A growing number of people believe ecocide should be recognised as an atrocity crime at the International Criminal Court - alongside Genocide, War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity. Ecocide is serious loss, damage or destruction of ecosystems, and includes climate and cultural damage. Any member state, however small, can propose an amendment to the International Criminal … [Read more...]
Are cell phones to blame for the health decline of millennials?
Millennials — the first generation to grow up using cell phones — are experiencing an unprecedented decline in their health when they reach their late 20s. On April 24, 2019, the American health insurance association Blue Cross Blue Shield released a report titled “The Health of Millennials.” It showed not only that the health of this generation takes a sharp decline … [Read more...]
Fish Hoek beachgoers advised to respect elephant seal moulting
The City of Cape Town and the National Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) have received reports regarding the harassment of an elephant seal moulting on Fish Hoek beach. They advised residents and visitors on Wednesday that this is a natural process and asked that all beachgoers respect the seal and give the animal space while it is ashore, staying at least 10 metres … [Read more...]
Working together to prevent raptor electrocution
The Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) recently helped to make history in Australia when Constant Hoogstad, Senior Manager: Industry Partnerships, travelled to Tasmania to facilitate the formalisation of a partnership between Raptor Refuge, a local raptor rehabilitation centre, and Tasmania’s electricity company, TasNetworks. The Eskom/EWT strategic partnership is an example of … [Read more...]
It’s economically beneficial for SA to protect its natural capital
Healthy natural landscapes such as veld, wetlands, rivers, and estuaries across South Africa generate value to the economy amounting to at least R275 billion per year, a new study by economists at the University of Cape Town (UCT) has found. This is equivalent to at least 7% of the national gross domestic product (GDP), or three times the annual combined value generated by the … [Read more...]
Resistance is fertile! Farmers rise up against SA’s corporate seed laws
Calls to decolonise our seed system at Gauteng public hearings on the Plant Improvement and Plant Breeders’ Rights Bills. Are there alternative systems that put farmers at the centre, do not reduce genetic and agricultural diversity, and support agroecology, seed and food sovereignty and resilience? South African smallholder farmers, consumers, academics and civil society … [Read more...]
New partnership aims to protect endangered birds from power lines
As South Africa’s electricity needs continue to grow, power lines and other accompanying electrical infrastructure are expanding daily. Eskom and the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) formalised their long-standing relationship by entering into a partnership in 1996 to address the problem of wildlife interactions with electrical infrastructure in a systematic manner on a national … [Read more...]
Biggest petition for bees EVER!
Bees are facing a giant global crisis that threatens our food supply. Now Canada is considering a game-changing ban on one of the worst bee-killing chemicals. But Big Ag is fighting back, and it’s up to us to stop them. Imidacloprid is a terrifying chemical used on much of the world's fruits and vegetables -- and it's threatening our web of life from bees to insects. Now … [Read more...]
Sense Africa brings Foster Brothers’ award-winning doccies to CT
A giant black leopard's entire personality was changed when he communicated with the amazing animal-whisperer Anna Breytenbach in The Foster Brothers’ latest film The Animal Communicator. This film brought The Brothers’ work to the hearts, and minds, of a whole new audience around the world. SENSE AFRICA is an overview of the past, and ongoing work of two of South Africa’s … [Read more...]
City requests declaration of the Cape Town Bioregion
The City of Cape Town is hoping to be declared as a bioregion. The City's Council has recognised the City’s efforts to create a balance between urban development and environmental protection by recommending that the MEC for Environmental Affairs be requested to declare Cape Town as a bioregion. This would be one of the first of such regions for a South African metro. It … [Read more...]
Air pollution in cities kill more people than malaria and AIDS combined
Air quality has been improving over time in many cities. For example, Los Angeles isn't quite synonymous with smog the way it used to be... But unfortunately, while some places are getting better, others are getting worse, especially as a larger percentage of humanity is moving to urban areas every year. How big a deal is this? Let's just say that air pollution now kills … [Read more...]
Happy Earth Day All!
I fight not for the saving of the planet, for She did not elect me, I fight not to save Humankind, for they chose me not; I fight, in the process of self-induced human global suicide, On behalf of those innocents who suffer in the process... While one child goes hungry, while one sister cannot walk safely, while one person is homeless, while a single animal dies in the … [Read more...]
Too hot to handle
Could the lifestyle adaptations of Kalahari birds in response to rising temperatures be a signal of worse to come? “It’s called the Hot Birds programme because we work with birds in hot places, not because we are hot birds,” joked researcher Susan Cunningham (main picture), at an installment of the University of Cape Town’s Climate Change Impacts & Adaptation Seminar … [Read more...]
