5 Sep 2023

A 1995 report from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) declared the African continent as the most severely affected by large-scale landmine laying globally... Mined areas not only represent a risk to life and limb; in addition, they are often representative of lost economic potential and degraded ecosystems, coinciding with communities who have already suffered the devastating effects of conflict...

12 Aug 2023

Africa is the world’s most diverse continent for large mammals such as antelopes, zebras and elephants. The heaviest of these large mammals top the scales at over one ton, and are referred to as megafauna. In fact, it’s the only continent that has not seen a mass extinction of these megafauna.

24 Jul 2023

The consumption of wild meat remains a morally contested and controversial issue in conservation policy and science.

Controversy arises from the decline of game populations as a result of unsustainable harvesting practices. However, whether sustainable or not, wild meat consumption forms a crucial component of the livelihoods of many people, meeting both cultural and nutritional needs.

4 Jul 2023

Written by Richard Kwasi Bannor, University of Energy and Natural Resources

The bushmeat trade – meat from wild animals – continues to soar, mainly in unregulated and illegal markets worldwide. Ghana is one such market. One reason is that it’s a source of income for poor rural households.

1 Jul 2023

Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) are forests product and/or services other than timber. Such products include mushrooms, fruits, nuts, vegetables, fish and game, medicinal plants, resins, honey, essences, tree barks, and fibers such as bamboo, rattans, and a host of other palms and grasses. These are traded, marketed, and sold boosting income for poor people in Uganda, and the world over.

23 Jun 2023

At the beginning of March 2023, the AWEI Team had the amazing privilege of exploring the naturally beautiful landscape of Witsand, Western Cape, South Africa. The trip aimed to undertake a pilot landscape assessment for potential wildlife enterprises.

20 Jun 2023

Originally published by Penn State University on Scitechdaily.com

Giraffe populations separated by Great Rift Valley in eastern Africa are genetically distinct, suggesting that conservation efforts should be considered separately for each population.

09 Jun 2023

Southern white rhinos are widely known as a conservation success story. Their population grew from fewer than 100 individuals in the 1920s to 20,000 in 2012, mostly in South Africa. This success was partially due to the inclusion of the private sector, which started in the 1960s...

08 Jun 2023

The theme for this year’s World Oceans Day (8 June) is “Planet Ocean: Tides are Changing.” Considering this theme, we have to ask two key questions: How important are the oceans for Africa and what role do they play in its development? Could Africa’s blue economy be a changing tide?

06 Jun 2023

As the world’s largest free trade area, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) holds immense potential for boosting trade and economic growth and development in Africa... In celebration of Africa Day today [25 May 2023], it is worth mentioning that the AfCFTA also creates opportunities for the trade in wildlife meat.

23 May 2023

Like many wildlife-loving American women, I had a safari bucket list. It was December 2018, and I was on a journalism fellowship in South Africa. So, I innocently typed “rhino” into Google. On Google Images, a photograph caught my eye. It was of four older white men standing over their harvested rhino, smiling while holding their rifles.

18 May 2023

Written by Jessica E.M. van der Wal, University of Cape Town; Claire Spottiswoode, University of Cape Town, and Dominic Cram, University of Cambridge

In parts of Africa, a small bird called the Greater Honeyguide (Indicator indicator) helps people search for honey. It approaches people and chatters and flies in the direction of a wild bees’ nest, urging the person to follow. When bird and human reach the nest together, the human honey-hunter knows just what to do: they subdue the bees and harvest the honey with smoke and tools. When that’s done, the little bird feeds on the beeswax and larvae left behind.

03 May 2023

There were 29 rhino range states when the ban on trade in rhino horn was imposed in 1977. Today, only five range states remain with evolutionarily viable rhino populations.

22 Apr 2023

William G. Moseley, Macalester College

There are more than 815 million malnourished people in the world today. Almost 243 million of these are in Africa, where the problem is highest. Unfortunately, development organisations may be making food insecurity worse as they push the most advanced forms of agriculture to the detriment of other food systems. These include methods like foraging and subsistence agriculture, on which poorer households often rely.

20 Apr 2023

Investing in Africa’s future: The JWO Research Grant enters its 5th year of funding African scientists.

South Africa, 2023 – Since its inception in 2019, the Jennifer Ward Oppenheimer Research Grant has awarded $600 000 to African researchers pursuing solutions to the continent's environmental issues.