In 2019, the illegal wildlife trade reached staggering levels. Pangolin scales and ivory were being trafficked in massive quantities from Africa to Asia, exposing a network of crime syndicates operating at an industrial scale. The sheer volume of these shipments marked a disturbing milestone, one that revealed the global reach …
The DC also directed the officials to conduct surprise checks at night as illegal mining is usually done around that time. AFTER THE issue of illegal mining in Majri block was highlighted by Chandigarh Newsline, Deputy Commissioner (DC) Gurpreet Kaur Sapra constituted teams with officials of different departments to carry …
PANAJI: The hill on the secluded Aivao beach, a quiet sunset point near Raj Bhavan, has been blatantly dug for a structure, allegedly by a local fishermen. The authorities are yet to act on the CRZ violation. The digging and construction had started several days back. But the fishermen continued …
Paula Kahumbu: Enlightened conservation efforts are needed to save the world’s rhinos, combined with a total ban on trade in rhino horn Today, September 22, is World Rhino Day. Rhinos were once widespread across Asia and Africa and even in Europe, where they are depicted on cave paintings. Today their …
MTN and IBM are introducing collars for prey animals, which help combat rhino poaching — a test case for new wireless technologies. The collars track and monitor prey animals such as zebras that graze close to rhinos, detecting when the animals sense a threat and start moving around. The data …
Criminal networks smuggling rhino horn out of Africa are turning it into jewellery to evade its detection in airports, an investigation has found. Wildlife trade monitoring network Traffic revealed an "emerging trend" of making and smuggling beads, bracelets and bangles and rhino horn powder. The lead investigator told BBC News …
A TRAFFIC report reveals disturbing new evidence that some criminal networks of Chinese origin operating in South Africa are now processing rhino horn locally into beads, bracelets, bangles and powder to evade detection and provide ready-made products to consumers in Asia, mainly in Viet Nam and China. The report, Pendants, …
Gambia is negotiating deals with three private companies to crack down on rampant illegal fishing in its territorial waters, a senior official with the fisheries ministry told Reuters. Made possible by poor monitoring capacity and, in some cases, corrupt local officials, illegal fishing costs West Africa’s coastal nations around $2.3 …
ABIDJAN (Reuters) - Portugal, Spain, Greece and Italy broke European Union law by authorizing vessels to fish in the territorial waters off Gambia and Equatorial Guinea, according to the findings of conservation group Oceana published on Tuesday. Fishing vessels from Europe and Asia are drawn to West Africa, particularly for …
LIMA (Reuters) - Organizers for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics on Tuesday rejected allegations by 47 non-governmental organizations that they had used companies with suspect logging track records, saying all material purchased was strictly regulated. In an open letter to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Monday the NGOs, including Greenpeace, …
A series of undercover investigations by the NGO TRAFFIC over several years in five Central African countries has revealed a shift in the region from local markets for ivory to an ‘underground’ international trade. The resulting report, published Sept. 7, finds that organized crime outfits, aided by high-level corruption, are …
Endangered indigenous tribes are increasingly facing threats from miners in the Amazon rainforest amid budget cuts to the Brazilian government agency responsible for protecting them, local officials and activists say. A federal prosecutor in Brazil's Amazonas state has launched an investigation into a reported massacre of at least 10 members …
Unscientific activities in Chakki rivulet concern for local residents, farmers, environmentalists Notwithstanding mining ban in Chakki rivulet in the subdivision bordering Punjab and Himachal Pradesh, rampant and illegal mining has been going on posing threat to 12 gram panchayats. Not long ago, farmers of Khanni, Maira, Baduee, Baranda, Lodwan, Kandwal …
Researchers using DNA barcoding technology found that over 70% of shark fins and ray gill plates, collected from sellers in multiple countries, came from threatened species. They determined the species of 129 dried commercial fin and gill samples, which are otherwise difficult to identify, by comparing genetic material in the …
Weak governance, corruption and shifting trade dynamics are significant factors seriously undermining the control of ivory trafficking throughout five countries in Central Africa, according to a new TRAFFIC study launched. In the first comprehensive assessment of ivory trade in the region in nearly two decades, investigators from TRAFFIC visited major …
Two firms allegedly involved in illegal mining have taken out of the country, over the years, minerals worth over N100 billion. The illegal mining companies, Solid Unit Limited and Geotess Nigeria Limited were shut in Zurak, Wase in Plateau State last month. The Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Dr. …
Nigerian govt. to invest N2.5 Billion in DFIs for Small Scale MinersNigerian govt. to invest N2.5 Billion in DFIs for Small Scale Miners Steel ministry wants Nigerian banks to fund solid minerals sector Investment would facilitate industrialisation, generate more jobs and additional revenue. The Ministry of Mines and Steel Development …
About 90 per cent of arable lands in Horbor, a farming community within the Ga South Municipality in the Greater Accra Region, have been destroyed by indiscriminate sand winning activities. The situation has not only endangered the main source of livelihood for the indigenes but also threatened future agricultural productivity …
DAKAR (Reuters) - Senegal has seized hundreds of figurines and clusters of lion and hippopotamus teeth as part of the biggest ivory haul in its history and arrested two men illegally selling the merchandise, sources involved in the operation said on Thursday. Bones, teeth and claws of wild animals are …
MAPUTO Mozambique (Xinhua) -- The Mozambican Ministry of Land, Environment and Rural Development (MITADER) announced here on Monday that 20 Tanzanian citizens will be deported for their involvement in poaching in northern Mozambique. According to the MITADER’s note, these Tanzanian illegal hunters were sentenced to three or four years in …
Three rangers have been killed and another is missing after an attack by violent militia in Virunga national park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, bringing the number of fatalities in the park this year to eight. The park rangers, Charles Paluku Syaira, Jonas Paluku Malyani and Pacifique Musubao …
