Why militarised approach to Cameroon’s wildlife conservation fuels local resentment

Why militarised approach to Cameroon’s wildlife conservation fuels local resentment

The mixed patrols take place both inside the national parks and the surrounding Zones d’Intérêt Cynégétique (ZICs). In the former, the patrols are organised and paid for by Cameroon’s government-run conservation agency, MINFOF, and its international conservation partners – World Conservation Society (WCS) for Benoué and Bouba Ndjida, and the African Wildlife Foundation (AWF), in Faro.

Read more
Insurgency, ravages of climate change pose biggest threats to wildlife in northern Cameroon

Insurgency, ravages of climate change pose biggest threats to wildlife in northern Cameroon

Cameroon’s Far North has long been on the frontline of climate change. The region has suffered recurrent droughts, most notably during the 1970s and 1980s. This has led to successive waves of southerly migration to more fertile regions. Perhaps the most striking symbol of the changing climate is the shrinking of Lake Chad, a large part of which overlaps with northern Cameroon.

Read more
Elephant kills two female tourists from UK, New Zealand in Zambian national park

Elephant kills two female tourists from UK, New Zealand in Zambian national park

Female elephants are very protective of their calves and can respond aggressively to what they perceive as threats.

Read more
Kenya steps up push to grow tourism arrivals to five million to stave off competition from neighbouring countries

Kenya steps up push to grow tourism arrivals to five million to stave off competition from neighbouring countries

County Executive Committee Member for Trade, Culture and Tourism, Mohamed Osman, said he believes that the five million target can be achieved by 2026. He urged the government to fully implement the open sky policy to attract more tourists to the country.

Read more
Fire experts in Kenya told wildfires are not necessarily bad if indigenous knowledge is fused in their management

Fire experts in Kenya told wildfires are not necessarily bad if indigenous knowledge is fused in their management

Chege observed that fire, from an ecological and social perspective, holds significant benefits right from controlling pests and improving soil quality to regenerating fresh vegetation for grazing. However, he lamented that Kenya’s current fire management approach remains largely reactive, with most responses coming after wildfires have already caused damage.

Read more
Reformed poacher offers hope for Zimbabwe’s tourism industry and endangered wildlife species

Reformed poacher offers hope for Zimbabwe’s tourism industry and endangered wildlife species

Tembanechako Mastick and a group of men scanned bushes near their village in southeast Zimbabwe, on the hunt for the den of hyenas that had recently attacked livestock. Scattered fragments of goat bones showed the way, and Mastick peeped cautiously into a deep hole in the earth. “They are probably...

Read more
Scramble for numbers in Europe’s hospitality industry ushers in new concerns of ‘overtourism’

Scramble for numbers in Europe’s hospitality industry ushers in new concerns of ‘overtourism’

Anyone paying attention during this summer of “overtourism” is familiar with the escalating consequences around the world: traffic jams in paradise. Reports of hospitality workers living in tents. And “anti-tourism” protests intended to shame visitors as they dine – or, as in Barcelona in July, douse them with water pistols.

Read more