IGIHE

Category: Environment

  • Karongi District Hosts Environmental Museum

    {{Government is constructing a new Environmental museum in Bwushyura sector, Karongi district seeking to conserve and preserve environment.}}

    The poject seeks to also train area residents on how to conserve the environment which including Lake Kivu, the steep of the hills among others.

    The facility will share some of the historical fossils of reptiles from neighboring countries such as Burundi, so as to attract more regional tourism.

    Once complete in October 2014, the project is valued at Frw1.3Billion consisting of 2 floors, a traditional herbal medicine garden with 127 tree species based on the rooftop.

    Kayumba Bernard, the district Mayor hailed the project saying the museum will create jobs to local residents and will attract tourists.

    The environment museum is the 6th branch of the Institute of National Museums of Rwanda.

  • Rutsiro Forest Devastated by Wild Fire

    {{Rutsiro district authorities are still investigating the cause of fire that destroyed vast area of Rutsiro forest on Sunday.}}

    The district Mayor Gaspard Byukusenge told media that 6 hectares of forest had been burnt down after a wild fire that started on Sunday night spread quickly.

    Byukusenge says Part of the destroyed forest belonged to the government.

    However, local sources estimated the extent of fire destruction to over 20hectares.

    Area residents extinguished the fire after several hours battling with the fire using all means available.

    The Mayor hinted that the district authority is considering banning chacoal burning which also contributes to such wild fires.

    “As we continue our efforts to mobilise the population against anything that can cause wild fires, we are also considering other options so as to ensure we limit such incidents,” the mayor said.

    {Newtimes}

  • How to Plant Bananas in Dry Season

    {{Erratic weather due to change in climatic conditions is making it hard for farmers to know when to plant. }}

    But some Banana famers in the region advise that if one wants to plant bananas can go ahead and do so despite the dry spell using corms as planting material and not suckers.

    since corms are small, they are placed in a hole and covered with soil unlike suckers.

    After planting, the soil should be watered immediately. However, later, the top two inches of the soil should be left to dry before watering the corm as it is rooting.

    But keeping the soil consistently wet should be avoided as it is likely to cause rotting.

    As the corm grows slowly, rains will eventually find it there and it would sprout into a healthy banana plant.

    When banana corms are used as planting materials, the first bunch is usually big compared to those on plants that grow from a sucker.

    Besides the bunch being big, the fingers are big too, which is an advantage to commercial banana farmers as big bunches with big fingers fetch high prices.

    Farmers should ensure the weeds in their plantations are controlled and the number of suckers reduced to lessen competition among plants for soil nutrients.

    Mulching should also be done to keep moisture in the soil without forgetting to control pests and diseases.

  • DHL Delivers 9 Gorillas Back to the Wild

    {{In a unique conservation initiative in partnership with The Aspinall Foundation, DHL a logistics company, has delivered a family of nine silverback gorillas from Port Lympne Wild Animal Park in Kent to the Batéké Plateau National Park, Gabon.}}

    The gorillas were transported 9,000 km, departing from the UK to Brussels, and flown in a specially equipped Boeing 767 to Lagos, Nigeria, and then onto Franceville, Gabon.

    For the final leg of the journey they were flown in a helicopter to the national park in collaboration with the Gabonese authorities.

    In addition to the animals, which have a combined weight of 620kg, no less than 1,200 kg of food and vets’ equipment accompanied them on their journey home to the wild.

    To accommodate the gorillas’ transport schedule, DHL took two different aircraft out of commission and temporarily reconfigured its global network to ensure they could be delivered in as tight a timeframe as possible.

    Western lowland gorillas are classed as a critically endangered species, and this is the first attempt ever at returning an entire family to its natural habitat.

    The Aspinall Foundation’s “Back to the Wild” initiative is part of its ongoing commitment to restock the wild with endangered and critically endangered species, following its uniquely successful programmes of captive breeding at its Kent wildlife parks.

    Phil Couchman, CEO of DHL Express UK & Ireland commented: “It’s no mean feat moving a family of nine gorillas across the world.

