By Joseph Checky Abuje Leaders and Conservation organizations in East Africa have vowed to strengthen their synergies in an effort to tackle the lucrative Illegal Wildlife Trade that has seen a steady decline in wildlife globally. The organisations which include World Wide Fund for Nature Kenya (WWF-K), International Union for Conservation of Nature(IUCN), The Convention…
Threatened biodiversity a recipe for the outbreak of pandemics in Africa
By Checky Abuje Biodiversity holds the key for a healthy planet but with the current trends of environmental destruction, the planet has been left at the risk of every attack including the pandemics (Covid-19) that have left scientists, governments and other non-state actors scratching their heads for a solution. In a report released by “Living…
New taxation regimes could cripple Kenya’s energy sector
By Checky Abuje Stakeholders in the energy sector cry foul to policies they term as “crippling” the sector following the 14% VAT imposed on energy products like LPG by the government. They claim that the taxation, already effected in the Finance Bill 2020, will derail and could paralyze the operations of the sector to…
Researchers resume White Rhino egg harvesting amidst COVID-19 pandemic
By Joseph Abuje Northern white rhino rescue programme resumes work with the successful egg harvest after a few months’ hiatus due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. So far, 10 eggs have harvested from the last remaining two individuals, Najin and Fatu, in the third-ever ovum pick up procedure in northern white rhinos at Ol Pejeta…
Busia moves to tackle water problems
By Checky Abuje The county government of Busia through the department of water, environment and natural resources has put in measures to access clean, safe water for the residents during this time of Covid-19 when water is one of the essentials in taming the spread of the virus. Through the provision of a hybrid water…
Kenya’s community conservancies stay afloat amid COVID-19
By Checky Abuje The emergency of Coronavirus pandemic across the globe has in one way or the other left Wildlife conservancies in East Africa reeling in economic burden. In Kenya for instance, Community conservancies have offered solutions to perennial wildlife-human conflicts as they have provided socio-economic solutions to local communities who live in semi-arid and…
The GEO-LDN Initiative launches a competition to design a land use planning software
An international technology competition to design software that can support well-informed land-use decisions is launched today by the Group on Earth Observation Land Degradation Neutrality (GEO-LDN) Initiative. As reported by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, up to 70% of the Earth’s ice-free land has already been transformed from its natural state, mainly to meet the…
UN Biodiversity Convention meetings crucial to development of the post-2020 global biodiversity framework
New dates have been announced for three key UN meetings, including the UN Biodiversity Conference, crucial to the development of the post-2020 global biodiversity framework. As approved by the Bureau, the fifteenth meeting of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP-15), originally scheduled for October 2020, will now be held 17-30 May 2021,…