land rights, but the government still controls the forest, and hands out concessions to industrial loggers - leading to more degradation and corruption."
Failure to ensure land rights for indigenous peoples and particularly women, will impede efforts to stop deforestation and mitigate climate change, say the authors.
Clearing of land for agriculture, logging, and other extractive industries accounts for as much as one third of some countries' total carbon emissions.
Carbon payments
Payments for reducing deforestation could be a potential source of income in the region. But without tenure reform, the authors argue, these potential benefits will remain unreachable.
The conference aims to kickstart new initiatives to establish forest tenure rights in west and central Africa, building on recent steps to decentralise governance.
Cameroon has begun by negotiating a legally binding bilateral pact, known as a Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA), with the European Union.
The VPA will help ensure that wood products exported from Cameroon to the EU contain no illegally harvested timber and are derived from managed forests that benefit local communities.
"The slowness of reform is suppressing a whole range of opportunities to reduce poverty and improve livelihoods," said Emmanuel Ze Meka, Executive Director of the International Tropical Timber Organisation (ITTO), co-authors of the report.
"Africa's forest communities already generate millions of jobs and dollars in domestic and regional trade, and in indigenous livelihoods, but current laws keep some of these activities illegal and also undermine opportunities to improve forest management."
Story from BBC NEWS:http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/africa/8066871.stm
Published: 2009/05/26 06:57:49 GMT© BBC MMIX
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/8066871.stm
http://www.conserveafrica.org.uk/donate.php
CLIMATE CHANGE IN AFRICA
http://www.conserveafrica.org.uk/donate.php
CLIMATE CHANGE IN AFRICA
by J-P Thompson
Climate change is a global crisis now and for the foreseeable future. Africa is impacted disproportionately and this situation will only deteriorate without immediate and comprehensive solutions. Figure 1 illustrates some of the key elements of climate change, including deforestation, desertification and coastal erosion. In addition, the average temperature rise in Africa is estimated to double the global average over the next 70 years.1 This alone will have catastrophic consequences for the people of Africa, impacting negatively on crop yields, biodiversity, water availability, land degradation and health outcomes. Another estimate predicts that over 180 million people in sub-Saharan Africa could die of diseases directly linked to climate change by the end of the century.2 The fuse to these ecological time-bombs is carbon dioxide emissions. Industrialized and industrializing nations are principally responsible for these emissions.
http://www.africafiles.org/article.asp?ID=19552
Notes and Links:
1. Valleley, P. “Climate change will be catastrophe for Africa”. The Independent, 16th May, 2006; http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change-will-be-catastrophe-for-africa-478375.html.
2. Christian Aid, “Facts and Figures”. 2007; http://www.christianaid.org.uk/issues/climatechange/facts/index.aspx.
3. Climate change vulnerability in Africa. (2002, updated 2004, 2005). In UNEP/GRID-Arendal Maps and Graphics Library. Retrieved 19:20, October 26, 2008 from http://maps.grida.no/go/graphic/climate_change_vulnerability_in_africa.
4. Data.org, “Climate Change in Africa”. 24th January, 2008; http://www.data.org/issues/climate_change_and_africa_012408.html.
5. Click here to see ad published in the Financial Times, 8th July, 2008 by www.avaaz.org.
6. Monbiot, G. “This crisis demands a reappraisal of who we are and what progress means”. The Guardian, 4th December, 2007; http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2007/dec/04/comment.politics.
7. Stockholm Environment Institute, “Sweden’s leadership in a climate constrained world”. October, 2008; http://www.sei.se/editable/pages/news/Sweden%20GDRs%20Final.pdf.
8. Valleley, P. “Climate change will be catastrophe for Africa”. The Independent, 16th May, 2006; http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change-will-be-catastrophe-for-africa-478375.html.
9. Jowit, J., “Drought land will be abandonded”. 2nd November, 2008; http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/nov/02/climate-change-desertification-water-drought.
10. Patz, J., et al. “Impact of regional climate change on human health”. Nature, 17th November, 2005; http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v438/n7066/abs/nature04188.html.
11. Desanker, P.V. and Magadza, C. et al. “Africa. Chapter 10 of the IPCC Working Group II, Third Assessment Report”, p. 509, 2001; http://www.ipcc.ch/ipccreports/tar/wg2/index.htm.
12. IPCC cited in: Forestsforever.org, “Forests and climate change”. http://www.forestsforever.org/climate2.html.
13. Howden, D. “Deforestation: The hidden cause of global warming”. The Independent, 14th May, 2007; http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/deforestation-the-hidden-cause-of-global-warming-448734.html.
14.Hennig, R. “Forests and deforestation in Africa”. Afrol News. http://www.afrol.com/features/10278.
