The Democratic Republic of Congo’s Environment Minister Anselme Enerunga has allegedly being illegally trading exotic birds for weapons to arm renegades in the volatile east of the country, according to allegations passed onto Business Day by intelligence sources.

More than two billion people already live in regions facing a scarcity of water, and unless the world changes its ways over the next 50 years, the amount of water needed for a rapidly growing population will double, scientists warned in a study released yesterday (August 21).

Officials from Nigeria and Cameroon have held a joint ceremony in the disputed oil-rich Bakassi peninsula to mark its transfer to Cameroon. Nigerian troops completed their withdrawal and transferred control of the northern part of the territory. The rest of the peninsula will remain under Nigerian civil administration for the next two years, in line with an International Court of Justice ruling.

Reuters Foundation and the World Conservation Union (IUCN) launch the 2006 Media Awards for Excellence in Environmental Reporting. The awards, aim to help raise global awareness of environmental and sustainable development issues, by encouraging high standards in environmental reporting worldwide. Journalists working in print and online media are invited to submit entries to 2006 Reuters-IUCN Media Awards.

When oil began seeping from pipelines owned by Italian oil company Agip recently, Nigerian newspapers reported that the spill was caused by sabotage. "Oil spills have become a great environmental tragedy in Nigeria, polluting streams, farmlands, the air and destroying lives," said Nnimmo Bassey, head of Environmental Rights Action (ERA), which is affiliated with the international environmental group Friends of the Earth.

This week an application was launched in the Johannesburg High Court asking the Court to declare that the decisions of Johannesburg Water to limit free basic water supply to 6 kilolitres per household per month and to unilaterally install prepayment meters are unconstitutional and unlawful. The Court is being asked to order Johannesburg Water (Pty) Ltd. to provide a free basic water supply of 50 litres per person per day, and the option of a credit-metered supply installed at the cost of the City of Johannesburg, to the residents of Phiri, Soweto.

Farms don't just grow food - they grow communities. You don't have to go far to be part of these communities, either. In South Durban, urban farmers have long been supporting the local economy, and the surrounding neighbourhoods. And they're under threat.

Since 1990, a lot of noise has been made about the forests of the Congo Basin, both good and bad. Now a new environmental wave is descending on the Democratic Republic of Congo, of a scope very similar to that of the “Zaire boom” in the seventies. However, the question is: are the Central African forestry administrations - generally subject to insidious sociological factors - aligned with the aspirations and needs regarding welfare of the region’s inhabitants?

In May 2006, the Mozambique Ministry of Agriculture submitted for discussion the document “National Reforestation Strategy” As stated in the document, the bases to promote the establishment of tree plantations in the country involving fast-growing species are set out. Following the pattern present in all the other countries that have introduced large-scale monoculture tree plantations, the proposal comes with the promise of generating jobs and eradicating poverty, contributing to national development particularly in rural zones.

Authorities in Zimbabwe have suspended all sales of ivory in a bid to stop underhand deals, it was reported on Monday (July 24). The decision was reached after a meeting between the National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority and the recently established Zimbabwe Ivory Manufacturers' Association, said the state-controlled Herald newspaper, reports the Mail and Guardian.

Namibia has the best solar reserves in the world and the country should become an international leader in the field of solar and wind energy use, an academic has said. Speaking in Windhoek at the launch of the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Institute (REEEI), Polytechnic Rector Dr Tjama Tjivikua said fossil fuels like oil and coal would soon be exhausted and conflicts caused oil prices to rise. The use of cleaner fuel sources would lead to a less polluted world and better efficiency.

A group of 11 dispossessed Zimbabwean farmers of Dutch origin are poised to take their case for compensation in respect of confiscated land to an international tribunal. The Dutch Farmers Association, with UK-based AgricAfrica, registered the case on behalf of the farmers at the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes, a World Bank resolution forum. The claims total more than $15m.

Treating water in homes is a more effective way of controlling diarrhoea in poor countries than interventions at wells. So concludes a review published today (19 July) by The Cochrane Collaboration.

South Africa has blocked trials of genetically modified sorghum that leaders of a multi-million-dollar project hope can boost nutrition in Africa. Kenyan scientist Florence Wambugu, who heads the Africa Harvest Biotech Foundation International, has secured US$18.6 million over five years from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to develop new sorghum varieties with elevated levels of iron, zinc and vitamins. But last week (12 July) South Africa rejected the application to set up a laboratory and greenhouse on its soil, reports SciDev.

About 15 years after a process was initiated to create a Protected Area for the conservation of one of the world's best studied bonobo populations, the Ministry of Environment and Conservation of Nature, Waters and Forests has announced today (17 July) the gazettement of the Faunal Reserve of Lomako-Yokokala.

Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe will discuss three hydropower projects with a Russian company known as TurboEngineering, ZimOnline said, citing government officials and a letter from the Russians.

Africa produces seven percent of the world’s commercial energy but consumes only three percent. Only 23 percent of people in sub-Saharan Africa have access to electricity. In rural areas 92 percent of the population live without electricity. A study from Practical Action, UK asserts that this lack of access to energy is significantly contributing to poverty.

Diamonds, the top export in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), are mostly extracted from the middle of the country at Kasai Oriental Province. Yet people there are among the poorest in the DRC and diamonds seem to be tearing apart their society. Children do much of the work and many are killed in accidents or in fighting over diamonds. Distrust is feeding superstition and causing a strange and terrible phenomenon: thousands of children are being accused of witchcraft.

A working group of members of the Association for Progressive Communication (APC) aims to bring environment higher on the ICT policy priorities of global civil society. Information and communication technologies are a powerful tool for civil society protecting environment. But more is needed to streamline ICT work of different groups and communities, and offer them access to the ICTs they need to secure environmental sustainability, a BlueLink/APC survey shows.

With a nation that has been struggling under "poverty, a huge debt and general deprivation," Ugandans might be expected to rejoice at the discovery of oil fields in their country. However, a post independence history of corruption, mismanagement and violence over the control of natural resources has left Ugandan's people skeptical whether they will see any benefit of the country's new wealth. This East African opinion piece highlights the potential for conflict within Uganda over the oil found in the Bunyoro region where a separatist movement still exists.