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Kenyan Environmentalists Fight to Save the Otter
A group of science teachers in Kisumu, Kenya, are working to protect an endangered mammal on the shores of Lake Victoria.
Otters [Fisi Maji in Swahili] were once a common sight along the shores of Lake Victoria in the morning and late afternoon. They have webbed feet, a fine streamlined body for rapid movement through the water, and a strong, muscular tail to help steer them.
Otters often travel up to 50 km in a night in search of food -- mainly fish and crustaceans like crabs and mollusks. But their numbers are thinning because of the encroachment of farmers into the wetlands and groups clearing the area in search of reeds and grasses for building houses and cottages along the beach. Otters are also killed by pollution, including industrial waste dumped into Lake Victoria – and by natural predators -- like crocodiles, pythons, and eagles.
Titus Mulwa is part of the Hippo Focus Group working to save the otter. Its original goal was to save the hippopotamus – also an endangered species at Lake Victoria.
Mulwa says humans are another predator that endangers otters:
“Traditional Medicine men in search of the otter believe eating the animal meat boost sexual potency in men. Solar dried pieces of otter meat are crushed and powder mixed in the body oils for women to apply as an ointment charm to attract the lover’s heart.”
Mark Origa is chairman of the Kisumu Science Teachers Otter Conservation Group. It’s working with the Hippo Focus Group and Kenya’s Department of Fisheries as part of a program to help protect the mammals.
Together, they’re working to promote conservation awareness, in part by starting conservation clubs for area youth. They also want to help develop the region as a tourist site. And they’ll look for ways to restore food sources for the otter. Its primary foods – like fish and crabs – are now harvested for commercial use
Mark Origa offers a solution, “Re-planting papyrus and fresh water mangroves and reinforcing of the government policies on the conservation values of the lake and wetlands through education would change the area status quo. “
A shortage of funds has limited the activities of groups doing research as well as buying papyrus, hippo grass and freshwater mangrove seedlings to plant. But the otter conservationists persist – they plan to create an otter clinic in Kisumu town. A group of science teachers in Kisumu, Kenya, are working to protect an endangered mammal on the shores of Lake Victoria. ... more -
In an African market, pennies are not peanuts - World Blog - msnbc.com
None of the shopkeepers had change for a dollar, and I marveled, not for the first time, at how the gap between rich and poor plays out in real life.
I wanted to buy a tiny bag of peanuts while waiting for a ferry to cross a pretty bay on Lake Victoria in Tanzania.
Nagona, the woman selling the peanuts, didn't have change; so she went from stall to stall, waving the 1,000 Tanzanian shilling note, which is actually worth about 88 cents. But nobody could break it. This vendor had 60 cents worth of money, that one had 80 cents, but nobody had the resources to break the 1,000 shilling note.
And all the while they smiled and laughed and joked with each other. I asked how business was and they said good. They sold peanuts, small cartons of milk, warm, sweet, fizzy drinks, dry biscuits labeled "energy bars" and, of course, cigarettes.
One cigarette at a time, that is. None of the shopkeepers had change for a dollar, and I marveled, not for the first time, at how the gap between rich and poor plays ou... more -
Living in fear: Tanzania's albinos
Twenty-five people with albinism have been murdered in Tanzania since March, a BBC investigation has found. Albinos are targeted for body parts that are used in witchcraft, and killings continue despite government efforts to stamp out the grisly practice, the BBC's Karen Allen says. Once, albinos used to seek shelter from the sun. Now they have gone into hiding simply to survive, after a series of killings linked to witchcraft. In Tanzania, 25 albinos have been killed in the past year. The latest victim was a seven-month-old baby. He was mutilated on the orders of a witchdoctor peddling the belief that potions made from an albino's legs, hair, hands, and blood can make a person rich.
Sorcery and the occult maintain a strong foothold in this part of the world, especially in the remote rural areas around the fishing and mining regions of Mwanza, on the shores of Lake Victoria. Nobody seems to know why the killings are happening now, but Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete is now putting pressure on the police to identify where albinos live and offer them protection. This is not an easy task when BBC investigations suggest that some police are being "bought off" in order to look away when such appalling crimes are committed.
Read more... Twenty-five people with albinism have been murdered in Tanzania since March, a BBC investigation has found. Albinos are targeted for ... more -
Troubled waters: Lake Victoria
East Africa's Lake Victoria is the world's largest tropical lake — but some experts think it may disappear within twenty years.
Water levels have dropped dramatically in recent years thanks to climate change, hydroelectric dam projects and increasing pressure on the lake's threatened resources. The crisis endangers the livelihood of the more than 30 million people who rely on the lake for food and work. East Africa's Lake Victoria is the world's largest tropical lake — but some experts think it may disappear within twenty yea... more -
Unique Off Grid project at Lake Victoria, Kenya
The first step in establishing a viable global solution for off-grid lighting is a pilot project. OSRAM has started this pilot around eastern Africa's Lake Victoria, addressing local fishermen and their communities. In April 2008, the first O-HUB in Mbita, Kenya, was inaugurated. Lake Victoria was chosen because the local fishermen fishing for sardines at night use kerosene lanterns. The fishermen spend up to 70% of their income on kerosene, so they have a strong interest in efficient lighting. The first step in establishing a viable global solution for off-grid lighting is a pilot project. OSRAM has started this pilot around ... more
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DARWIN'S NIGHTMARE
This Film will open your eyes and break your heart, I highly recommend it to all.
Some time in the 1960's, in the heart of Africa, a new animal was introduced into Lake Victoria as a little scientific experiment. The Nile Perch, a voracious predator, extinguished almost the entire stock of the native fish species. However, the new fish multiplied so fast, that its white fillets are today exported all around the world.
Huge hulking ex-Soviet cargo planes come daily to collect the latest catch in exchange for their southbound cargo Kalashnikovs and ammunitions for the uncounted wars in the dark center of the continent.
This booming multinational industry of fish and weapons has created an ungodly globalized alliance on the shores of the worlds biggest tropical lake: an army of local fishermen, World bank agents, homeless children, African ministers, EU-commissioners, Tanzanian prostitutes and Russian pilots.
http://butiama.podomatic.com/2006-08-06T13_38_07-07_00.... This Film will open your eyes and break your heart, I highly recommend it to all. ... more
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