Revelations from Africa:
Climate change is likely to adversely affect the poorest people in the developing world. But solutions like REDD could end up hurting them as well.
Decades ago, the mathenge tree (prosopis juriflora) was introduced to East Africa from South America to combat desertification. But the “law of unintended consequences” turned the experiment into a failure. Now residents of Baringo district in Kenya are finding new uses for this reviled tree species.
It is with extreme sadness that we received today’s announcement that three park rangers and five Congolese soldiers were killed during an attack on their patrol vehicle in Congo’s Virunga National Park. (Read the blog post by Emmanuel de Merode, Chief Park Warden and member of the Board of Adviser of The Charcoal Project.) Illegal charcoal production in the park is the single greatest threat to the survival of the mountain gorilla. Virunga National Park, which has implemented a successful briquette program in communities surrounding the park, has been a partner and supporter of The Charcoal Project since day one. … Continue reading
The prices of kerosene, cooking gas, and electricity have gone up by 6, 20, and 18.5 per cent respectively. Experts say this leaves most households in Dar es Salaam (Tanzania) and other urban centres with little choice but to shift to charcoal.