Slowest chase ever. hahaha

We've all heard that when you see elephants mating WOE to you, cause chances are that is the the last breath you will ever take. This tortoise was disturbed duringh coitus by a tourist and it tried act like the elephant does.  The result was hahahahaahahahaha...

The tourist in the Seychelles really had the time of his life...lool

Pamela Anderson should stick to what she knows

"I have been deeply upset by the heart-breaking news about the 80 or so baby elephants who were torn away from their families, many even witnessing their own family’s gruesome slaughter,"  These were the words of former VIP star Pamela Anderson in a letter addressed to the minister of Environment Saviour Kasukuwere..

I know that she means well, and in as much as its is refreshing for us to hear her fighting  for a good cause it is disturbing to see that she is clearly not looking art the situation on the ground.

The government is exporting these elephants not just for gaining profit but for conservation purposes and i feel this should be clarified.

pamela anderson the former playboy poster girl

In my last article i did express all the challenges we are facing as a result of the over population of elephants and it can be read on Andileekhumalo.blogspot.com

I really feel this issue has to clarified especially since celebrities are now jumping in to the conversation.We are not a cruel people who just separate animals without reason, after all elephants are very important to our tourism.

So Pamela Anderson we know you could be worried and we are grateful for your concern but please next time check the facts on the ground before you rush to voice out.

CLIMATE CHANGE THE devil giving us a slow death

CLIMATE change has contributed to Zimbabwe's economic woes due to the increased frequency of floods, droughts and violent storms which have resulted in massive financial losses in the agricultural sector.

Speaking at a report back meeting on the 20th Conference of Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change held in Harare, chief secretary to the President and Cabinet, Misheck Sibanda, said climate change had affected the country's economic growth.

Sibanda said this in a speech read on his behalf by senior secretary in the office of the President and Cabinet, Stuart Comberbach.
He highlighted that the vagaries of extreme weather conditions had resulted in infrastructure damages, while human and animal loses had been observed. There had been extreme flooding in Mashonaland West, Mashonaland Central, Mashonaland East, Midlands, Harare, Masvingo and Manicaland during the rain season, he said.

sun scorched crops photo buy standeyo.com

The incessant rains also affected this year's maize output, with analysts projecting a crop of between 700 000 and 800 000 tonnes down from 1,4 million tonnes the previous year. The country will therefore need to import over one million tonnes of maize.

We cannot deny it, large carbon emmiting countries are surely killing figuratively and literally because hunger is a serious problem. A serious solution is UPing the green is sure the only way. Green consciousness should be promoted every where because it sure is no laughing matter. 

Animal protectionists tighten screws on pangolin hunters

TWELVE pangolin poachers have been arrested over the past three months with eight of them already serving mandatory nine-year jail terms as the animal conservationists tighten their screws on the hunting of endangered species.

Adapted from the Newsday.co.zw

In a statement  the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (Zimparks) said most of the poachers were nabbed in Harare, Nyamapanda, Guruve and Kwekwe.

“There is still one outstanding case involving three poachers all of whom have been denied bail since their arrest in January 2015 and are currently awaiting trial. By comparison, for the same time frame in 2014 (January-March), there were two pangolin cases involving four poachers who were sentenced to nine years in jail,” Zimparks said.

pangolin helpless in the paws of a lion

“All authorities, and these include the judiciary, Zimbabwe Republic Police, Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority and the traditional leadership, who are involved with the justice system here in Zimbabwe have come together, recognizing how severe the threat of illegal wildlife poaching is together with the ever-increasing demand on our pangolin.”

 Illegal possession of a pangolin attracts a $5 000 fine and/or a nine-year mandatory prison term. In Zimbabwe, a pangolin was placed on the specially protected list in 1975.

There are eight pangolin species in the whole world, four of which are in Africa and the other four in Asia, but of late, Africa has become the new hunting grounds for the pangolin as the Asian species were teetering on the verge of extinction. People should join in the fight and expose who soever is hunting these animals because one thing for sure is that the law enforcers can not do that on their own that way we UP the green.

the golden pangolin in the plains.