16. Food and Agriculture Organization (UN), Global Forest Resources Assessment, 2005.
17. UNEP “Africa: Atlas of our Changing Environment”. Chapter 1, p.18, 2008. http://www.unep.org/dewa/africa/AfricaAtlas/PDF/en/Chapter1.pdf.
18. FAO, Global Forest Resources Assessment, 2005.
19.UNEP cited in: Environmental News Network, “Africa's deforestation twice world rate, says atlas”. 11th June, 2008; http://www.enn.com/ecosystems/article/37370.
20.The World Rainforest Movement (WRM) cited in: Rainforestinfo.org, “The Causes of Rainforest Destruction”. http://www.rainforestinfo.org.au/background/causes.htm.
21. Harrison Ngau cited in: Ibid.
22. Globaltimber.org.uk, “Exports by, and imports from, Africa”, http://www.globaltimber.org.uk/africa.htm. Individual country data is available here: http://www.globaltimber.org.uk/info.htm.
23. Mongabay.com, “Afrotropical realm”.
24. FAO, Global Forest Resources Assessment, 2005. Despite much smaller areas of forest, Seychelles is 1st with 88.9% forest cover and Guinea-Bissau is 3rd with 73.7% forest cover.
25. Rainforestfoundationuk.org, “Gabon”. http://www.rainforestfoundationuk.org/Gabon.
26. Mongabay.com, “Country profile – Gabon”. http://rainforests.mongabay.com/20gabon.htm.
27. Trangonews.com, “Gabon among fourteen states chosen for anti-deforestation scheme”. 30th July, 2008; http://www.trangonews.com/n/Gabon_among_fourteen_states_chosen...
28. Mongabay.com, “Country profile – Gabon”.
29. NTFPs are important commodities for local population groups as a food or fuel source and in making medicines, tools and building materials. NTFPs include: bark, tubers, leaves, flowers, seeds, fruits, resins, honey, fungi and animal products.
30. WRM, “The problems faced by Gabon’s forests and the communities that depend on them: a menu of logging, dams, oil, mining, parks, railways, roads, ports”. WRM bulletin #133, August 2008; http://wrmbulletin.wordpress.com/2008/08/25/the-problems-faced-by-gabons-forests-and-the-communities-that-depend-on-them-a-menu-of-logging-dams-oil-mining-parks-railways-roads-ports/.
31.World Bank Carbon Finance Unit, “State and Trends of the Carbon Market, 2008”. p.7, May 2008; http://siteresources.worldbank.org/NEWS/Resources/...
32. Bond, P., Dada, R., and Erion, G., eds., “Introduction- Climate change, carbon trading and civil society”. Chapter 1, p. 5, 2007. The initial GHGs emissions reduction targets were 5% from 1990 levels, to be achieved by 2012.
33. Bachram, H., “Climate fraud and carbon colonialism”. Chapter 6, p.110, 2007. (In Bond, P., et al.)
34. Vidal, J., “Billions wasted on UN climate programme”. The Guardian, 26th May, 2008; http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/may/26/climatechange.greenpolitics.
35. Friends of the Earth International (FoEI), “Forests are more than just Carbon”, August 2008; http://www.redd-monitor.org/2008/10/29/foei-forests-are-more-than-carbon/.
36. Toulmin, C., “Africa make climate change history”. Open Democracy, 16th May, 2005; http://www.opendemocracy.net/globalization-africa_democracy/article_2513.jsp.
37. Faris, S., “The other side of carbon trading”. Mongabay.com, 29th August, 2007; http://news.mongabay.com/2007/0829-fortune.html.
http://www.conserveafrica.org.uk/donate.php
CLIMATE CHANGE IN AFRICA
by J-P Thompson
Climate change is a global crisis now and for the foreseeable future. Africa is impacted disproportionately and this situation will only deteriorate without immediate and comprehensive solutions. Figure 1 illustrates some of the key elements of climate change, including deforestation, desertification and coastal erosion. In addition, the average temperature rise in Africa is estimated to double the global average over the next 70 years.1 This alone will have catastrophic consequences for the people of Africa, impacting negatively on crop yields, biodiversity, water availability, land degradation and health outcomes. Another estimate predicts that over 180 million people in sub-Saharan Africa could die of diseases directly linked to climate change by the end of the century.2 The fuse to these ecological time-bombs is carbon dioxide emissions. Industrialized and industrializing nations are principally responsible for these emissions.
http://www.africafiles.org/article.asp?ID=19552
Notes and Links:
1. Valleley, P. “Climate change will be catastrophe for Africa”. The Independent, 16th May, 2006; http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change-will-be-catastrophe-for-africa-478375.html.
2. Christian Aid, “Facts and Figures”. 2007; http://www.christianaid.org.uk/issues/climatechange/facts/index.aspx.
3. Climate change vulnerability in Africa. (2002, updated 2004, 2005). In UNEP/GRID-Arendal Maps and Graphics Library. Retrieved 19:20, October 26, 2008 from http://maps.grida.no/go/graphic/climate_change_vulnerability_in_africa.
