Similar to what has happened in several Southern countries harassed by centuries of colonialism, the wealth of Liberia has also been its curse, reports the October edition of the World Rainforest Bulletin. "Tropical forests account for 47 per cent of Liberia’s land. Between 1989 and 2003, revenue from forests was used to fund a brutal conflict fuelled by the pillaging of forests. Timber was a key resource for Liberia's armed factions. Wood flowed out; money and arms flowed in. So many concessions had been corruptly awarded that they totalled more than the land area of Liberia."

Climate change will devastate Africa without substantial help from the world community, according to a new report released at the opening of a major UN climate change conference in Nairobi, Kenya Monday. "Africa is the least responsible for climate change but will be hit the hardest," said Nick Nuttall, spokesperson for the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

Strategies to help vulnerable marine ecosystems survive the impact of climate change have been published by conservationists. Coral reefs and mangroves are being degraded by global warming, pollution and coastal developments, they said. The authors believe limiting the human impact on the habitats will allow them to be more resilient to climate shifts.

A tough package of measures to reduce climate change-causing emissions, including legally-binding annual targets, must follow today’s publication of the Stern Report in the UK, Friends of the Earth International urged today. The ‘Stern Review on the economics of climate change’, which looks at the economic costs of climate change, shows that governments can afford to act – and must do so urgently – to avoid disastrous economic costs.

The Namibian San are living lives of poverty and dislocation. While different San peoples face different situations, there is a depressing common core to their poverty. It begins with being landless, often on their own land. Government policies since Independence, some well meant, some ignorant of San needs, have not helped.

Governments from 190 countries will meet in Nairobi, Kenya on the 6th November for the UN climate negotiations to shape the future of an international climate agreement. The talks are crucial in taking forward the international agenda on tackling climate change – with scientists agreed that urgent action is needed if we are to avoid catastrophic climate change.

The Niger Delta has been impacted by 1.5 million tons of crude oil spill over the last 50 years threatening rare species including primate fish, turtles, bird and damaging crops while destroying the livelihood of many of the 20 million people living there and fuelling the upsurge in violence. Experts have also listed the Niger Delta among the five most polluted spots on the face of the earth with dire consequences for the health of inhabitants of the area.

After an epic decade on the move, victims to every spasm of war that has convulsed Africa's Great Lake's region, Rwandan refugees Hilarie Mukamurara and her husband, Pierre Myiridandi, finally made it back to their home village last year – only to find that their three plots of land had been illegally sold in their absence.

Ethnic conflicts over land and the issue of absentee landlords, who control huge tracts of land, are some of the critical issues addressed by Kenya’s new National Land Policy document. Other key areas that the proposed land policy seeks to address are problems related to historical injustices over land tenure, the mushrooming of slums and other unplanned settlements.

A leading land expert this week warned that expropriation should not be seen as the sole saviour of land reform in South Africa. Edward Lahiff, a researcher at the Programme for Land and Agrarian Studies at the University of the Western Cape, says that, given the active condition of the land market in South Africa, there is no reason why the majority of land reform needs cannot be met through negotiated purchases.

Concern about ivory sales in Southern Africa is persisting among environmental groups, this after the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) granted Japan stockpile buyer status earlier this month. The move came despite CITES' decision to turn down a request by Japan and China for a one-off purchase of 60 tonnes of ivory stockpiled in Botswana, Namibia and South Africa.

A new scientific report due to be presented at a climate change conference in Nairobi next month, warns that global warming is set to make severe drought across Africa even worse than had been predicted. According to extracts from the report produced by the UK’s Met Office Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research, whole swathes of East Africa could be affected by chronic water shortages in the future, making the drought that afflicted the Rift Valley and other parts of East Africa last year a regular occurrence.

Lands and Housing Minister Ramadeluka Seretse on Tuesday (24 October 2006) said that Botswana's land policies have not done the country much good and need to be changed to address present socio-economic needs. Speaking at a consultative workshop to discuss the draft land policy, Seretse noted that policies such as the Tribal Land Policy of 1975, the National Land Tenure Policy of 1985 and the National Housing Policy of 2000 need to be reviewed and consolidated to produce a land policy necessary for sustainable economic development.

Guinea worm, also known as "the fiery serpent", is contracted by drinking water contaminated with microscopic water fleas carrying larvae. Global efforts to eradicate the waterborne parasite have seen the number of cases fall from an estimated 3,5-million in 1986 to 10 674 reported cases last year, according to the Carter Centre.

About 160km from its source on the northern slopes of Mount Kenya, the great River Ngiro was just ankle deep on Friday (20 October 2006) as nomadic farmers walked through waters that have become the focus of conflict. Kenya's second-largest river is a life-sustaining resource for these farmers, but it also sustains big business for flower farms supplying United Kingdom supermarkets.

Kenya will be hosting the second meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (COP/MOP 2), in conjunction with the twelfth session of the Conference of the Parties to the Climate Change Convention (COP 12), in Nairobi from 6th to 17th November 2006.

THE Minister for Water and Environment, Ms Maria Mutagamba, has said Uganda will soon start following her own environmental policies other than those of the World Bank and the African Development Bank. Mutagamba was on Wednesday speaking at the opening of a consultative workshop in Kampala, on promoting the use of a Ugandan system to address environmental and social safeguard issues.

The African Minister's Council on Water (AMCOW) will converge in Kampala this week (October19-20) to deliberate on ways of making water a priority as a resource in human development. It is widely recognised by water experts that availability of adequate water both in quantity and quality is critical for achieving all the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Communities living next door to the oil giant Shell are in London this week to expose the oil giant's hypocrisy in sponsoring the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition - to be announced on Wednesday 18 October. Shell is the new sponsor of this year's prestigious wildlife prize, which is jointly organised by the Natural History Museum and BBC Wildlife Magazine, contributing 750,000 GBP or 1,117,000 Euros.

Dryland communities have traditionally used land extensively, moving in response to varying climatic and environmental conditions. But rapid population growth, both urban and rural, and more settled patterns of agriculture have increased the pressure on scarce natural resources, in some cases causing severe land degradation. Water quality and supplies are particularly threatened.