In November 2002, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) ruled that the global ban on ivory trading could be suspended next year for a one-off sale of stockpiles. The money would be used to improve protection for wildlife reserves. However, a number of conservation groups believed that adequate mechanisms to monitor this sale were not in place - and that it could lead to a surge in poaching.

A legacy of the apartheid era in Namibia is that in many areas, traditional mechanisms for land and resource allocation have broken down. With rapid population growth, there is a need for sustainable resource management to avoid environmental degradation and economic decline. How successful is the Namibian government's policy of devolving authority over natural resources?

It may become necessary to physically move some protected areas due to the impact of climate change, according to a paper from the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). "Protected areas are rooted in the concept of permanence: protection works best as a conservation tool if the area remains protected for the foreseeable future. But under climate change, species for which a particular protected area was established may no longer survive there," says the paper.

Pre-paid water meters are becoming the latest way to deprive the poor from access to water. In more and more communities around the world - as 'cost recovery' or market based approaches to managing public utilities usurp human rights - people are finding they must pay up front, even at communal standpipes. But if you have no income you cannot pay and then you have no water. Please sign the protest letter that will be directed to South African parliamentarians to show your opposition to increasing corporate control and commodification of water, and show your support for clean and affordable water for all.

Countries with high levels of corruption are losing biodiversity faster than better-governed ones, according to a new study published in Nature. The report suggests that this is partly because poorly paid officials in developing countries can be bribed to ignore conservation laws. Another reason is that government conservation departments often lack the political clout to enforce regulations.

The illegal international trade in chemicals that deplete the ozone layer is thriving, setting back global efforts to phase out the harmful chemicals, environmentalists said Monday. At least four Singaporean companies re-export chlorofluorocarbons to the United States - a major market in the illegal trade in chlorofluorocarbons - either directly or through southern Africa using false documentation and packing.

Jigawa state government and a U.S.-based group, Solar Electricity Light Fund (SELF), have earmarked N406.69 million to provide solar energy in 30 villages in the next four years. The solar energy project is designed to electrify community bore holes, health centres, primary schools and a mini-shopping centre in each village.

The least developed countries (LDCs) may be contributing the least to emission of greenhouse gases but they are the most vulnerable to climate change. Can national development policies include adaptation to the anticipated unfavourable impacts of climate change? What lessons can be learnt from LDCs that have begun planning their long-term adaptive capacity?

Zimbabwe's chronic fuel shortages and a lack of spare parts for mechanised farming implements threatens the prospects for agricultural revival in the new planting season, analysts warn.

Swaziland's harvest yields are expected to get steadily worse because poor land management is leading to soil degradation, a World Food Programme crops survey has warned.

Tewolde Egziabher, director general of Ethiopia's Environmental Protection Authority and chief African negotiator at the Cartagena Protocol, argues in this article that developing nations must put in place biosafety systems based on the precautionary principle, and develop the capacity - no matter how costly - to deal with the risks of genetically modified crops.

Africa is particularly vulnerable to climate change: large climate impacts are predicted, but in Africa there is a lower capacity to adapt than in more developed regions, climatologists, biologists and policy-makers heard at a Global Change Symposium at Kirstenbosch Gardens in Cape Town last Monday.

A new scheme aimed at ending the "blood diamond" trade will not stop the illicit commerce that fuels conflicts across Africa, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) said on Friday. About 60 countries have agreed to what they call a voluntary peer review system. But rights groups have criticised the move, saying the proposed scheme lacks independent scrutiny.

Attempts to convince some of the world's major diamond producing countries to submit to an independent audit of their national diamond control systems were scuppered on Wednesday by a handful of governments, who argued that calls for an impartial review system went beyond the scope of the Kimberley certification process.

Trade in belts, shoes, and ladies bags made out of reptile skin is no longer a lucrative business in Senegal. The international treaty banning all exports of such items has meant a serious downturn for vendors in the craft market in the capital, Dakar.

Efforts to encourage farmers in Zambia to adopt alternative farming methods have paid off, and small-scale farmers in some areas are reporting record productivity. According to the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), the bumper crops may be attributed to a steady move away from conventional tillage methods to conservation farming (CF).

We of the Ijaw Council for Human Rights (ICHR), committed to reclaiming the humanity of the peoples of the Ijaw and other ethnic nationalities in the Niger Delta wish to draw the attention of peoples of good conscience to the so called "award" of Good Corporate Citizen by the United States Secretary of State, to Chevron on October 15, 2003. This action by the United States government is not only self-opinionated, but represents another clear demonstration of contempt for the peoples of the Niger Delta in preference for oil as it attempts to deny the atrocious activities of Chevron.

São Tomé and Principe, one of Africa's smallest and poorest countries, is poised to reap a windfall of up to $200m - 50 times annual average export earnings. But the prospect of new wealth has already heightened instability in the island state, where there have been frequent changes of government in recent years and concerns about corruption.

Trade negotiations should recognise the legitimacy of values that can't be expressed in monetary terms, particularly in discussions on the forest sector, says this paper from the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), which argues that sustainable forest management (SFM) - related priorities should inform countries' negotiating objectives and strategies in trade negotiations, even if forest issues do not explicitly feature in them. Trade liberalisation in both agricultural and forest products, affects competitive land use values, which influence the levels and types of forest use.

Burundi and Sudan, both mine-affected countries, recently ratified the Mine Ban Treaty. Burundi submitted its ratification instrument to the United Nations on 22 October and Sudan completed its ratification on 13 October 2003. Now Somalia (which does not have a functioning government) is the only country in sub-Saharan Africa that is neither a State Party nor a signatory to the Mine Ban Treaty. Ethiopia is the only remaining signatory in the region.