Human-caused damage to the earth’s natural environment has resulted in a number of serious ecological problems, including global warming and rising sea levels.  Human encroachment on natural habitats have been a serious factor in world habitat destruction, especially in the Middle East.

Africa’s natural habitats, particularly wildlife habitats, have been decimated in recent years by human encroachment, poaching, and other human caused activities which could eventually result in many animal species becoming extinct in the wild.

A prime example of human encroachment is occurring in Kenya, where human development activities are threatening natural habitats of many animal species, including lions. A recent  incident involving lions that escaped from the Kenya National Park near the capital Nairobi, resulted in an elderly man being attacked and the lion shot dead by police.

According to a story on the BBC and other news sources, lions have been leaving the national park and coming into populated areas near Nairobi to search for food. The main reason for this happening is being attributed to human infringement on the natural habitat of the lions, resulting in it being more difficult for the lions to find enough animals they depend on for food. Lions and other large African carnivores, like cheetahs and leopards, depend on plains animals like wildebeests, zebras and various species of antelopes as prey. When their natural habitat is made smaller by farming and construction projects, carnivores like lions have more problems in finding food.

This problem is known all too well in the Middle East, where natural animal habitats have been disappearing at an alarming rate. Species like lions disappeared in countries like Jordan, Iran and Israel well over 100 years ago. Other carnivores such as leopards are highly endangered and on the verge of extinction in Israel, Jordan, Oman and other Middle Eastern countries.

As for Africa, continuing human encroachment on natural animal habitats will result in more incidents of lions and other large carnivores paying “visits” to human populated areas.

Read more on human destruction of natural habitats:

It’s not the tide. It’s not the wind. It’s us
Despite ruinous bridge, Saudi and Egypt vow to Protect the sea
Amazing “Atlas” tracks Arab world habitat destruction over time (video)
Emirati Royalty Threaten 48,000 Maasai in Lucrative Hunting Deal

Photo of lion near Nairobi Kenya by the BBC/AFP

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Just one of three similar developments planned around Nairobi, the $750 million “Chinese-controlled economic zone” will include luxury residences designed to match the “glamour of Dubai,” according to Construction Week Online.

There are a lot of Chinese in Kenya. There are a lot of Chinese all over Africa, but Kenya – eager to become East Africa’s most powerful nation – has laid many of its resources bare to investors in exchange for infrastructural development and a smattering of social and development programs.

The Lamu Port is one such initiative. Under dubious terms, China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) won tender to build a super port in a UNESCO-protected island on Kenya’s upper east coast. Here many people still live very close to the land and sea, and unspoiled mangroves and coral reefs are bound to be devastated.

Related: Does the skyscraper index predict economic turmoil?

(A subsidiary of this company has been given carte blanche to build a similar port and coal-burning plant in the equally beautiful Porthead Bight Protected Area – Chinese influence reaches across all reaches of the globe.)

On the one hand, the project along the Athi River in Machakos County promises to bring jobs to local people and improve their quality of life. But in reality, the Chinese typically import their own engineers and only employ locals for the most brutish of jobs; we won’t be surprised to find Kenyans dispossessed to make room for the foreign influx.

Chinese expatriates are often blamed for killing the local wildlife for food, not to mention their appetite for poached ivory and rhino horn, so perhaps Kenyans will be relieved to know that they will have access to products they are accustomed to.

But they won’t be impressed with how Kenya’s Vision 2030 Development Plan is likely to further overtax natural resources, create more pollution, and generate more traffic.

Construction is supposed to break ground later this year.

:: Construction Week Online

Image of Dubai skyline / Shutterstock

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Daniella first visited this remote island, formerly an Omani protectorate, with her ex-boyfriend. He moved on but she, now brokenhearted, decided to stay on in order to compile a “reportage” of the local fishermen. Which is where the love story begins. As Daniella spent more time with these men of the sea, the free-spirited Swiss woman couldn’t help but sympathize with their new world stresses. And they in turn looked to her to help.

