On Saturday, 20 March, the plight of amphibians came into sharp focus with the celebration of World Frog Day. One conservation-driven developer that is creating a safe indigenous habitat to protect the local species from extinction is Renishaw Property Developments, developers of Renishaw Hills, a mature lifestyle estate in the mid-KZN South Coast. In partnership with the … [Read more...]
Forging a path to forest restoration and well-being
The theme for this year’s International Day of Forests (IDF) is “Forest restoration: a path to recovery and well-being” and it’s one that resonates with the local forest industry. “Many people don’t know that timber plantations in South Africa were originally established to provide an alternative timber supply, in order to protect our few natural forests from further … [Read more...]
Civil society calls for protection of Piatúa River
On November 26, a coalition of civil society organizations and law professors submitted an amicus brief to Ecuador’s Constitutional Court calling for the protection of the Piatúa River based on the Rights of Nature and Indigenous rights. The Piatúa River is under threat from a hydroelectric project that Ecuador’s government approved without the free, prior, and informed … [Read more...]
Somkhele environmental activist Fikile Ntshangase murdered
“I refused to sign. I cannot sell out my people. And if need be, I will die for my people.” Tragically, grandmother Fikile Ntshangase’s words became a reality when she was gunned down in her home at Ophondweni, near Mtubatuba, on the evening of 22 October 2020. Mama Ntshangashe was the Vice-Chairperson of a sub-committee of the Mfolozi Community Environmental Justice … [Read more...]
Bringing nature back to KwaNobhule
Greening the Community is a collaborative project between Indalo Nursery, Community Conservation Fund Africa and the Wilderness Foundation Africa. It aims to bring nature back to the KwaNobhule township but also to encourage residents to green the space in which they live, their community and ultimately their country and planet. The pivot behind the project is John … [Read more...]
Calling on banks to stop funding East African oil pipeline
Standard Bank, Africa’s biggest lender, and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) of Japan are reportedly about to finance a 1,443-kilometer crude oil pipeline through Uganda and Tanzania. If built, the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) would be the longest heated crude oil pipeline in the world. Extinction Rebellion SA condemns the pipeline project and will take … [Read more...]
Earth Day 2020 goes digital
Between the global pandemic and social distancing, Earth Day 2020 is going to look different than it ever has before, as many of us will be tuning into celebrations through a virtual screen or a socially distanced walk. With COVID-19 disrupting all semblance of normalcy and routine in the world, the organizers of Earth Day’s 50th anniversary celebration ditched their usual … [Read more...]
Meet the Brazilian tribe fighting to save the Amazon
Brazil's National Institute for Space Research has reported over 80,000 fires in the country as of Sunday night, with more than half of these in the Amazon region. This coupled with an 85% increase in deforestation this year compared to last, and a rate of deforestation at one and a half football pitches a minute, is threatening the future of the world’s largest tropical … [Read more...]
Cape Town museum depicts global water story
Water is the most vital resource for life on Earth and no living thing exists without it. The global water story exhibition, H2O Today, examines the diversity and challenges of water sources worldwide and promote conversation, creativity and innovation through art, science and technology. The exhibition is now on at the Iziko South African Museum in Cape Town. An … [Read more...]
Make or break for complementary medicines this year
This year is going to be a ‘make or break’ year for the Complementary Medicines sector, as well as for African Traditional Medicines in South Africa. There are three new pieces of legislation in the pipeline which are being steam-rolled by our government, and threaten to restrict the public’s access to traditional and natural health practices and products. 1. Protection, … [Read more...]
Constitutional right to natural health products under jeopardy
Does your health depend on natural supplements, remedies or traditional products? Do you know that a proposed new bill is threatening the availability of the products you rely on? Some are already impossible to get hold of. Then sign a petition by the Traditional and Natural Health Alliance to the National Council of Provinces to stop Bill 6, which may destoy your choice to … [Read more...]
Wild Coast doc to give special community screenings
What are the prospects - pros and cons to the local community - of titanium excavation along the pristine Wild Coast? Award-winning South African film maker Ryley Grunenwald’s The Shore Break is an environmental documentary, political thriller, family feud story, and classic David and Goliath tale. Filmed in Pondoland in the Eastern Cape, it follows pro- and anti-mining … [Read more...]
Biosphere reserve aims to promote biological diversity
Did you know that you live in a Biosphere Reserve? If you are from Stellenbosch, Pniel, Franschhoek, Paarl, Wellington, Rawsonville or Villiersdorp you live inside the beautiful Cape Winelands Biosphere Reserve (CWBR), while people from Ceres and the Strand live just outside it. The CWBR was designated in 2007 by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural … [Read more...]
