Starbucks & Ethopia in coffee-bean dispute

One year ago, the Ethiopian government approached Starbucks global HQ in Seattle and asked the company to recognise Ethiopia’s legal ownership of the names of its coffees. Despite its much-publicised commitments to farming communities, Starbucks has not taken the Ethiopian request seriously. It’s time for Starbucks to recognise Ethiopia’s rights. Read full story on Oxfam's website.

Rebel group slaughtering hippos in National Park

Hippos falling victim to a poaching spree in a national park could die out in the area by Christmas unless the culling stops, Zoological Society of London conservationists are warning.

A Congolese militia group is already thought to have killed half the hippo population in Virunga National Park since setting up a base there two weeks ago. Lake Edward, in the centre of the park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo was once central to Africa’s greatest concentration of these magnificent beasts (read full story).

Wine Farmers Share Profit with Workers in South Africa

Through the creation of the Wijn de Caab Trust (representing Delta's resident employees and their families, mainly descendants of the dislocated Gorachoqua and Indian Ocean slaves, whose labour made the estate what it is today) the current owners are attempting in a small way to address the persistent economic inequality and other bitter legacies of South Africa's past. Profits of the estate are now shared equally between Solms-Delta (Pty) Ltd. and the beneficiaries of the Trust. Read full story ...

Wildlife Souvenirs - THINK TWICE

South African born actor, Arnold Vosloo, has joined forces with IFAW to champion the Think Twice campaign urging tourists not to buy souvenirs made from wildlife when visiting South Africa - watch the video | take the pledge.

Africam.com back online!

Visitors to Africam.com can enjoy LIVE footage of African wildlife through africams at various watering holes and other strategic locations.

Need a hug?

Check out the inspiring story (video) about the free hugs campaign, music by sick puppies, on YouTUBE.

Goodbye Johannesburg International - hello OR Thambo International

ACSA (Airports Company South Africa) has confirmed that Johannesburg International Airport will be officially renamed to OR Thambo International Airport on the 27th of October, the birthday of freedom fighter, Oliver Thambo.

How Green is Your Boating?

It's very difficult to plead ignorance about the harm we inflict on our planet, but have you considered how your boating adventures affect the aquatic environment you love spending time in?

Test how eco-friendly you are with your boat by doing this test at http://www.thegreenblue.org.uk/youandyourboat/howgreen.asp

Cycling ALONE around the world for PEACE

Pushkar Shah, a peace activist in college and witness to violence throughout his life in Nepal, left home in 1998 with the goal of cycling 390 000 km and visiting every country in the world to promote peace.

“We have one sun, one moon, we have one sky and one world. So the world is one house. We are the family of that house so we have to live in peace,” he said.

"I began my journey with only 100 Nepalese Rupees (One Euro) given to me by my mother. I have no official sponsor and have thus far been able to pursue my dream through the kindness and generosity of the many strangers who have befriended me along the way.

When I began my journey eight years ago, many people did not believe that such a trip was possible and said that I would get no further than India. As of May 2006 I have visited 100 countries in Asia, Asia Pacific, North America, Central America, South America, Caribbean, Africa and the Europe. I would like to climb Mount Everest in 2010 bringing the national flags of all the countries I will have visited by then to the summit."

Read more about this amazing journey at http://www.pushkarshah.com/.

Sailing a dry-river bed?

Who needs water to go sailing? Assa Abloy's Henley-on-Todd takes place in the centre of Australia at Alice Springs on 16 September 2006. The fact that the town is 1,500 km's from the nearest large body of water is not seen as a problem.

Watching seemingly sane people race in bottomless "eights", "oxford tubs", "bath tubs" and yachts through the deep coarse sand of the Todd River provides an unique spectacle amongst world sporting events. The multi-event program attracts many local and international participants from the audience who often finish up on world TV news paddling canoes with sand shovels and in "land lubber" events like filling empty 44 gallon drums with sand.

Fly non-stop London-Hong Kong for same price as 2/3 stop flight

Oasis Hong Kong Air are launching their first non-stop, long haul flight to London for the price of a ticket with 2 or 3 stops. They plan to phase in these cheap flights to other European destinations over the next few months.