Subsistence fishing has been disturbed by a variety of poorly documented factors along the coast of Kenya. Overfishing, climate change, pollution are  certainly among them, and the situation keeps getting worse as the progress mentality deepens its grip on this east African nation.

There’s not much else to do in the archipelago south of Somalia, though some tribes do depend on disappearing forests for medicine and food, and given that Lamu is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, tourists are drawn to the ancient Islamic architecture, donkeys, dhow races, mangrove forests and other cultural activities.

But tourism is a shoddy way to sustain a growing population and scores of children end up quitting school early, even Madrasa, according to Ali, because they can’t afford the necessary uniforms.

One day, the fishermen and Daniella were trying to think of a way that they could make some extra money. Daniella suggested someone find a used tanga – just on a whim.

Ali Lamu went away and returned a couple of days later with a weathered sail that had a giant hole in the middle of it. Daniella instantly identified with the fabric, the authenticity which could not be replicated without years of wind and water.

“I looked at it and said…this looks just like the hole I have in my heart at the moment, created by the strength and pain of love…,” Daniella wrote on her blog.

So together she and Ali decided to cover the hole with a giant red heart painted with the same paint he uses on the dhow; she then added the words “Love Again Forever Whatever.”

Daniella loved the piece so much she decided to frame it and hung it in her friend’s art shop, and within an hour a pair of American tourists came by and bought it for a staggering some of money. Ali could hardly believe it.

That was in June, 2008. Five years later and the pair are married and employ roughly 16 full time workers who transform old tangas into bags, wall art, cushions and a series of other inventive designs accompanied with messages of love and peace.

They also arm an arsenal of private individuals with the resources to make their own Ali Lamu products at home, which goes a long way to soften the edge of poverty in Shela especially – the ritzier side of the island inhabited by a series of rich, famous, and notoriously private individuals.

Ali Lamu products are no distributed in several different African and European countries, and continues to spread – all without any marketing.

All images via Tafline Laylin; kindly ask for permission to use them.

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Thought to be up to 180,000 years old, Ali Barbour Cave Restaurant is a multi-chamber coral cave in Kenya’s Diani Beach. Converted upon the property owner’s surprise discovery three decades ago, the fine dining establishment is now world renowned not only for its remarkable ambience, but for dishing up some of the best food we have eaten in the country to date.

Owned by a family that emigrated here from the UK in the mid 1950s, the Ali Barbour Cave Restaurant is located just a few hundred meters from the Indian Ocean and beautiful white sandy beaches. There tourists, Italian expatriates, “beach boys” and even a man who walks around with three camels while away the hours soaking up the sun.

There are a few restaurants in the area, along with roadside attractions that serve dirt cheap chapati and beans and fancier spots like 40 Thieves, which  also belongs to the Barbour family, that serves more western fare.

But none offers a menu quite like Ali Barbour’s.

With several vegetarian offerings, include spinach pie and stuffed butternut squash, we pretty much died and went to heaven. And though we didn’t sample any of them, the wine list featured an impressive variety of vintage greats from around the world – including South Africa, where boasts the continent’s best wine.

Fancy meat and seafood dishes are also available, most of the main ingredients for which are sourced locally. And almost all of the vegetables are homegrown – which is very unusual for any kind of restaurant in the country, particularly in Diani Beach, where soaring heat and humidity are not every gardener’s best friend.

Dark wooden furniture with an Islamic feel is laid out in the various chambers – leading from an entryway down into the belly of the cave – and dinner tables are topped with white table cloths and full service cutlery.

The staff, so gracious and so well trained, are all dressed in black and white, the owner takes orders directly from each table, checking in occasionally to ensure that your meal is to taste, and prices are reasonable.

But far and away the most memorable aspect of the experience are the stars viewable from your table through an opening in the cave’s roof. Really, there are few places like it. Get there if you can, or live it through our photographs.

All images via Tafline Laylin

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This past April, MASHAV, Israel’s agency for international development cooperation, signed a memorandum of understanding with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The memorandum is aimed at addressing food security through partnerships with farmers in Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia and Rwanda. Israel will contribute expertise in irrigation, water technologies, agricultural production and climate change.