    This is an extremely important cause and a great logistical undertaking for DHL – our priority throughout the operation has been the safety and well being of the animals.

    “In working closely with The Aspinall Foundation, a world-leading conservation charity, to prepare for the move, we ensured the smoothest possible journey for the gorillas.

    Charles Brewer, Managing Director for DHL Express Sub-Saharan Africa, said, “Our dedicated “special delivery” team, which includes staff from across DHL’s operation, from aircraft engineers to cargo handlers, security teams, pilots and drivers, have done an excellent job of ensuring the success of this project.

    We’re delighted to have been of assistance to the gorilla family and we hope they enjoy their new home.”

    Damian Aspinall, pioneering conservationist and Chairman of The Aspinall Foundation, said: “The Aspinall Foundation’s Back To The Wild initiative is unique and comprises easily the most ambitious reintroduction of the critically endangered species into the wild ever undertaken anywhere in the world.

    We are delighted that DHL have so generously come on board as our partners in this important and exciting repatriation project.”

    {African Press Organization}

  • India Monsoon Floods Kill 120

    {{Military helicopters carried out emergency food drops yesterday for thousands of people stranded by flash flooding from early monsoon rains which have killed at least 120 in northern India, officials said.}}

    The states of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh have witnessed torrential rains at least three times as heavy as usual since last week when the annual monsoon broke a fortnight ahead of schedule.

    Thousands of houses have been swept away in the flash floods and authorities are using helicopters to evacuate people and drop essential food supplies. “At least 110 people have died.

    The state government and the army are trying to rescue thousands of tourists who are stranded near the submerged valleys and Hindu shrines,” said Jaspal Arya, the disaster relief minister of Uttarakhand.

    Stranded pilgrims
    Arya said portions of a Hindu temple were washed away on Tuesday and about 10,000 pilgrims were stranded. “The Kedarnath temple is submerged in mud and slush. We just hope that it does not collapse,” Arya told press.

    Authorities have cancelled pilgrimage trips, fearing further rains and landslides in the state, often referred to as the “Land of the Gods” because of its many Hindu temples and Hindu religious sites.

    Officials in Uttarakhand, the worst-hit state, said about 200 cars, two earthmoving equipment and even a parked helicopter had been swept away by floods.

    The torrential rains began lashing the region on Saturday and local officials said 40 relief camps have been set up to provide food and water to locals and tourists.

    {wirestory}

  • Mozambique to Collect Crocodile Eggs

    {{The Mozambican authorities are collecting crocodile eggs along the Zambezi valley in central part of the country as a way to fight wildlife over-population and human casualties caused by animal attacks.}}

    The Ministry of Agriculture said Wednesday that 100,000 croc eggs will be collected along the valley until the end of the year, in a framework of what the authorities describe as “Men-Animals- Conflict”.

    Crocodiles, elephants, hippos and hyenas cause most of the human casualties linked to animal attacks.

    Last year alone, more than seventy people were killed by the wild animals in the north-western province of Tete. The crocs find their prays when they are fetching water in the rivers.

    The ministry said five local companies will be involved in the operation to collect croc eggs along the Zambezi valley, where more cases of croc attacks were reported.

    The provinces of Tete, Sofala and Zambezia are located along the valley. In Tete for instance, apart from reducing the “Men-Animal- Conflict”, the operation is also aimed at controlling the reproduction of the crocodiles.

    Head of the provincial directorate of forestry and wildlife, Carlos Zacarias, said that the operation will take place in the districts of Mágoe, Zumbo, Cahora Bassa, Moatize, Mutarara and around Tete city.

    In Tete city, the provincial government has built a fence to protect people from being attacked by the dangerous wild animals.

    The planting of chilli trees is also one of the ways to fight against wild animals. According to agronomists, the smell of chilli is deterrent to mammals.

    The government also is speeding the process of digging wells in the rural areas to provide clean drinking water to the population, and prevent them from fetching water from the rivers.