4. Data.org, “Climate Change in Africa”. 24th January, 2008; http://www.data.org/issues/climate_change_and_africa_012408.html.
5. Click here to see ad published in the Financial Times, 8th July, 2008 by www.avaaz.org.
6. Monbiot, G. “This crisis demands a reappraisal of who we are and what progress means”. The Guardian, 4th December, 2007; http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2007/dec/04/comment.politics.
7. Stockholm Environment Institute, “Sweden’s leadership in a climate constrained world”. October, 2008; http://www.sei.se/editable/pages/news/Sweden%20GDRs%20Final.pdf.
8. Valleley, P. “Climate change will be catastrophe for Africa”. The Independent, 16th May, 2006; http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change-will-be-catastrophe-for-africa-478375.html.
9. Jowit, J., “Drought land will be abandonded”. 2nd November, 2008; http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/nov/02/climate-change-desertification-water-drought.
10. Patz, J., et al. “Impact of regional climate change on human health”. Nature, 17th November, 2005; http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v438/n7066/abs/nature04188.html.
11. Desanker, P.V. and Magadza, C. et al. “Africa. Chapter 10 of the IPCC Working Group II, Third Assessment Report”, p. 509, 2001; http://www.ipcc.ch/ipccreports/tar/wg2/index.htm.
12. IPCC cited in: Forestsforever.org, “Forests and climate change”. http://www.forestsforever.org/climate2.html.
13. Howden, D. “Deforestation: The hidden cause of global warming”. The Independent, 14th May, 2007; http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/deforestation-the-hidden-cause-of-global-warming-448734.html.
14.Hennig, R. “Forests and deforestation in Africa”. Afrol News. http://www.afrol.com/features/10278.
16. Food and Agriculture Organization (UN), Global Forest Resources Assessment, 2005.
17. UNEP “Africa: Atlas of our Changing Environment”. Chapter 1, p.18, 2008. http://www.unep.org/dewa/africa/AfricaAtlas/PDF/en/Chapter1.pdf.
18. FAO, Global Forest Resources Assessment, 2005.
19.UNEP cited in: Environmental News Network, “Africa's deforestation twice world rate, says atlas”. 11th June, 2008; http://www.enn.com/ecosystems/article/37370.
20.The World Rainforest Movement (WRM) cited in: Rainforestinfo.org, “The Causes of Rainforest Destruction”. http://www.rainforestinfo.org.au/background/causes.htm.
21. Harrison Ngau cited in: Ibid.
22. Globaltimber.org.uk, “Exports by, and imports from, Africa”, http://www.globaltimber.org.uk/africa.htm. Individual country data is available here: http://www.globaltimber.org.uk/info.htm.
23. Mongabay.com, “Afrotropical realm”.
24. FAO, Global Forest Resources Assessment, 2005. Despite much smaller areas of forest, Seychelles is 1st with 88.9% forest cover and Guinea-Bissau is 3rd with 73.7% forest cover.
25. Rainforestfoundationuk.org, “Gabon”. http://www.rainforestfoundationuk.org/Gabon.
26. Mongabay.com, “Country profile – Gabon”. http://rainforests.mongabay.com/20gabon.htm.
27. Trangonews.com, “Gabon among fourteen states chosen for anti-deforestation scheme”. 30th July, 2008; http://www.trangonews.com/n/Gabon_among_fourteen_states_chosen...
28. Mongabay.com, “Country profile – Gabon”.
29. NTFPs are important commodities for local population groups as a food or fuel source and in making medicines, tools and building materials. NTFPs include: bark, tubers, leaves, flowers, seeds, fruits, resins, honey, fungi and animal products.
30. WRM, “The problems faced by Gabon’s forests and the communities that depend on them: a menu of logging, dams, oil, mining, parks, railways, roads, ports”. WRM bulletin #133, August 2008; http://wrmbulletin.wordpress.com/2008/08/25/the-problems-faced-by-gabons-forests-and-the-communities-that-depend-on-them-a-menu-of-logging-dams-oil-mining-parks-railways-roads-ports/.
31.World Bank Carbon Finance Unit, “State and Trends of the Carbon Market, 2008”. p.7, May 2008; http://siteresources.worldbank.org/NEWS/Resources/...
32. Bond, P., Dada, R., and Erion, G., eds., “Introduction- Climate change, carbon trading and civil society”. Chapter 1, p. 5, 2007. The initial GHGs emissions reduction targets were 5% from 1990 levels, to be achieved by 2012.
33. Bachram, H., “Climate fraud and carbon colonialism”. Chapter 6, p.110, 2007. (In Bond, P., et al.)
34. Vidal, J., “Billions wasted on UN climate programme”. The Guardian, 26th May, 2008; http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/may/26/climatechange.greenpolitics.
