World heritage – building a stronger vision of UNESCO in Africa

  UNESCO is committed to strengthening the management of African World Heritage sites by building the capacity of African World Heritage site managers – as embodied by its newly-launched Flagship Programme on “Fostering Cultural Heritage and Capacity Development” in Africa. In line with this Flagship Programme, the Interim Committee of the African Site Managers Network met in Abomey (Benin) from 22 to 23 November 2021 as a first step towards the creation of a network of UNESCO World Heritage site...

Western Indian Ocean coral reefs collapse within 50 years? So says IUCN

  We’ve known for some time that coral reefs are in decline, but now we know more precisely to what degree, and why,”   So said Dr. David Obura, lead author of a new assessment – Founding Director at Coastal Oceans Research and Development in the Indian Ocean (CORDIO East Africa) and Chair of the IUCN SSC Corals Specialist Group. “This assessment reaffirms the urgency of the interlinked climate and biodiversity crises addressed by COP26 last month in Glasgow, and...

Christmas & Nature : the “New Zealand Christmas tree”

  The New Zealand Christmas tree The skies are grey in England, While ours are blue and clear. The holly gleams in England, Pohutukawa here. But the self-same Christmas spirit Holds each world in thrall, As we spread the Christmas message, “Peace and goodwill to all.” This poem comes from a 1930 edition of the New Zealand Herald, and it compares Christmas in England with Christmas in New Zealand. The author notes that while holly is traditionally associated with Christmas...

African Elephants without tusks. Why?

picture : Nat Geo   Poachers have murdered elephants for decades for their valuable ivory tusks. Now evolution has taken hold. In Mozambique’s Gorongosa National Park, scientists are increasingly observing elephants without tusks. While there have always been a few tuskless elephants, a recent study showed that there was so much poaching during the 16-year Mozambique civil war that half the modern female elephants in the Gorongosa National Park have no tusks. Poaching and wildlife trafficking have had such a...

Over salty soils a threat to ecosystems

World Soil Day (WSD) is held annually on 5 December as a means to focus attention on the importance of healthy soil and to advocate for the sustainable management of soil resources. An international day to celebrate soil was recommended by the International Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS) in 2002.   From FAO : “Have you ever seen white crusts on soil? Yes, it is what you think. Soils can be salty. Salts are present naturally in soils and water,...

Mountains & tourism a very real challenge

The theme of this year’s International Mountain Day (IMD) on 11 December is – sustainable mountain tourism. According to FAO : “Sustainable tourism in mountains can contribute to creating additional and alternative livelihood options and promoting poverty alleviation, social inclusion, as well as landscape and biodiversity conservation. It is a way to preserve the natural, cultural and spiritual heritage, to promote local crafts and high value products, and celebrate many traditional practices such as local festivals. Mountain tourism attracts around...

World heritage sites & climate change

Climate change is the defining issue of our time, and among the greatest threats facing cultural and natural heritage today. One in three natural sites and one in six cultural heritage sites are currently threatened by climate change. ( from https://whc.unesco.org/en/review/100/ ) In recent months and years, we have seen cultural and natural heritage sites, including many World Heritage sites, threatened by wildfires, floods, storms and mass-bleaching events. We have also seen how climate change puts living heritage – oral...

Animals of Christmas: reindeer

The classic ‘puller of Santa’s sleigh’ is a special type of deer…. The reindeer – also known as caribou in North America – is a species of deer with circumpolar distribution, native to Arctic, subarctic, tundra, boreal, and mountainous regions of northern Europe, Siberia, and North America. This includes both sedentary and migratory populations.   Fun  facts about reindeer Reindeer and caribou are the same animal (Rangifer tarandus) and are a member of the deer family. In Europe, they are...

Australia land of extremes. Why?

One of the issues that came out of the recent #Cop26 climate conference was – that Australia is very much impacted by extremes of climate and the impacts can seen in bushfires which have devastated both wildlife and people in New South Wales and other states. So, why is Australia so very much affected by climate? Australia is a land of “drought and flooding rains”. As rainfall varies significantly from year to year and from decade to decade, recurring floods...

Australian wildlife report : fighting plagues & predators

  A new report, Fighting plagues and predators Australia’s path to a pest and weed-free future, released last week, reveals the environment is facing a “sliding doors” moment, with two possible futures for Australia, depending on the decisions made in the very near future. It highlights a looming wave of new extinctions and outlines two futures for Australia, one based on an unsustainable ‘business as usual’ approach and the other based on implementing targeted actions that will help save our...

Remembering ‘the’ original Australia Wildlife Warrior

Today is  Steve Irwin Day – an annual international event honouring the life and legacy of the one and only Crocodile Hunter, Steve Irwin! The picture – taken by yours truly – shows me at Australia Zoo with the Irwin family ….. statue.   About Steve Irwin : Living in a home housed with dangerous snakes, lizards, injured birds and orphaned kangaroos was the norm for the Irwin family. His mum, Lyn cared for injured and orphaned animals. Steve used...

Cop26 : global coal to other energy statement explained

GLOBAL COAL TO CLEAN POWER TRANSITION STATEMENT       Last week at COP26 representatives of the countries signed a document away from coal and transitional towards other energy resources- they noted that “the coal power generation is the single biggest cause of global temperature increases, recognise the imperative to urgently scale-up the deployment of clean power to accelerate the energy transition. “   Above this is a YouTube video explaining the challenges of coal…. A key challenge is that “clean...