    {NMG}

  • Report: LRA Rebels Accused of Poaching Elephants

    {{The Lords Resistance Army LRA, Rebels are reportedly killing elephants across Central Africa to support their militia group, according to a report by watchdog organizations that are urging the expansion of programs to encourage defections from the Lord’s Resistance Army.}}

    The Enough Project, the Satellite Sentinel Project and two other groups said in the report released Monday that the LRA has turned to elephant poaching “as a means to sustain itself,” and that the militia uses money from the illegal trade in ivory to acquire food and other supplies.

    “With prices at record-high levels, trading illegal ivory offers the LRA another way to sustain itself in addition to its habitual pillaging,” the report said. “Former senior fighters who defected from the group report that the LRA trades ivory for arms, ammunition, and food.”

    Experts say that Africa’s elephants are under increased threat from habitat loss and poachers motivated by rising demand for ivory in Asia. About 70 years ago, up to 5 million elephants are believed to have roamed sub-Saharan Africa.

    Today fewer than a million remain. The elephants of Central Africa, a region long plagued by armed conflict and lawlessness, are especially vulnerable. Much of the harvested ivory ends up as small trinkets.

    The new report said Congo’s expansive but poorly protected Garamba National Park, which once was used by LRA commanders as safe haven, is the source of some of the ivory that ends up before Kony.

    But Garamba’s elephants also are being targeted by “members of the armed forces of (Congo), South Sudan, Sudan, and Uganda,” the report said, citing the concerns of park rangers there.

    It said the LRA is part of “the larger poaching crisis that puts wild African elephants at risk of local extinction.”

    Facing pressure from U.S.-backed African Union troops tasked with eliminating its leaders, the LRA —which used to have several thousand men — is now degraded and scattered in small numbers in Congo, South Sudan, and Central African Republic.

    Fewer than 500 LRA rebels are still active in the bush, according to the Ugandan military, but they can conduct hit-and-run operations that terrorize villagers and move across the region’s porous borders in small groups.

    {wirestory}

  • Floods Hit Central Europe, 5 Dead

    {{Four people have died and at least eight are missing as torrential rains in central Europe caused landslides and took rivers to dangerously high levels.}}

    Emergency operations are under way in Austria, Germany and the Czech Republic to deal with record levels of flooding in some places.

    Thousands of homes across the region have been evacuated.

    The Czech capital, Prague, is on high alert amid fears that floodwater could swamp its historic centre.

    Main roads in many areas of central Europe have been closed and rail services cut. In some areas, electricity has been turned off as a precaution.

    In Prague, underground stations were closed and businesses and schools shut as city officials braced themselves to see whether the Vltava River would flood its banks. Animals from the city’s zoo were also evacuated.

    Czech Prime Minister Petr Necas called a special cabinet session on Sunday to co-ordinate the emergency response, and around 1,000 troops have been mobilised to help erect metal barriers and fill sandbags.

    “We will do everything to protect people’s lives and health,” he said. “Tonight and tomorrow will be critical.”

    {BBC}

  • UN: Joseph Kony Poaching Elephants in Central Africa

    {{Armed groups in central Africa are using powerful weapons, some of which may be left over from the civil war in Libya, to kill elephants for their ivory, the United Nations said on Monday. }}

    In a report to the U.N. Security Council, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said elephant poaching was a growing security concern, particularly in Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad and Gabon.

    Ban said the illegal trade in ivory may be an important source of funding for armed groups, including warlord fugitive Joseph Kony’s Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA).

    “Also of concern is that poachers are using more and more sophisticated and powerful weapons, some of which, it is believed, might be originating from the fallout in Libya,” his report said.

    Ban said that in Minkebe Park in northeastern Gabon, more than 11,000 elephants had been slaughtered between 2004 and 2013, while in Chad in March, poachers killed 86 elephants – including 33 pregnant females – within a week. In Cameroon’s Bouba Ndjida National Park, more than 300 elephants were killed during the last two months of last year.

    “The situation has become so serious that national authorities in some countries, such as Cameroon, have decided to use the national army, in addition to law and order enforcement agencies to hunt down poachers,” Ban said.

    United Nations officials say growing Asian demand for ivory is helping to drive a poaching boom.