35. Friends of the Earth International (FoEI), “Forests are more than just Carbon”, August 2008; http://www.redd-monitor.org/2008/10/29/foei-forests-are-more-than-carbon/.
36. Toulmin, C., “Africa make climate change history”. Open Democracy, 16th May, 2005; http://www.opendemocracy.net/globalization-africa_democracy/article_2513.jsp.
37. Faris, S., “The other side of carbon trading”. Mongabay.com, 29th August, 2007; http://news.mongabay.com/2007/0829-fortune.html.
http://www.conserveafrica.org.uk/donate.php
Tuesday 2 June 2009
Useful resources about Advocacy and Development
http://www.conserveafrica.org.uk/donate.php
1.Development and Advocacy
http://publications.oxfam.org.uk/oxfam/display.asp?isbn=0855984635&TAG=&CID=
Most major development NGOs dedicate significant resources to advocacy. Many also work to inform and shape public opinion, whether through advertising or fundraising, or through education programmes. They argue that fundamental change is not achieved until the policy environment is right, and cannot be sustained without a groundswell of support for reform. In recent years, however, advocacy work has come under increasing criticism. NGOs are challenged on the grounds of:
Legitimacy - Whom do they represent, and to whom are they accountable?
Effectiveness - What practical impact does high-level advocacies have on the lives of people living in poverty, and who is to judge this?
Role - Should NGOs try to combine funding and advocacy, or do these demand different kinds of South-North relationship?
Strategy - Are NGOs seduced by agencies like the World Bank or by the corporate sector to readily? When does constructive engagement with these powerful bodies turn into co-option by them? As international grassroots, advocacy is becoming more vocal thanks to new communication technologies; what is the appropriate role for Northern NGOs?
2.Community Empowerment and Social Inclusion
http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/EXTABOUTUS/EXTWEBARCHIVES/0,,MDK:21923026~menuPK:64654237~pagePK:64660187~piPK:64660385~theSitePK:2564958,00.html
3.The role of Advocacy in Public health
http://www.wdp.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/469/6._Role_of_Advocacy.pdf
4.‘Advocacy in Action’ Cards– for developing practical advocacy skills
http://www.sasanet.org/curriculum_final/downlaods/CA/Working%20Papers%20&%20Case%20Studies/WP1%20-%20Advocacy_Skills.pdf
5.ADVOCACY Building Skills for NGO Leaders
http://www.cedpa.org/content/publication/detail/666
6.Advocacy Tools and Guidelines
http://www.care.org/getinvolved/advocacy/tools.asp?#english
7.Advocacy for Water, Environmental Sanitation and Hygiene
http://www.irc.nl/content/view/full/3419
http://www.conserveafrica.org.uk/donate.php
1.Development and Advocacy
http://publications.oxfam.org.uk/oxfam/display.asp?isbn=0855984635&TAG=&CID=
Most major development NGOs dedicate significant resources to advocacy. Many also work to inform and shape public opinion, whether through advertising or fundraising, or through education programmes. They argue that fundamental change is not achieved until the policy environment is right, and cannot be sustained without a groundswell of support for reform. In recent years, however, advocacy work has come under increasing criticism. NGOs are challenged on the grounds of:
Legitimacy - Whom do they represent, and to whom are they accountable?
Effectiveness - What practical impact does high-level advocacies have on the lives of people living in poverty, and who is to judge this?
Role - Should NGOs try to combine funding and advocacy, or do these demand different kinds of South-North relationship?
Strategy - Are NGOs seduced by agencies like the World Bank or by the corporate sector to readily? When does constructive engagement with these powerful bodies turn into co-option by them? As international grassroots, advocacy is becoming more vocal thanks to new communication technologies; what is the appropriate role for Northern NGOs?
2.Community Empowerment and Social Inclusion
http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/EXTABOUTUS/EXTWEBARCHIVES/0,,MDK:21923026~menuPK:64654237~pagePK:64660187~piPK:64660385~theSitePK:2564958,00.html
3.The role of Advocacy in Public health
http://www.wdp.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/469/6._Role_of_Advocacy.pdf
4.‘Advocacy in Action’ Cards– for developing practical advocacy skills
http://www.sasanet.org/curriculum_final/downlaods/CA/Working%20Papers%20&%20Case%20Studies/WP1%20-%20Advocacy_Skills.pdf
5.ADVOCACY Building Skills for NGO Leaders
http://www.cedpa.org/content/publication/detail/666
6.Advocacy Tools and Guidelines
http://www.care.org/getinvolved/advocacy/tools.asp?#english
7.Advocacy for Water, Environmental Sanitation and Hygiene
http://www.irc.nl/content/view/full/3419
http://www.conserveafrica.org.uk/donate.php
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