"Flights to Milan, Berlin, Cologne/Bonn (Germany), Oakland and Chicago will be successively phased in during the months after we launch service to London-Gatwick." ~ Oasis Hong Kong Air (http://www.oasis-air.com).

New granny boat design to become a hit?

The elderly and people with a disability would be able to sail much more easily with the new 'granny' boat design. It's not sure if and when it will be put into production, funky anyway? Further info can be read at http://www.sail-world.com/indexs.cfm?nid=25185.

Mega Blue Wave Sailing Adventure

Sailing enthusiasts might find 'The Big Sail Blog' at http://www.megabluewave.com/blog/ fun to follow. Four lads have embarked on a six-day sailing adventure in the Great Lakes (USA). Marek explains, "I was trying to figure out how can we post to our blog while we are on the water. Thanks to the great technology we have today we'll use my RAZR cell phone to post updates to our blog assuming there is cell phone coverage in the areas we will be."

East Africa facing drought-induced starvation

URGENT - 11 million people are watching their cattle, donkeys and livestock starve to death and they're not far behind (read further). You can help by donating your time, money and/or resources to the World Food Program.

Stay of Execution for KNP Elephants

The decision to cull elephants in the Kruger National Park has been put on hold due to international pressure from animal welfare groups. A big thank-you to everyone who also sent their outcry to the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism. "It is unclear how long the government’s postponement will hold, and that at least another three months of research needs to be done into the impact and necessity of culling." ~ Rudi van Aarde, ecologist at the University of Pretoria.

Sophiatown Resurrected After Apartheid

As apartheid bulldozers razed their homes on 9th of February 1955, residents of Sophiatown were 'dumped' into the Meadowlands, approximate 10 km's to the South in Soweto. The minority government renamed their seizure 'Triomf' (meaning truimph).

"Despite the poverty, Sophiatown had a special character; for Africans it was the Left Bank in Paris, Greenwich Village in New York, the home of writers, artists, doctors and lawyers. It was both bohemian and conventional, lively and sedate," former president Nelson Mandela recalled in his autobiography Long Walk to Freedom.

Tin shacks and red-roofed brick homes, Sophiatown was the vibrant birthplace of South African jazz. Internationally-acclaimed jazz greats, like trumpet maestro Hugh Masekela, Miriam Makeba and Abdullah Ibrahim made their name here. Archbishop Trevor Huddleston (and anti-apartheid veteran) gave Masekela his first trumpet here.

South Africans of all cultures celebrated this Saturday, "We are here today to rename Triomf to Sophiatown," said city mayor Amos Masondo as he unveiled a signboard bearing the original name in bold black letters."There is no need to say how deeply devisive the name Triomf has been to our nation," Masondo told a crowd of about 500 people including many who had lived in the suburb before 1955.

"I'm feeling ecstatic about it. When we were thrown out we lost hope that we would ever be able to come back," said jazz diva Abigail Kubeka, who started her singing career in Sophiatown's beerhalls.

Kruger's Elephant Hall Closed for Refurbishing

A lick of paint and general maintenance will give the Elephant Hall at Letaba Main Camp in the Kruger National Park a fresh new face. The Elephant Hall is home to the skulls and ivory of six of Kruger's legendary Magnificent Seven elephants and will soon include the tusks of Mandleve, Kruger's largest ivory-carrying elephant which died of natural causes in 1993.

It also includes historical displays of elephant evolution and will soon boast large murals especially prepared for the Hall. "We realise that many of our guests that visit Letaba during February will be disappointed not to see this facility, but would like to assure that the new-look Hall will be much better than the present one.” said Ben van Eeden, regional manager for the Northern Business Unit. The Hall should reopen in March 2006.

Wetlands, Water and Livelihoods

The global NGO Wetlands International will host an international workshop in South Africa on the role of wetland management in poverty reduction. The goal of the workshop is to bring the nature conservation and development aid sectors together to develop a common agenda for how wetlands protection and poverty reduction can complement one another.

"South Africa is a very interesting country to look at," says Trevor Wickham, the Project Manager of the Dutch-funded project, "with water shortage in many areas and numerous communities dependent on fresh water ecosystems, South Africa has needed to be innovative in finding solutions that work for nature and people. Their working-for-wetlands program, where the poor can earn a living and develop new skills through restoring wetlands is one such example.”

