Villages in the Wassa West District of Ghana's western region have been hit by the spillage of thousands of cubic metres of mine wastewater contaminated with cyanide and heavy metals. The cyanide-laced waste contaminated the River Asuman on October 16 when a tailings dam ruptured at a mine operation owned by the South African company, Goldfields Ltd.

International oil companies in Sudan are "knowingly or unknowingly" involved in a government counterinsurgency strategy in the country, according to the report of an independent fact-finding mission released this week.

The privatisation of mines in Zambia were fraught with corruption, the Global Corruption Report 2001 has revealed.

European Environment Commissioner Margot Wallstrom has voiced fears that economic gloom in the wake of last month's terrorist attacks on the United States could crowd environmental issues off the global agenda.

This issue of brings together for the first time diverse perspectives from the world’s religious traditions regarding attitudes toward nature with reflections from the fields of science, public policy, and ethics. The scholars of religion in this volume identify symbolic, scriptural, and ethical dimensions within particular religions in their relations with the natural world. They examine these dimensions both historically and in response to contemporary environmental problems.

A parasitic weed is sucking the life out of East African corn. One way to deal with it would be to engineer corn for herbicide resistance, so that chemicals could be sprayed on the corn to kill the parasite--even though the corn and the herbicide would probably be too expensive for poor farmers, the herbicide would pollute, and the weed would likely become resistant. Another way would be to improve soil health. Tough call.

The tragic terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, and the subsequent military response, have raised thorny questions about U.S. energy policy. How does oil import dependence factor into the U.S. military presence in Saudi Arabia-a major grievance of radical Islamic fundamentalists? How might continued heavy reliance on imported Middle Eastern petroleum complicate American efforts to eradicate terrorism from the region? Are nuclear power plants potential targets of future terrorist attacks?

In areas of Ethiopia where droughts are common and rainfall irregular, the construction of small dams for irrigation can increase food production. What impact do such dams have on the health of those living nearby? Do they increase the risk of malaria by providing a breeding ground for mosquitoes?

In a debate that may lead to confrontation between Egypt and eastern Africa nations over the River Nile, Kenya's members of parliament have voiced concern over the legality of an international treaty that bars the three countries from using water from Lake Victoria for irrigation.

Should farming be allowed in Zimbabwe’s wetlands? The wetlands - or vleis - are used by smallholders for dry season vegetable production and economic returns are high. Colonial administrators cited the risk of environmental degradation to prevent farmers from using the vleis. Today, the government and scientists disagree on the desirability of maintaining the unpopular, and increasingly flouted, prohibition on their use.

Why do local structures set up by external NGOs to co-manage environmental projects invariably fail? Can local farmers, herders, hunters, gatherers, transhumants and fishermen learn to cooperate? What can be done to help local stakeholders draw up sustainable collective rules for resource management? Are traditional social structures anachronistic or can they meet new challenges?

Sandton Crown Plaza, Johannesburg, South Africa
Call for abstracts deadline: 28 November 2001

Officials from over 100 governments concerned with reducing the risks of chemical use, particularly in developing countries, have been meeting in Rome this week to prepare for the entry into force of a global treaty to govern these risks.

The Kruger National Park does not plan to end its wilderness walking tours in the bush after seven tourists narrowly escaped being hurt by an angry rhino on Sunday.

More people worldwide are now displaced by natural disasters than by conflict. In the 1990s, natural catastrophes like hurricanes, floods, and fires affected more than two billion people and caused in excess of $608 billion in economic losses worldwide-a loss greater than during the previous four decades combined. But more and more of the devastation wrought by such natural disasters is "unnatural" in origin, caused by ecologically destructive practices and an increasing number of people living in harm's way, finds a new study by the Worldwatch Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based environmental research organization.

Zimbabwe's fast-track land resettlement programme is putting pressure on the country's game reserves, some of which are near collapse. In Bubiana, its second largest game reserve, the endangered black rhino population is being rapidly depleted due to poaching.

Tropical countries are losing their forests at a very high rate, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned in a new issue of the "State of the World's Forests 2001," published Wednesday.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said on Friday that he was pleased at recent progress made by officials from Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia towards restoring peace to the Mano River Union (MRU), which comprises the three countries.

Angolan rebels have gunned down more than 80 diamond diggers in an attack in the
gem-rich northeast of the country.

WWF, the conservation organization, today welcomed the adoption by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) member states, of a Convention that will effectively ban the use of organotins in anti-fouling paints on ships.