Mail & Guardian
Mail & Guardian
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African countries often lack fine-scale biodiversity data for policy and planning, while global models frequently mischaracterise regional patterns.

Sub-Sahara’s severe nature losses

Most of the continent’s wildlife survives outside of protected areas

Wildfires in Israel. (X)

Fires ablaze in a stolen land: Israel’s trees planted over Palestinian villages are in flames

The genocidal state asks the West for help to fight the fires while its military burns children and adults alive in Gaza.

Ghana is one of 11 countries that lose forests through mining related activities.

Illegal mining a profitable but harmful way to address unemployment

Out of poverty people have turned to illegal mining, destroying not only the forests but also farmlands and waterways

Mining near the community forest of Bamasoba situated in North-Kivu. Photo: Jonas Kiriko
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Cobalt crush undermines future of DRC’s community forests

A historic UN deal to restore degraded forest ecosystems in southeastern DRC is being torn apart by mining companies

Burning briquettes: Brenda Sibanda, a firewood and charcoal vendor, is one of many local residents who supply to households across Bulawayo. Photo: Nqobile Tshili
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The dark light: Zimbabwe’s energy nightmare

Power shortages across the country are fuelling deforestation through the illegal charcoal trade

Forests are cleared to make space for housing, industries, businesses and for agriculture. (Photo by ADITYA AJI/AFP via Getty Images)

Unpacking deforestation, forest loss and carbon sinks

What does deforestation look like in South Africa

At the Bel Ombre Meadows in Constantia a mushroom foraging expedition turns up a good bounty of edibles the participants divide among themselves. Photo: Veld and Sea

Forage for edible mushrooms in Cape Town

Mary Corrigall went on an expedition and turned up edibles you seldom find in a supermarket

Forests are cleared to make space for housing, industries, businesses and for agriculture. (Photo by ADITYA AJI/AFP via Getty Images)

World leaders promise an end to the ‘chainsaw massacres’ causing deforestation at COP26

As long as agribusinesses and global financial institutions continued to fuel and make money from global deforestation these carbon sinks will continue to be razed

Save forests to protect us from future pandemics — Harvard scientists

Risk of next pandemic greater than ever, scientists say, but world can act

Valentin-Yves Mudimbe, regarded as the pioneer of postcolonial studies in Africa, never ceased to be a voice of the continent. Photo: Michael Runkel/Robert Harding Heritage/AFP

Myths shroud Mulanje mountain

The stunning scenery of Malawi’s only mountain is a drawcard for local and foreign visitors

Restoration: Illegal charcoal production and logging are the main threats to the conservation of Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. (Alexis Huguet/AFP)

Afforestation can hinder fight against global warming if done wrong, study says

A simplistic approach to tree restoration without not properly accounting for the complexities of plant and atmosphere interactions can cause problems

Johannesburg City Parks and Zoo teams collecting trees for planting

South Africa’s potential to expand tree cover as a climate mitigation tool

Should Africa’s largest emitter rely on tree planting initiatives to mitigate?

This handout picture made available by Archeovision and taken on March 3, 2020 shows French geo-archeologist Richard Oslisly (C) and two French anthropo-biologists Sebastien Villotte (L) and Sacha Kacki (R) looking at the remains of a skull in the Iroungou cave, near Mouila, southern Gabon. – The discovery of a 14th century underground burial site deep in Gabon’s tropical forest may shed light on a little known period in Africa’s history, with hundreds of artefacts. (Pascal MORA / ARCHEOVISION / AFP)

Rare Gabon burial cave reveals clues to African history

There are 30 skeletons in the Iroungou cave, and carbon dating has shown they are from the 14th century. It is only the second cave burial site to be unearthed on the continent