2010 Soccer World Cup - 10 Stadiums

South Africa has committed ZAR 242m for building / refurbishing 10 stadiums in South Africa for the 2010 Football World Cup. "These 10 stadiums will ensure that South Africa meets Fifa's expectations." ~ Gert Oosthuizen, Deputy Minister of Sport and Recreation. The 10 stadiums are:

1. Peter Mokaba stadium in Polokwane, Limpopo;
2. One stadium in Mbombela in Mpumalanga;
3. One in the Nelson Mandela Metro in the Eastern Cape;
4. Kings Park Soccer stadium in Durban, Kwazulu Natal (going to be rebuilt to become a multi-purpose sports facility);
5. A new stadium will be built at the existing Green Point Track in Cape Town (a ‘dome’ roof will protect the players from the notorius Cape Doctor);
6. Soccer City in Gauteng;
7. Ellis Park in Gauteng;
8. Loftus Versveld in Gauteng;
9. Royal Bafokeng stadium in North West;
10. Vodacom Park in Bloemfontein in the Free State.

Culling-conservationists need paradigm shift

Dear Editor,

I am of the opinion that in an island reserve such as Pilansberg or Madikwe, if you cannot translocate the excess elephant, there is no other alternative but to cull in order to maintain the ecological integrity of the reserve. However, this is not the case with the Kruger National Park.

I, after spending many years living in Timbavati side by side with elephants and interacting with them on a daily basis, have formed a different view. National parks and reserves should be audited to ascertain whether the reserve in question could sustain an elephant population crash and if so elephant populations should be allowed to climb and crash as the natural cycles dictate.

The Kruger National Park has recently become a Transfrontier Park. An additional million hectares has now been fenced in with the KNP, which is now three million hectare in extent. This reserve could possibly sustain elephant populations indefinitely as occurs with wildebeest populations in the Serengeti.

There needs to be a paradigm shift in the thinking of conservationists who support culling and consider it the only the alternative.

Nature has looked after itself for millions of years; conservation is a new science and has only been practiced as "educated guesses" for about 80 years or so. We need to comprehend that culling is only one option of many and each situation is unique. To cull at this time while the park is expanding is premature. The elephants and other wildlife are stimulus-response organisms and will respond to any stimulus in their environment.

Culling will lead to more prolific breeding. Overpopulation will lead to some elephants moving into new areas without having to be forced. Allow them to do their thing and I am sure we will learn a thing or two and be pleasantly surprised. My vote goes to applying a flexible, accountable approach to the situation.

Marco Schiess
Umlani Bushcamp
Timbavati

Elephant Science Round Table meet in Cape Town

An international group of 10 scientists (a.k.a. the Elephant Science Round Table) are meeting in Cape Town today [19-01-'06] to discuss the report by SANparks that highlights the problem of elephant herd overpopulation in the Kruger National Park. The concern is what damage can be caused to the biodiversity. At the moment, population control options include contraception, translocation, increasing the range (making the park area larger) and culling.

"Culling should not be considered as an option, as it's cruel and unethical." ~ Animal Welfare Groups like IFAW.

Update 23-01-'06 : The Round Table has advised Marthinus van Schalkwyk (Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism) that there isn't enough evidence to warrant a large scale reduction of the elephant population in the Kruger National Park. Even though there is a lot of information, the Round Table scientists believe that more research needs to be done before a definite decision can be made.

“The Round Table essentially confirmed the diversity of views on this emotive issue, but also that role players are at the end committed to the same objective, which is to assert South Africa’s internationally recognised skill of conservation management,” said J P Louw, DEAT spokesperson.

Cape Flats to get a ZAR 8,4m boost

The City of Cape Town has allocated ZAR 8,4 m to reviving parts of the Cape Flats i.e. Khayelitsha and Mitchell's Plain. Khayelitsha will be seeing road upgrades and the installation of street / security lights (ZAR 4,6m), while Mitchell's Plain will see an upgrade of its beaches on False Bay coast and its sports fields (ZAR 3,7m).

Tourists can visit the local folk at the Cape Flats on an exciting cultural day-excursion, such as the Cape Care Cultural Route, Cape Cultural Township Tour or Cape Town City and Cultural Township Tour. See info on Cape Town & Western Cape.