Category: Environment

{{British scientists have successfully revived mosses that have been frozen under the Antarctic ice for 1,500 years.}}

The researchers thawed out the ancient vegetation and were surprised to see new shoots rapidly appear.

While bacteria of a similar age have been recovered before, the scientists say these are the oldest plants to be brought back to life.

The research has been published in the journal Current Biology.

Mossy banks are a curious feature of the frozen Antarctic, formed over thousands of years from the accumulation of these tenacious plants that spring to life in the brief southern summer.

The oldest banks date back over 5,000 years and are a useful archive for scientists of past climatic conditions.

Researchers have made previous attempts to revive long-frozen moss, but they have only managed to grow material that had been locked in ice for about 20 years.

{{Shoots of recovery}}

Now scientists from the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) and the University of Reading have taken sliced and seemingly dead samples from the deep permafrost and brought them back to life.

They were placed in an incubator at 17C, a temperature often found in Antarctic moss plants in summer.

After three weeks, new shoots appeared.

“Various people have asked us did we do anything complicated to make it re-grow,” co-author Prof Peter Convey, from BAS, told media.

“We’ve basically just cut it in half and put in the incubator and did as little as possible.”

While the researchers did little to the plants, they took great care to ensure that there was no contamination from other life forms. Carbon dating put the age of the newly growing material at 1,530 years.

“The shoots are alive right the way through the moss bank,” said Prof Convey.

“The blue sky result is that we’ve really stuck a much older age on recovery than anyone has done so far.”

In both the Arctic and Antarctic, mosses are an important part of the ecosystem.

They play a major role in storing carbon and in the Arctic particularly, there are concerns that as the world warms the permafrost will emit even more CO2 into the atmosphere.

But could the discovery that moss in the southern ice can be revived after 1,500 years mean that carbon release is less of a worry?

Not quite, says Prof Convey. He says that most of the moss frozen in the Arctic is already dead and can’t be revitalised. Warming there would see that carbon seep back into the atmosphere.

In the Antarctic though, it might be a different story.

“In a warmer wetter world, mosses actually grow quite well. The question is how much are these thawing mosses going to grow in response to changes and how much can that been seen as a carbon sink?”

The researchers also believe that the discovery signals that, in the right circumstances, multi-cellular organisms such as plants can survive for longer timescales than previously thought.

“My gut feeling is that if you looked at a range of plants that have these sort of tactics, in the right conditions you’d start detecting these things back longer for a number of organisms,” said Prof Convey.

BBC

{World Water Day is held annually on 22nd March to highlight the importance of freshwater and sustainable management of freshwater resources. It dates back to the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) which recommended that it is an important reminder to the World. The United Nations General Assembly then designated 22nd March 1993 as the first World Water Day.}

This year, UN-Water has chosen the theme Water and Energy to highlight interlink and interdependence between water and energy. Energy generation and transmission requires utilization of water resources, particularly for hydroelectric and thermal energy sources. Conversely, about 8% of the global energy generation is used for pumping, treating and transporting water to various consumers.

Rwanda will join the rest of the World to celebrate the World Water Day on 20th March 2014 under the theme “Protect Water to sustain Energy production”. This comes at a time whereby Rwanda has been ranked as one of the top performing countries in Africa in achieving water and sanitation goals as espoused by the Africa Water Vision 2025, the 2008 African Union Sharm-I-Sheikh declaration and the Millenium Development Goals.

As it has been a common practice, Rwanda will also dedicate the whole week to water whereby several initiatives related to water management development as well as energy development will be launched and inaugurated. This week will also be marked by the following activities: engage communities in sustainable ecosystems for water resources protection and energy production, promote trans boundary basins cooperation for national solutions on energy production, launch some projects related to water supply, water conservation and raising awareness of the interlink ages between water and energy.

{{A new technology is expected to improve tree cover in arid areas as government gears up to improve country’s tree cover to 10 per cent to fight climate change.}}

Researchers have developed tree species that are adapted to arid counties and the technology is already on pilot basis in nine counties including Tharaka, Kitui, Machakos, parts of Embu County as well as Siaya and Homabay, Laikipia, Turkana and Marsabit.