Israeli experts have experience with desertification and hostile, dry environments. The Negev Desert makes up around 60 percent of Israel’s total landmass. Yet, since its establishment in 1948, Israel has managed to create a thriving agricultural economy. This experience could be particularly valuable in African countries with scarce water resources.

According to reports by Agri-pulse Communications, an American industry media group, Israel’s agricultural sector annually contributes $5 billion to the nation’s GDP and exports over $2 billion worth of fresh and processed products. The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs estimates that Israel produces 93 percent of its domestic food requirements.

“We were a developing country and now we are a developed country,” said Daniel Carmon, head of MASHAV. “We know how to do it.”

Technological Innovation for Poverty Alleviation (TIPA) is one of MASHAV’s primary programs in Africa. It helps small-scale farmers install water-saving irrigation systems. While MASHAV has similar programs in Benin, Kenya, Ethiopia and Niger, TIPA is devoted primarily to farmers in Senegal, where 75 percent of the population is involved with farming.

“We especially want to devote resources to women,” said Carmon. In Sub-Saharan Africa women make up an estimated 70 to 80 percent of small-holder farmers. MASHAV is also implementing major, joint agricultural projects dealing with citrus in Ghana.

Over the past five years, MASHAV experienced what Carmon called a revolutionary change. “We used to have a menu of activities and trainings to choose from. Now we have demand-driven activity,” said Carmon. “We shouldn’t tell the developing world what they need. We need to listen. Now we ask what is needed first.”

But MASHAV represents only a tiny fraction of Israel’s annual $14 million foreign assistance budget. Carmon stressed MASHAV’s emphasis on developing Africa’s human capacity.

“We don’t bring money to the table. We don’t bring high-tech where high-tech is not needed,” he said. “Israelis share their experience, roll up their sleeves and work alongside the people on the ground.” Over 100,000 African professionals have participated in MASHAV’s training activities. In addition, private Israeli businessmen, such as Gilad Millo in Kenya, are spearheading entrepreneurial ventures in African agriculture and education.

Corporate Interests

Many skeptics believe that Israel’s recent surge of diplomatic attention devoted to Africa has self-serving motivations. Among them is President of the New Israel Fund and former Deputy Speaker of the Knesset, Naomi Chazan. She also formerly served as a visiting scholar and lecturer for both the University of Ife in Nigeria and the University of Ghana.

Chazan described the recent developments as a mild shift. “The shift began when Avigdor Lieberman [Israel’s Foreign Minister] visited Africa,” she said. In 2010 and 2011 Israel enjoyed the fastest economic growth in the developed world. African markets were only marginally affected by the crisis in the west. Lucrative African markets have gained obvious appeal.

Chazan has been highly critical of private Israeli businesses operating in Africa, especially those involved in the purchasing and managing of natural resources, warning against the privatization of Israeli involvement in the region. Her writings also denounce the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, arguing that its Africa division is woefully understaffed. For example, the Embassy of Israel to Cote d’Ivoire is also responsible for relations with Liberia, Togo, Burkina Faso and Benin.

In 2011, Global Witness, an international NGO established to publicize links between natural resource exploitation, conflict, poverty and corruption, alleged that Zimbabwe’s secret police, the Central Intelligence Organization (CIO), received clandestine financing from individuals linked to corporations owned by Israeli business moguls, including Lev Leviev, his brother, Moshe Hallak, and Eliezer Nefussy, an Israeli living in Namibia. Global Witness reports denounced recent purchases of vast natural resources, predominately diamonds and oil, in both Zimbabwe and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

National Interests

Israel’s economic future depends on stability in Africa. The Horn of Africa – including Ethiopia, Kenya, both North and South Sudan – influences the shipping lanes to Eilat in southern Israel. Israel is the only country in the world land-linked to the African continent. “Events in North Africa obviously affect Israel,” said Granot. In Febuary 2012, pollution from North Africa drifted towards the Jewish state and shut down Israeli airports for two weeks.

