Sustainable Africa News: January 2008 |
Current news from Malawi, Mozambique, Niger, South Africa and Swaziland, and The 11th Hour Film opens Aug 17th.
Nigeria promotes solar power
Posted online: December 28, 2007
source: Science and Development Network www.scidev.net
Author: Michael Simire
Nigeria has launched a solar power project that is anticipated to power up to ten rural communities with no current access to the national electrical grid. Nearly 5000 people living in villages in the Badagry, Epe, Eredo and Ojo local government regions are expected to benefit. The project is being funded by the state Ministry of Science and Technology.
Government spokesman Steve Osuji said that the innovation is coming under the current administration’s 'Clean and Green Initiative', whereby Owerri city and other major towns in the state are being given a facelift. A similar government project, launched in 2002 with assistance from the Japanese government, has lit 200 rural communities in Imo, Ondo and Jigawa states as well as the capital Abuja. read more
Rethinking Resources in Uganda: Harvesting Humanure for Biogas
posted online: January 3, 2008
source: www.allAfrica.com
Author: John Kasozi
The convenient truth about human excreta and urine is being realized by farmers in Uganda (as well as Tanzania, China and other countries), as an inexpensive source of clean energy. Biogas is produced by bacteria during the fermentation of organic materials in an air tight (and therefore) airless container called a digester. Biogas is composed of methane (60-65%) and carbon dioxide (35-40%). Harvesting and using biogas slows down the rate of deforestation and its by-products are used to improve soil fertility. Also, biogas indirectly reduces the burden of women and children fetching firewood from long distances. Biogas keeps the environment free of organic wastes, is convenient, time-saving and reduces smoke-related illnesses often associated with the use of firewood. Biogas is used for cooking, lighting pressure lamps, in four-stroke engines, as fuel to supplement part of fuel compression engines and to run liquid absorption refrigerators. read more
Sierra Leone bans timber exports
posted online: Tuesday, January 15, 2008
source: www.bbcnews.com
Forestry Minister, Joseph Sam Sesay, told the BBC the ban would remain in effect until a policy was put in place to help local communities benefit from logging. The activities of foreign logging companies have caused severe environmental destruction in other West African countries, including Ivory Coast, Guinea and Liberia, and the newly elected president, Ernest Bai Koroma, aims to preserve Sierra Leone from the same fate. According to a forestry ministry official, Hassan Mohammed, deforestation in northern Sierra Leone has already caused serious soil erosion, forcing local communities off the land. In addition to the logging ban, President Koroma declared the Gola Forest a national park.read more
http://greenbeltmovement.org/a.php?id=249
Tree Media Group’s ‘The 11th Hour’ in theaters on August 17, 2007
 The 11th Hour, Leonardo DiCaprio’s feature length documentary which, "examines the state of the global environment, and includes visionary and practical solutions for restoring the planet’s beleaguered ecosystems," opens in Los Angeles and New York August 17th.
Stephan McGuire who is a producer with Tree Media Group was Associate Producer of The 11th Hour as well as Director of Outreach /for The 11th Hour ACTION Campaign. Stephan who began studying Permaculture on the island of Hawaii in 2001 and in Costa Rica in 2002-2003 is the Founder of the Coalition for a Sustainable Africa, and one of NextAid's partners in CSAfrica which is an international coalition dedicated to innovative and collective grassroots solutions to inextricable economic, social and environmental challenges facing Africa today.
The documentary tackles an issue that DiCaprio has championed for years as it takes on a renewed urgency in the wake of recent natural disasters, and as increasing global abuse brings the future of our environment into greater question.
DiCaprio says, "Global warming is not only the number one environmental challenge we face today, but one of the most important issues facing all of humanity.” “We all have to do our part to raise awareness about global warming and the problems we as a people face in promoting a sustainable environmental future for our planet." read more at the 11th Hour Film website
Green Tips: Reduce Your Footprint |
1. Stop Junk Mail from filling up your mailbox. Subscribe to Green Dimes, a company that puts a stop to junk mail coming to your mailbox. http://www.greendimes.com/
2. Change your search engine either to save energy, or to benefit your favorite charity. Check out www.blackle.com as an alternative search engine. Blackle saves energy because the screen is predominantly black. Or, check out Good Search http://www.goodsearch.com/ which lets you register any school or non-profit organization of your choice, and every search you perform through Good Search, a penny is donated to your selected recipient. top
Treehugger treehugger.com
World Changing worldchanging.com
Grist www.grist.org
Plenty Magazine www.plentymag.com
Union of Concerned Scientists www.ucsusa.org
Co-Op America www.coopamerica.org
Environmental News Network www.enn.com
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Discovery Channel: Planet Earth Guide
http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/planet-earth/guide/guide.html
Sundance Channel: The Green
http://www.sundancechannel.com/thegreen#/homePage
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The Future of Food www.thefutureoffood.com
 The Future of Food offers an in-depth investigation into the disturbing truth behind the unlabeled, patented, genetically engineered foods that have quietly filled U.S. grocery store shelves for the past decade.
An Inconvenient Truth climatecrisis.com
From director Davis Guggenheim comes the Sundance Film Festival hit, AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH, which offers a passionate and inspirational look at one man's fervent crusade to halt global warming's deadly progress in its tracks by exposing the myths and misconceptions that surround it. In this eye-opening and poignant portrait of Gore and his "traveling global warming show," Gore also proves himself to be one of the most misunderstood characters in modern American public life. Here he is seen as never before in the media - funny, engaging, open and downright on fire about getting the surprisingly stirring truth about what he calls our "planetary emergency" out to ordinary citizens before it's too late.
11th Hour www.11thhourfilm.com
 "So, we find ourselves on the brink. It's clear humans have had a devastating impact on our planet's ecological web of life. Because we've waited, because we've turned our backs on nature's warning signs, and because our political and corporate leaders have consistently ignored the overwhelming scientific evidence, the challenges we face are that much more difficult... What will guide this massive change? And does nature hold the answers we need to help restore our planet's resources, protect our atmosphere, and therefore help all life survive? — Leonardo DiCaprio
Excerpted (Vanity Fair May 2007) from the film The 11th Hour, a documentary created by Leonardo DiCaprio; directed by Leila Conners Petersen and Nadia Conners; the film, to be released later this year by Tree Media Group and the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation. Read more at www.leonardodicaprio.org
The Corporation www.thecorporation.com
Winner of 26 International Awards! 10 Audience Choice Awards including the 2004 Sundance Film Festival.
 Provoking, witty, stylish and sweepingly informative, The Corporation explores the nature and spectacular rise of the dominant institution of our time. Taking its status as a legal "person" to the logical conclusion, the film puts the corporation on the psychiatrist's couch to ask "What kind of person is it?" The Corporation includes interviews with 40 corporate insiders and critics - including Noam Chomsky, Naomi Klein, Milton Friedman, Howard Zinn, Vandana Shiva and Michael Moore - plus true confessions, case studies and strategies for change.
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Cradle to Cradle
by William McDonough info
Introduction to Permaculture
by Bill Mollison info
The Art of Natural Building
by Joseph Kennedy, Michael G. Smith, Catherine Wanek info
Gaviotas, A Village to Reinvent the World
by Alan Weisman info
Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands
by Brad Lancaster info
The End of Poverty
by Jeffrey Sachs info
Refer to source for copyrights for content and photo and credits. top |
