A number of Cameroonian as well as internationally based logging companies have been sanctioned or are involved in ongoing legal cases brought by the Cameroonian Ministry of Environment and Forests (MINEF). Some of these cases result from the documentation of illegal logging by Ministry staff supported by Global Witness, says Global Witness in its latest field investigation reports that detail cases of illegal logging.

THE French government has released a 1.5million euros grant to the Zambezi River Authority (ZRA) for the preservation of the Zambezi River resource and promotion of tourism in the area.

Large foreign ships are harassing and intimidating Somali fishermen around the southern coastal towns of Marka and Barawe, according to local fishermen, who fear the ships are destroying the livelihood of Somali fishermen and their families.

Reporters sans frontières (RSF) has denounced the seizure of an edition of the Arabic-language daily "As-Sahafa" on February 8. "We denounce the policy of constant harassment against opposition newspapers," said RSF Secretary-General Robert Ménard.

This article examines urban governance in the framework of sustainable urban development, and agrees with most analyses that sustainable settlements embrace social, ecological and economic dimensions. The discussion stresses that a form of governance that neglects any of these components cannot attain sustainability. It argues that, in Harare, sustainability hinges very much on the role of the governance system, especially as it relates to urban poverty and the day-to-day survival of the urban poor. It is this role of urban governance that eventually manifests itself in the state of society, economy and the environment.

Do we understand enough about the impact of demographic change on natural resources management (NRM), farm investment and household income strategies in semi-arid areas? Is eco-disaster around the corner, or does land scarcity encourage investment in productivity-enhancing and land-conserving technologies? How should policy initiatives combine poverty reduction with environmental improvement? These questions were raised by a study of Machakos District in Kenya from 1930 to1990. They have now been tested further in four countries – Niger, Nigeria, Senegal and Kenya – in research led by Drylands Research UK and carried out with in-country research teams.

Gencor has undertaken to pay out more than R460-million to compensate sufferers of asbestos-related diseases. This money will go into a trust fund to pay for treatment and to compensate families who lose breadwinners. But the bill for cleaning up the asbestos mines remains unpaid, and in villages in large parts of the Northern Cape and Limpopo people live in buildings made of asbestos and drive on asbestos roads, while children play on dumps of asbestos fibre.

Botswana, like the rest of southern Africa, is bracing itself for a drought and its impact on food security. Only four percent of available land for cultivation was ploughed this rainy season, the Minister of Finance Baledzi Gaolethe warned in his budget speech.

Hoping to make sustainable living more "cool," the United Nations Environment Programme is launching a new initiative aimed at improving the image of environmentally friendly lifestyle choices. The plan, devised with the help of social scientists, was announced Tuesday at the agency's weeklong Governing Council meeting in Nairobi.

Invasive species are devastating Africa's wetlands, crowding out native species and costing billions of dollars in environmental and economic damage, warns a new report from international conservation groups. The groups have released a booklet describing the seven worst offenders, hoping to draw attention to the problem and promote ways of controlling - and perhaps profiting from - the invaders.

The government of Sudan and the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army have committed themselves to "effect the immediate voluntary return" of civilian populations displaced in the country's main oil-producing area, Western Upper Nile (WUN), to their homes.

Building on lessons learned from more than 20 years of natural resource-based development in rural Africa, this document presents principles and action steps intended to serve as a guide to investment there. Programmes that integrate nature (environmental management), wealth (economic concerns), and power (good governance) have shown promising results.

Can we accurately determine the benefits of water and sanitation projects? Until recently, success was seen in terms of input and output. But does this really tell us how sustainable the projects are? This report provides a methodology that measures potential outcomes for communities of water provision and sanitation.

South Africa's ban on livestock products from Botswana and Zimbabwe will remain in force until authorities are satisfied there is no longer a risk of contamination from foot and mouth disease, a Department of Agriculture spokesman says.

The UN Emergencies Unit for Ethiopia (EUE) has warned that resettlement programmes can devastate natural environments and threaten indigenous groups. It said "colossal deforestation" and widespread environmental damage almost always went hand in hand with such programmes.

At least 12 people have been killed and more than 30 houses razed in three days of renewed ethnic violence in Nigeria's southern oil town of Warri, residents said on Monday.

A large number of countries in the Sub-Saharian African (SSA) region have privatised water supply. But water privatisation, says research from Public Services International, can be costly and difficult to achieve in practice while the public management of water might appear more effective than the private one. "In conclusion, privatisation is not a miracle cure for a poorly performing utility and it is just one of a number of reform options and needs to be considered as such."

Most Nigerian and outside analysts agree that Nigeria neither faces nor poses a significant external security threat. The real security threats to Nigerians are internal, and directly related to the economic and social issues. As poverty, AIDS, and inequality increase, can the country avoid a return to military rule? Can politicians and the military dampen and manage conflicts among Nigeria's diverse peoples, or will they exploit and exacerbate the divisions? Can the police and justice system improve their capacity to provide protection against both violent crime and its white-collar counterpart? In the long term, Nigeria's role as a force for regional stability will depend on answers to these questions. This is according to an article published by Africa Action, that includes information on US policy towards Nigeria, the problem of debt and public investment and the Nigerian diaspora.

Since oil was discovered in Ogoni in 1958, the Ogoni people have waged an uneven struggle with successive governments that are allied with oil companies. Exploitation of oil resources has failed to take adequate account of the rights of minorities and indigenous communities, or of the environment, concludes a Minority Rights International report.

World environment ministers began a week of meetings in Nairobi on Monday on how to balance economic development and increasingly open trade with environmental concerns. Much of the talk at the opening of the 22nd meeting of the Governing Council of the U.N. Environment Program, a biannual get-together, focused on how to build on the agreements and initiatives that came out of least year's World Summit for Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, South Africa.