Botswana: Environment Group, Embassy Donate Trees

Friends of the environment, a non-governmental organisation-based in Zimbabwe in partnership with the Botswana Embassy in Zimbabwe has donated 1 000 trees to the North East District.

from allAfrica.com

Speaking at the handing over ceremony in Masunga on April 8, the project coordinator for the organisation, Ms Patience Fusire explained that they had come to share their vision of protecting the environment with the North East District.
Ms Fusire noted that although people's lives depended on the environment, often it was people who tended to destroy it.
And without proper care and management of the environment, she said, lives were going to be terribly affected, adding that as Friends of the Environment, they found it important to spread awareness messages on conservation and management of the environment.
She highlighted that they started the organisation after realising that in their country, over 300 000 tonnes of trees were being destroyed annually. And with the environment being exposed to all kinds of pollution, they decided to take action and make a difference.
She, therefore, noted that they developed three strategies which they believed and hoped would send messages to the people to see the importance of protecting their surroundings.

seedling in their hundred pic by staticflickr.com

\Among such strategies, she stated, was to have nurseries in schools as way of instilling the culture of tree planting in students and youth so that even at old age, they could still understand the importance of protecting the environment.
Furthermore, she appealed to the district to join them at the end of the year when they will be marching from Bulawayo to Plumtree for three days with the aim of encouraging people to change their behaviour towards their environment, a change which will be benefit them as well.
Appreciating the gesture, Botswana's Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Mr Kenny Kapinga said it was a symbolic gesture which their partners, the Friends of Environment have brought to Botswana, adding that it is rare to find trees donations from one country to other.
 Such gestures are what is needed to keep our environment green . Perfect example of UPing the green.
The ambassador urged Batswana to uphold the gesture as it has a significant meaning to the country. Mr Kapinga stated that their relationship started some time last year when together during Botswana's independence celebration they planted trees at a children's orphanage villages in Harare.

ZIM Government's export of elephants : best decision yet.

Its 2am in the morning the very ungodly and supposedly peaceful hour in Jimila, a small village in Tsholotsho, instead of hearing the singings of the bullfrogs and rain insects, the sound of reverberating drums and whistles grips you.

Large smokes of fire and the sounds of fear move from your reality and bring you to the real ''reality''. 

These are the noises villagers are using to drive away a large intruder no man can fight off. 

The largest land animal has invaded their space with its long trunk that can sweep a man off the ground and literally throw him 30 meters away, hard hitting i might add. Its large round feet that can smoother you like a blender does to a chunk of meat.

elephant peeking from youtube.com

People, this a reality others face quite often in the region of Matabeleland every time during this part of the year.

There is just an overpopulation of elephants such that they have started robbing our children of their sleep by making yard their playgrounds.

When the government said it was exporting these elephants i was excited and thought everyone would join in the fun with us but no, someone has the audacity to say the government is being  cruel. I mean like seriously?

People should stop just criticizing only because they can especially if they do not know the facts on the ground.

After all  the move to export up to 60 elephants to countries that include China, France and United Arab Emirates is meant to raise money for conservation purposes. These animal welfare groups, who say the plan is cruel should think again.

As a kid who grew up visiting Tsholotsho seeing the Jumbos break through the fences of our home field i really support the idea of exporting these big animals after all this is better than culling.

mess after elephants lay on crops

At least the government stood by its decision when interviewed Environment Minister Savior Kasukuwere during a tour of Hwange National Park in western Zimbabwe said that, at 53,000, the elephant population was twice the park's carrying capacity.

"We are between a rock and hard place but we have chosen to be decisive. We have a situation where Hwange has more animals than it can carry, what do you want us to do," Kasukuwere said.

 
He said although the government was being criticised by conservationists, Zimbabwe was allowed to export elephants as long as it met requirements set by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.

Kasukuwere said the restrictions introduced by the United States last year had reduced hunting  profits which was critical in the conservation of animals.  

at the watering hole by inhabitant.com

With a reduced population of elephants we are now rest assured that our environment will stay green with no over browsing. And best of all people are gonna have a peace of mind in their sleep.
  

 

Farmers to struggle following the drought

In our last part of our series of the effects of drought on the the people we consider the plight of professional farmers  to survive and keep afloat following  one of the worst farming seasons in the history of Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe could struggle to meet a target of 1,4 million tonnes of maize for the 2014/15 season.
Speaking to the dailynews.co.zw Zimbabwe Farmers’ Commercial Union (ZFCU) president Wonder Chabikwa said changes in rainfall patterns compounded with flooding in some areas will negatively impact on the success of the current farming season.
“Last year was a much better season for farmers. This farming season, the rains started late and when they came they were too much, damaging farmers’ crops,” Chabikwa said.

“All this does not augur well for a successful farming season.
“It gives us doubts as farmers if we will achieve our targets.”
He, however, said all hope was not lost as the changing weather patterns could also work in the farmers’ favour.

“It really depends on what happens onwards. If the rains continue and allow the current maize crop to mature then we might be able to recover from a not-so-good looking season,” the ZFCU president said.
He said farmers who had already lost their crop to the current floods will struggle to survive until the next farming season.

“If a farmer is affected by floods, it’s a loss because most of them do not have insurance which could have compensated them for the losses incurred,” he said.
“It’s an area that has to be looked into as to how to deal with such a situation. Flooding is a natural disaster and not of one’s own doing.”
“Funding is a major challenge for most farmers as they resort to self-funding, a situation that puts a strain on their activities, with contract farming remaining the only alternative,” Chabikwa said.

