Fiona Macleod

The untimely death of veterinarian Nthethe Raditapole was a loss for the animals – and the country.

The South African Scouts firmly believe in getting important messages to people while they are young. With their climate change programme, they are encouraging young people to become “change agents for climate change education and action”. Youth undertake activities that help them understand the cause and effects of climate change.

Everyone enjoys a pat on the back, but few deserve it as much as the courageous individuals who take up the challenge of driving the "green" agenda in the corporate world. It’s a thankless task most of the time. Outsiders often accuse corporate environmental managers of "green­washing".

Rumour has it that Tony Leon is leaving the DA to start a new party called the Neo-Malthusians. Its founding credo aims to make all South Africans rich because poor people take up too much space, eat too much food and drink too much water. The new party is inspired by the ideas of political economist Thomas Malthus, who in 1798 postulated that high fertility among the poor was responsible for stripping the Earth’s resources.

Eskom is planning up to 15 extra coal-fired power stations to cater for South Africa’s soaring electri­city demand — which would at least double South Africa’s contribution to global climate change. Eskom coal specia­list Johan Dempers identified the Waterberg in Limpopo as a new expansion area.

African communities close to Mapungubwe in Limpopo are demanding the return and reburial of hundreds of human skeletons — including those of 12 former rulers — removed from the famous archaeological site to the University of Pretoria. Mapungubwe mountain was the centre of an African empire the size of Swaziland, encompassing about 200 settlements, between 600AD and 1300AD.

The government has asked international authorities to ban all trade in South African abalone, in a desperate attempt to stop crime syndicates from completely stripping the coastline of the marine delicacy. The call comes as police raided Chinese syndicates in inland areas dealing in huge quantities of abalone in the past month

When Richard Branson swanned around with a piece of (apparently fake) leopard skin over his shoulders at the Virgin Money launch recently, he tuned into a growing trend among urban fashionistas to adorn themselves with the skins of endangered species. Branson’s representative, Tracey Meaker, insisted he was wearing fake fur.

Consumers who ease their consciences by eating hake instead of endangered, fish species need to think again. Fishing industry experts warn that unless drastic action is taken hake will soon be the size of a sardine — if you can find it at all. Over-exploitation of hake, mostly by fishing trawlers, has seen catch rates reduced by about 30% in the past few years.

Impoverished villagers living next to the Kruger National Park in rural Mozambique have pledged 53 000ha of their land for conservation, providing a shot in the arm for South Africa’s ambitious cross-border "peace park" initiative. The bequest will become part of the Greater Limpopo Transfrontier Park.

Residents of Limpopo terrorised by a pride of escapee lions this week got off relatively lightly compared with villagers living in neighbouring Mozambique and Tanzania, where lions often turn into man-hunters. In 18 months in just one of the country’s 10 provinces at least 70 people were eaten by lions.

People getting eaten by wild animals is only one side of the picture in post-war Mozambique — the tourist boom is threatening a number of endangered marine species with local extinction. South African conservation organisations working in Mozambique are particularly worried about sea turtles and dugongs.

Government departments, under pressure to deliver economic growth, have launched a broadside against environmental legislation.

Different arms of the government are at one another’s throats over a proposed 21-storey dam on a major river that passes through the Kruger National Park and feeds Mozambique. South African National Parks has threatened legal action against its principal, the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism.

Petro Props, developers of a Sasol filling station in Libradene on the East Rand, intends to apply for an urgent high court order on Tuesday to stop the whistle-blower, Nicole Barlow, from interfering with the development. If the action succeeds, Barlow could also face a damages claim of millions of rand.

Most people are bound to have an opinion on plans to poison the pesky Indian mynah birds that have colonised South Africa’s suburbs. Jennifer Kemp, an office-bearer at environmental NGO Earthlife Africa, contacted the <i>Mail & Guardian</i> this week to express concern that poisoning mynahs, would lead to indigenous birds like starlings also being poisoned.

A low-cost housing project in the Western Cape is the only African project to receive funding from developed countries for its role in reducing greenhouse gases. The Kuyasa project, in Khayelitsha near Cape Town, attracted great interest at the Montreal climate change conference recently because it is the kind of project delegates hope will be replicated in other countries.

Greenpeace, the international environmental activist group, is launching a major offensive from Cape Town against Japanese whaling ships in the southern oceans.
Two Greenpeace ships docked in Cape Town last Thursday, two days after a Japanese whaling fleet set off for the Antarctic to hunt at least twice the number of whales it normally catches each year.

Fourteen badly burnt young elephants rescued from a wildfire in the Pilanesberg National Park are caught in a tug of war between conservationists about whether they should be put out of their misery. The National Council of SPCAs sent a high-level delegation of five veterinarians to check on the elephants after one of them died of its injuries.

The Kruger National Park wants to shoot up to 6 000 elephants as part of a national culling programme that could start next winter, the <i>Mail & Guardian</i> has learnt. Thousands of elephants in other state and private reserves around the country will also be culled, if a South African National Parks report on elephant management is endorsed by the public.

The Kruger National Park wants to shoot up to 6 000 elephants as part of a national culling programme that could start next winter, the <i>Mail & Guardian</i> has learnt. Thousands of elephants in other state and private reserves around the country will also be culled, if a South African National Parks report on elephant management is endorsed by the public.

Large developers are bulldozing through laws and processes set up to ensure development is sustainable, and government officials and judges appear powerless to stop them. Faced by what they call "a national crisis" caused by dodgy developers of townhouse complexes and golf estates, sustainable development activists are calling for a ministerial commission of inquiry.

Staff at a state-owned game reserve in Limpopo are allegedly running a lucrative midnight butchery on the reserve and selling off bush meat to surrounding communities. In papers before the Pretoria High Court, it is alleged that the bush meat booty at the Hans Merensky provincial reserve near Gravelotte includes endangered species such as sable antelope.

Industries in Durban’s pollution hot spots are being monitored and fined for transgressions, in an attempt to show them the government is serious about getting them to clean up. A provincial representative told a Critical Thinking Forum hosted by the <i>Mail & Guardian</i> and Absa bank last weekend the government is serious about tackling industrial pollution.

African communities dispossessed under apartheid have claimed at least a quarter of the land in the Kruger National Park, including its headquarters at Skukuza. If all the claims were validated under the Restitution Act, they "would probably cost the park its survival as a national park and an international icon", said South African National Parks communications head Wanda Mkutshulwa.

In February 1994, the government decided to give Riemvasmaak back to its original residents. In the 10 years since then, Riemvasmaak residents have set up several ecotourism projects in their mountain desert wilderness that is providing jobs, income and purpose in a community still living with bitter memories of forced removal.