    The U.N. Security Council’s Group of Experts, who monitor an arms embargo imposed on Libya at the start of an uprising in 2011 that overthrew Muammar Gaddafi, said last month that the North African state had become a key source of weapons in the region as its nascent government struggles to exert authority.

    The experts said weapons were spreading from Libya at an “alarming rate,” fueling conflicts in Mali, Syria and elsewhere and boosting the arsenals of extremists and criminals in the region.

    Ban’s report singled out the LRA and Kony, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes.

    He and his commanders are accused of abducting thousands of children to use as fighters in a rebel army that earned a reputation for chopping off limbs as a form of discipline.

    LRA fighters fought the Ugandan government for nearly two decades before being ejected from their strongholds in the north of the country in 2005, forcing them to establish bases in the jungles of other countries in the region.

    {UNITED NATIONS}

  • NASA study Shows Rain will get Extreme

    {{A NASA-led study provides new evidence that global warming may increase the risk for extreme rainfall and drought.}}

    The study shows for the first time how rising carbon dioxide concentrations could affect the entire range of rainfall types on Earth.

    Analysis of computer simulations from 14 climate models indicates wet regions of the world, such as the equatorial Pacific Ocean and Asian monsoon regions, will see increases in heavy precipitation because of warming resulting from projected increases in carbon dioxide levels.

    Arid land areas outside the tropics and many regions with moderate rainfall could become drier.

    The analysis provides a new assessment of global warming’s impacts on precipitation patterns around the world.

    The study was accepted for publication in the American Geophysical Union journal Geophysical Research Letters.

    “In response to carbon dioxide-induced warming, the global water cycle undergoes a gigantic competition for moisture resulting in a global pattern of increased heavy rain, decreased moderate rain, and prolonged droughts in certain regions,” said William Lau of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., and lead author of the study.

    The models project for every 1 degree Fahrenheit of carbon dioxide-induced warming, heavy rainfall will increase globally by 3.9% and light rain will increase globally by 1%.

    However, total global rainfall is not projected to change much because moderate rainfall will decrease globally by 1.4%.

    Heavy rainfall is defined as months that receive an average of more than about 0.35 of an inch per day.

    Light rain is defined as months that receive an average of less than 0.01 of an inch per day.

    Moderate rainfall is defined as months that receive an average of between about 0.04 to 0.09 of an inch per day.

    Areas projected to see the most significant increase in heavy rainfall are in the tropical zones around the equator, particularly in the Pacific Ocean and Asian monsoon regions.

    Some regions outside the tropics may have no rainfall at all. The models also projected for every degree Fahrenheit of warming, the length of periods with no rain will increase globally by 2.6%.

    In the Northern Hemisphere, areas most likely to be affected include the deserts and arid regions of the southwest United States, Mexico, North Africa, the Middle East, Pakistan, and northwestern China.

    In the Southern Hemisphere, drought becomes more likely in South Africa, northwestern Australia, coastal Central America and northeastern Brazil.

    “Large changes in moderate rainfall, as well as prolonged no-rain events, can have the most impact on society because they occur in regions where most people live,” Lau said. “Ironically, the regions of heavier rainfall, except for the Asian monsoon, may have the smallest societal impact because they usually occur over the ocean.”

    Lau and colleagues based their analysis on the outputs of 14 climate models in simulations of 140-year periods.

    The simulations began with carbon dioxide concentrations at about 280 parts per million — similar to pre-industrial levels and well below the current level of almost 400 parts per million — and then increased by 1% per year.

    The rate of increase is consistent with a “business as usual” trajectory of the greenhouse gas as described by the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

    Analyzing the model results, Lau and his co-authors calculated statistics on the rainfall responses for a 27-year control period at the beginning of the simulation, and also for 27-year periods around the time of doubling and tripling of carbon dioxide concentrations.

    They conclude the model predictions of how much rain will fall at any one location as the climate warms are not very reliable.

    “But if we look at the entire spectrum of rainfall types we see all the models agree in a very fundamental way — projecting more heavy rain, less moderate rain events, and prolonged droughts,” Lau said.