Environment cabinet secretary Prof Judy Wakhungu said the government had set a target to plant 50 million trees this financial year, in a bid to fight climate change, which has become a global challenge.

“We have to reach the 50 million target set for my ministry and I am counting on this technology to help increase our forest cover,” she said.

She said ravages associated with climate change such as floods, drought and scarcity of food and water was a threat to fighting extreme poverty and hunger and in environmental sustainability.

The technology which involves harvesting rain water in arid areas to grow trees and crops on farms as well on communal land has been extended to 19 other countries in Sub Saharan Africa, whose senior environmental officers have received training from Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) for the past 19 years.

The new method, which involves introduction of two tree species as well as improved crop varieties intercropped with trees that can withstand dry weather, is expected to improve livelihoods, boost food security and deal with negative effects of climate change.

Prof Wakhungu was speaking at Kefri headquarters during the launch of a five day training programme for senior environmental officers from 19 countries, who are expected to roll out the technology in their respective countries.

The country has been pushing to improve its forest cover to internationally recognised levels of 10 per cent, but has faced challenges including wanton destruction of forests, and lack of land in the fertile areas, where population boom has left little space for trees leave alone growth of food crops.

Kefri director Dr Ben Chikamai said the focus on arid areas to grow trees was meant to deal with challenge of lack of land in arable areas, where trees would grow naturally.

There was however no figures to indicate how much tree cover had been realised using the new technology, which was however lauded as popular with farmers in the arid areas, and was expected to help government achieve its 50 million trees target as well as improving country’s tree cover.

nation

{Rwanda on 2nd February 2014 will join the rest of the world to celebrate World Wetland Day (WWD) whose theme is “Wetlands and Agriculture: Partners for Growth”.}

The theme was chosen to raise awareness on highlighting the interdependence of wetlands and agriculture.

The Year 2014 is the United Nations International Year of Family Farming – so the Ramsar Convention chose Wetlands & Agriculture as the World Wetlands Day theme for 2014.

WWD marks the date of the adoption of Ramsar Convention also called “Convention on Wetlands of International Importance “adopted in Ramsar (Iran), on February 2, 1971.

WWD was celebrated for the first time in 1997 and has grown to become one of the main vehicles through which Ramsar Convention stimulates worldwide awareness of wetland values, benefits and wise use in general, and the Ramsar Convention in particular. Rwanda signed this convention on 29 December 2003.

{{angedelavictoire@igihe.com}}

{The dissemination workshop organized by MINIRENA in collaboration with the Nile basin initiative(NBI) kicked off today on 13th December at Milles Collines Hotel Kigali.}

Participants in this workshop include policy makers from different sectors namely agriculture, water, irrigation, environment, Energy, lands, Finance, Economic planning, and Foreign Affairs, County Government/Local and regional Administration, Social/community and others.

According to the permanent secretary at the ministry of natural resources the key objective of the dissemination exercise in Rwanda is to create awareness of the NELSAP program

Some of other objectives of this workshop is to help identify specific projects that can be considered for country programming within the country expenditure frameworks. .

Hon Caroline Kayonga added that Out-comes that have been produced so far, to enhance collaboration between the Nile basin initiative/NELSAP countries and stakeholders including regional agencies and development partners. However, other expected outcomes from this workshop will include:

· Improved corporate image of the NELSAP in the countries,

· Enhanced knowledge of the value of the NELSAP program to the countries

· Improved understanding of the niche that NELSAP has in regional water resources programming

· Strengthened collaboration between NELSAP and relevant stakeholders.

The project area that is expected to be covered will include Akanyaru marshland, the lakes Cyohoha and Rweru and there watersheds, located respectively in the akanyaru sub-basin and the downstream Nyabarongo sub-basin, both being part of the akagera sub basin shared by Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda and Tanzania.

Akagera Marshland is a vast drowned valley which forms a natural border between Rwanda and Burundi.

It also covers a range from 200 to 3,000m wide and 70 square kilometers long, while its surface area is estimated to be 200 square kilometers.

Lake Rweru and Cyohoha are located at the border between Rwanda and Burundi, and they cover over 80 square kilometers and 60 square kilometers respectively.

These lakes are fed by groundwater from the river Nyabarongo and constitute freshwater reserves which are easily accessible to the local population and offer great potential for fish and aquaculture development.