This publication looks at how sharing technological infrastructure can support gender equality and serve the broad betterment of mining communities. It illustrates how mining companies in South Africa and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) are sharing technological infrastructure with local communities and how partners are collaborating in Peru …
Years of drier conditions in the Congo River basin in central Africa appear to be affecting trees in the region’s vast rain forests, scientists reported on Wednesday. Writing in the journal Nature, the researchers said the capacity of the trees to photosynthesize had declined. If this trend continues, they suggested, …
An Ebola outbreak blamed for 135 deaths in West Africa in the past month was not imported from Central Africa but caused by a new strain of the disease, a study in a U.S. medical journal said, raising the specter of further regional epidemics. The spread of Ebola from a …
An outbreak of Ebola virus disease (EVD) in West Africa, with onset in early February 2014, is evolving in Guinea and Liberia. This is the first such outbreak in the area. The first cases were reported from the forested region of south-eastern Guinea. As of 7 April 2014, the Ministry …
Heavy rains from the Amazon to Australia have curbed sea level rise so far this century by shifting water from the oceans to land, according to a study that rejects theories that the slowdown is tied to a pause in global warming. Sea level rise has been one of the …
The fight against malaria has saved 3.3 million lives worldwide since 2000 but the mosquito-borne disease still killed 627,000 people last year, mainly children in Africa, the World Health Organization said Wednesday. A shortage of funding and basic remedies such as bed nets mean that malaria is still a major …
The scale of the elephant poaching epidemic could lead to local populations becoming extinct, an IUCN report says Africa will lose one-fifth of its elephants in the next decade if the continent's poaching crisis is not stopped, data published on Monday shows. There were about 10 million African elephants (Loxodonta …
U.N. negotiators on Friday agreed rules on financing forest projects in developing nations, paving the way for multi-billion dollar investments from governments, funding agencies and private firms in schemes to halt deforestation. The agreement on "results-based" funding for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) was a rare breakthrough …
New research suggests that extreme weather events will keep people poor in many parts of the world. The authors argue that where disasters like drought are prevalent, they can be the most important cause of poverty. They say that up to 325 million people will be living in countries highly …
Country’s Hunger Index Has Dropped Three Points, But Stays In ‘Alarming’ Category: Global Hunger Report In a striking irony, the number of hungry people in the world was estimated at 842 million in 2011-13 in the Global Hunger Index (GHI) report released on Monday even as world cereal production was …
With 57 cases in a decade, it is far below the hardest-hit countries, Congo with 10,581 and Madagascar with 7,182. Still, it is the only wealthy country on the list; 97 percent of cases are in Africa. The survey was published Monday by The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and …
WWF warns of environmental disaster and permanent conflict if British firm begins drilling for oil inside Virunga national park The Virunga national park, home to rare mountain gorillas but targeted for oil exploration by a British company, could earn strife-torn DR Congo $400m (£263m) a year from tourism, hydropower and …
Tree loss in one of the world's largest rainforests has slowed, a study suggests. Satellite images of Africa's Congo Basin reveal that deforestation has fallen by about a third since 2000. Researchers believe this is partly because of a focus on mining and oil rather than commercial agriculture, where swathes …
Gunmen believed to be part of the rebel force that seized power in Central African Republic in March have killed at least 26 elephants in a raid on an internationally-protected wildlife park, campaigners said on Friday. The slaughter underscores how poachers are taking advantage of a security void in the …
Nearly 2,000 children around the globe, under the age of five, die every day from diarrhoeal diseases linked to unsafe water, poor sanitation and hygiene, with 24 per cent of the deaths occurring in India alone, a UN report has warned. Globally, an estimated 2,000 children under the age of …
African forest elephants face extinction if 'drastic measures' are not taken Forest elephant numbers have decreased by 62% across Central Africa over the last 10 years, according to a study. The analysis confirmed fears that African forest elephants (Loxodonta cyclotis) are heading for extinction, possibly within the next decade. Conservationists …
The Democratic Republic of Congo's (DRC) largest remaining forest elephant population, located in the Okapi Faunal Reserve (OFR), has declined by 37 percent in the last five years, with only 1,700 elephants now remaining, according to wildlife surveys by WCS and DRC officials. WCS scientists warn that if poaching of …
The UN food agency on Tuesday warned the world risked a surge in bird flu outbreaks unless countries strengthen their monitoring against dangerous animal diseases despite economic hardship, reports BSS. "The continuing international economic downturn means less money is available for prevention of H5N1 bird flu and other threats of …
India will host the first ever global ministerial meet – 'E 50:50' – on elephants in the Capital from November 14 to 19. The conference, expected to be attended by 50 countries that harbour wild populations of elephants, will discuss conservation and welfare of elephants, according the Ministry of Environment …
Africa's biggest animals were poached in near record numbers in 2012, with surging demand for horn and ivory from Asia driving the slaughter of rhinos and elephants. By mid-December, poachers had killed 633 rhinos in South Africa, according to environment ministry figures. That marks a new annual peak in the …
The amount of funds available for malaria prevention and control globally is less than half what is needed, the World Health Organization (WHO) has said in a report. While it is estimated that $5.1 billion is needed every year between 2011 and 2020 to achieve universal access to malaria interventions, …