Africans are now also part of Israel’s human landscape. Over the past two decades, Israel has absorbed over 120,000 immigrants from Ethiopia and at least 60,000 asylum-seekers, predominately from North Sudan and Eritrea.

“African crises are no longer happening far away,” said Schler. “Israel can’t afford to ignore problems in Africa.”

According to Granot, both Mubarak and Gaddafi were obstacles to establishing deeper connections in Africa. Recent revolutions have created new opportunities. “We hope to reestablish those ties between Israel and African nations,” said Granot.

There are currently over 1,000 university students in Israel taking courses in African studies, what Schler referred to as a revival.

“I’m also interested in what role Africa will play in Israel’s future,” said Schler.

“What can we learn from Africa?”

Images from Tel Aviv via Idit Keren, image of African farmer via Shutterstock

For more on Israel’s increasing influence throughout Africa read:

Israel Strengthens Environmental Ties to Africa: Part 1

Agriculture and Water Connect Israel to Africa

Israelis Design Cardboard Wheelchairs for Africa

The post Israel Strengthens Environmental Ties to Africa: Part 2 appeared first on Green Prophet.

Gilad Millo, head of business development at Amiran Kenya and former Israeli diplomat, seeks to make farming attractive to Kenyan youth by proving it can be a profitable, professional business. Working together with the Kenya Red Cross Society, they have equipped over 1000 schools with modern agribusiness supplies. According to Millo, today the average smallholder farmer in Kenya is over 45. “We are introducing greenhouses in schools,” he said. “Youth polytechnics and groups are part of an initiative to develop the next generation of farmers; Facebook farmers.”

Millo previously worked for the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, leading missions to seven different African countries. He was a driving force behind the formation of the African Women’s Forum for Israel. Today, he has returned to Kenya as a private businessman with food and agriculture on the agenda.

Young Kenyans are lining up for Amiran Kenya’s smallholder farmers’ kits. These kits include help with a drip irrigation system, greenhouses, group training and creating a business strategy. A farmer’s ability to read local market demand is crucial, because his goods are perishable. This project is being implemented in partnership with the Youth Enterprise Development Fund.

“So far, nine kits have been installed in Kajiado and Kiambu counties and will be handed over to the groups next week,” said a representative from the youth fund. Its data shows that 264 youth groups have already applied for financing.

Until recent years software, cut diamonds and high tech machinery were some of Israel’s best known exports. Today, Israel has also gained a reputation for being one of the world’s greatest hubs of green innovation. Governments and businesses around the globe are now looking to make stronger connections with Israeli agriculture, water  and alternative energy experts.

Amiran Kenya recently expanded its warehouse facilities and developed a new poultry farming kit. They anticipate pending growth in the small-scale and medium-scale sectors.

:: Nation

Read more about Israel’s green partnerships around the globe:
Japan Wants Israel Clean Tech Experts to Rebuild Fukushima
EU Upgrades Relations with Israel, Energy Over Politics
Clean Tech Bonds Forged Between Israel and Canada

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Poop will power the world if Katerva has their way. A UK-registered charity organization which uses crowd sourcing to annually identify, award & accelerate ingenious ideas that will enable the global community to live sustainably, Katerva has announced that this year’s Grand Prize will go to Sanergy.

Founded by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) alumni, Sanergy is building sanitation centers throughout Kenya that harvest human waste to make energy. Their program is financially stable, socially responsible, and environmentally conscious, and it now has the support of an elite group of organizations who will pool their resources to accelerate Sanergy’s work.

(Here’s another green toilet designed for India’s slum dwellers.)

The 500 experts and thought leaders who took part in a 12 month review process to choose an idea that has the most potential to make a global expert believe very strongly that “Sanergy has the capacity to fundamentally change the way in which we all live and interact with the planet .”

Pretty soon, we’ll all be cooking with power produced by our very own poop. More information about both groundbreaking initiatives – Katerva and Sanergy  – is available on their respective websites.

