Here follows the final statement of the 2020 Ecosocialist Conference for Climate Justice, which took place online last week: The corona pandemic has exposed the fragility of the neoliberal global economy. We will face yet another wave of austerity and unemployment, as pro-business governments raise taxes and slash spending, just as they did after the financial crash of 2008. … [Read more...]
New conference seeks ways to make roads safer for wildlife
It is likely that many drivers have, at some point, accidentally hit an animal on the road. The consequences? Not only an injured or dead animal, but probably an insurance claim, or a visit to the emergency room for various injuries. At the inaugural African Conference for Linear Infrastructure and Ecology (ACLIE) 2019, which was held this past week in the iconic Kruger … [Read more...]
Youth-focused project strives for ocean protection
Climate change and pollution is a global issue and has a significant impact on the ocean. Conserving marine and coastal ecosystems is essential. Global issues tend to bring together like-minded projects spanning across continents. One such project is the Bremen-Durban Marine Environmental Education Network also known as Ocean Champs. This project is jointly implemented by … [Read more...]
Home to chill off-grid in the Koo valley
I am always on the lookout for truly green destinations to get away from the tyrannies of modern life. Who doesn’t need to go to the mountains to reconnect with oneself through Nature? When I find out a potential hide-out is off the grid to boot, I leap for joy. You might think me sentimental, but I will never forget family holidays at a tiny seaside place without … [Read more...]
An Olive Agenda: bridging economy and ecology
Proposing a theological engagement with a metaphor that could transcend the duality between the ‘green’ environmental agenda and the ‘brown’ poverty agenda that has disabled development discourse for the past twenty years, the late Steve de Gruche left his thoughts in a paper entitled 'An Olive Agenda: First thoughts on a metaphorical theology of development' before his … [Read more...]
Cape Town up in arms about fracking plans
'Now is the time for change! We cannot drill our way out of an energy crisis! The age of fossil fuels is over! Shell, we do not want our Karoo to be another Niger Delta,' a brave speaker addressed Shell with a referral to the egregious exploitation of Nigeria's oil reserves by multinationals such as Shell. 'Use your voices my friends; blog, tweet, Facebook and rally your … [Read more...]
Just trees gives table mountain 600 trees
In the months of May and June, a total of 600 ready-grown indigenous trees donated by Just Trees nursery in Paarl will be planted in Tokai Park, part of the Cape's magnificent Table Mountain National Park and an offshoot of South African National Parks' shade tree planting project. Forming part of SANParks' greater vision for the rehabilitation and recreational use of areas … [Read more...]
Stellenbosch university plants trees to celebrate green month
On Tuesday, 19th of October 2010, the Faculty of Sciences and representatives of Economic Sciences and Engineering, celebrated 'Green Month' on campus by planting some sixteen indigenous trees at Coetzenburg, on the slopes of the mountain. The Natural Sciences Student Committee (NSC) started the initiative in co-operation with Property Services when they decided to plant a tree … [Read more...]
Soil community project
No man is an island, so the saying goes. Here's a story of how one island transformed a group of neighbours into a community. Stranack Road Island, shaped like a rugby ball, was once the home of four proud flamboyants (Delonix regia). The spectacular saffron umbrella of its flowers in summer seduced many of the residents to buy here. In 2008, however, the 80 year old … [Read more...]
Robbed of bees
'Honey has been waiting for almost ten million years for a good biography. Essential to the food, drink, religion, economics, medicine and arts of every civilization since the Egyptians, honey - and the bees that make it - have been a vital part of the human record for millennia.' This is the back cover blurb for Holley Bishop's book, Robbing the Bees, published in 2005. … [Read more...]
Poison drift debilitates Boland residents
Poisonous sprays from farms drifting onto people, 'workers, children, family and neighbours' is finally coming to a head in the Boland. Numerous incidences of long-term, serious health problems, linked by doctors to the careless management of spray drift from surrounding farms mobilized the establishment of a special group in Stellenbosch, called TATIB (The Air That I … [Read more...]
Goodbye to Jeanne Malherbe – pioneer of biodynamic farming
A beloved and absolutely key figure in biodynamic circles, Jeanne Malherbe, died recently. At her funeral at Bloublommetjieskloof farm outside Wellington, Rev. Richard Goodall made told the story of her life: Ten days before her 78th birthday Jeanne received the last anointing in full consciousness. She expressed how for her this was a great opening up to an unseen world from … [Read more...]
Leopard Toads a hop away from extinction
Watch out for the threatened Leopard Toad crossing wet roads at night! Long ago the City's southern suburbs consisted of many waterways - an ideal breeding ground for the Western Leopard Toad (Amietophrynus pantherinus). Then people moved in and erected walls around their properties, confining the frogs' normal movement and breeding patterns. Folk in this region still know … [Read more...]