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The Israeli firm SDE Energy has defied the larger wave energy corporations with its sleek wave energy designs. Suited for places that aren’t on the list of top wave-producers such as China, India, and Israel, his technology is increasingly competitive as oil prices soar. Now Kenya, which is striving to become East Africa’s most power industrial nation, and no stranger to alternative energy, has commissioned the firm to conduct tests on its coast with the intention to build a 100MW wave energy plant.Kenya’s Ministry of Energy approved SDE’s plans to work with the local company Sea Wave Gen in order to build the plant. This furthers the country’s aim to produce approximately 1300 MW of their energy supply with renewable energy.

Given the escalating costs of fossil fuels, SDE Energy’s technology is becoming increasingly financially viable. It is also competitive in the renewable department. One wave energy plant costs almost half as much as a coal or wind-power plant the same size and fives times less than a solar plant.

None of the experts consider Kenya’s Indian Ocean locale ideal for harvesting wave energy, but the company has managed to exploit an overlooked market. While large firms in the North Sea and elsewhere are developing massive wave energy plants, SDE is focusing on smaller plants.

For over one year, SDE’s plant in Jaffa has produced a steady 40kWh. While fairly insignificant in the broader scheme, there is certainly opportunity for growth. Plus, a diverse energy portfolio is the healthiest energy portfolio.

“The system harnesses wave’s speed, height, depth, rise and fall and the flow beneath to produce energy. The model has been approved by experienced engineers,” according to the company’s Managing Director Mr. Shmuel Ovadia.

:: allAfrica

More on SDE Energy:

SDE Energy and India Make Waves With Tidal Power

SDE Makes Wave Energy in China With 1MW Plant

Israel’s First Tidal Plant Completed In Jaffa

image via mikebaird

The post SDE Wave Energy To Surf Kenya’s Coast appeared first on Green Prophet.

A small but important enclave of Islamic culture in Kenya is threatened by a super port backed by Chinese interests. So are the surrounding coral reef, mangrove forests, and endangered marine turtles and dugongs.

The Kenya government has pursued this multi-billion dollar project under a veil of secrecy, without consulting the local community. Now, with help from a Non Government Organization (NGO) called Natural Justice, the Swahili people, along with the Boni, Sanye, and others, are fighting back.

Representatives from the South African based  (NGO) visited Lamu at the end of last year in order to gather information that would help the local community build a case against the unfettered development of Lamu.

Natural Justice takes their name from the legal principle that people should be involved in decisions that affect them, according to their website, relying on international and domestic laws to help otherwise vulnerable communities assert their rights to control their own natural resources.

The Lamu Environment Protection and Conservation Group (LEPAC) have been working with Natural Justice to ensure consideration of the local people whose culture and livelihood depend on a healthy development model.

In a press release, LEPAC announced the following expectations of the Kenyan government:

– Seek dialogue with the community to hear its concerns about the construction of the port and to take these into consideration in its planning;

– Make public an Environmental and Cultural Impact Assessment Report;

– Ensure that the environmental impact of the port is minimal;

– Ensure that the local community benefits from opportunities from the development of the port

– Provide land reforms (as pertains to the new constitution) to be implemented before port plans are inaugurated

LEPAC, Natural Justice, and a host of other organizations are preparing to accumulate data in order to establish a Biocultural Community Protocol (BCP). This is a legal instrument that addresses a shortfall of community involvement in the policies that effect their land and resources.

Laws that protect indigenous people include: the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), the International Labor Organization Declaration 169, and international environmental laws such as the Rio Conventions (CBD, UNFCCC and UNCCD).

Natural Justice has successfully assisted other communities throughout Africa and Asia, including the Samburu Pastoralists in Northern Kenya who depend largely on sheep, goats, and cattle that  graze on land being unfairly expropriated.

The Lamu people are not necessarily opposed to the port; they simply ask that the government work with them to create solutions that are satisfy local, national, and international interests.

For more information or to support the BCP, please contact Hadija Ernst at lamuprotection@gmail.com.

More on Muslims in Lamu:

Celebrating EID Island-Style in Kenya

Imam Worries Port Will Ruin UNESCO-Protected Swahili Heritage

image via un punto in movimento

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