“Traditionally, banks provided funding but at the moment they cannot offer us the loans we require.
“It’s either they totally don’t have the funds to lend or the interest rates plus the span of the loan is unattractive to the farmers,” Chabikwa said.
He said banks were aware of challenges being faced by the sector but were faced with their own problems.
“It’s not that they don’t want to give us money but these are also businesses faced with their problems.

“We do meet them at various forums and we do discuss our problems, while they also air their own problems,” the ZCFU boss said.

The rains dissapointed and for small startup who received land a few years back it is going to be difficult to even buy material to start the next farming saeason as they have no savings to fall back on and buy seeds and fertiliser for the upcoming season..

Maxwell Ncube a semi subsistence farmer from Tsholotsho says 'i doubt i'll be be getting anything this season. God knows how i will afford fertiliser and seed for the upcoming season"

Many villagers spoken to in Tsholotsho echoed these words sand even suggested a subsidy on fertiliser and seed next season in order to farm anything.

With such heart breaking anecdotes from farmer one thing is clear. Something has to be done for our environment in order to encourage good rains and climate. Global warming has to be stopped. people have to UP their green

effects of drought

As i continue with the series of the effects of drought,  today i want to show the real impact on the crops from this past farming season.i wanna show images so we can ascertain for ourselves that global warming is real and affecting us.

wilted crops which government has declared

as a right off pic by voazimbabwe.com

The paradox however in this situation is that some area were flooded yet where it matters rain was no nowhere to be felt.

floods in matabeleland one of the country's driest regions.

Diamond mines to merge.

Today  i want celebrate the works being done at other end of the country because it is such great news for the environment. All Diamond mines in the Marange and Chiadzwa are set to merge to under one banner. This will go a long way to ensurer accountability in terms of good environment keeping.

Although this deal was done for business purposes in order to avoid any tax evasions, as environment persons we are definitely celebrating because our job has been made easier. We can now lend a very watchful eye to pinpoint any environmental mishaps from the mining co-operates who have been synonymous with poor environmental handling the world over.

Rio Tinto’s Murowa open pit mine in Zimbabwe

This is real UP'ing the green and we hope other mining companies will follow suite.

Sand poaching the new phenomenon ; Effects of drought SERIES

The 2015 harvest was declared by the government as good as useless and efforts to mitigate hunger have been set aside. In addition to imports the government will purchase, the UK has given a country about 70 million for agricultural projects. No doubt all these efforts will go a long way to help people but in the mean time people are are trying to survive using means dangerous to the environment and from where i'[m standing we will very well regret not acting sooner. Today in a series of blogs to share the effects of drought in Zimbabwe i will share a story adapted from the Newsday.

 Thirty-seven-year-old Berita Nyoni of ward 16 Ngamo area in Vungu Rural District Council (VRDC) wakes up on a Friday morning with no food to give to her three children. Worried that her kids might starve, she grabs a shovel and a bucket and heads to Ngamo River where she joins a group of 40 women already busy at work.
The women are trying to eke a living from sand poaching.
The work is, however, not easy. Berita has to scoop sand from the river and deposit it on the riverbank. From the riverbank she uses a 20-litre bucket to heap it 10 metres away from the stream where truckers can collect it.
“This is heavy work, but I have no choice as I need to feed my three little kids,” Berita said with a pale face.
A sand heap of about 30 20-litre buckets is sold for $30-$40 to sand dealers. The sand dealers use lorries and other heavy trucks to transport the product to Gweru where there is a ready market from residential land developers.
For Berita sand poaching enables her to buy food as well as send her children to school. Rains in the Midlands like other provinces in the country ended prematurely and most of the crops are a write off.
Ngamo in Gweru peri-urban area is no exception.
“Our crops wilted from this season’s erratic rains and so we don’t expect to harvest anything. So we should devise ways to survive and here sand poaching is our only option,” she told Newsday during an Environmental Management Agency (EMA) media tour recently.
Though the women operate illegally EMA officials said they were helping to prevent siltation in Ngamo River nevertheless the sand can be washed back into the river if left uncollected.
EMA, however, said when the villagers go inland to extract river and pit sand as well as stones without licences they cause serious environmental degradation.
Provincial EMA information and publicity officer, Timothy Nyoka said his office was having headaches caused by illegal sand diggers particularly in Gweru peri-urban area.
“There is a proliferation of sand poachers in this area [Ngamo] and they have left land heavily degraded,” Nyoka said.
“It is difficult to arrest them as they come in the deep of the night with heavy trucks and dig for pit sand and stones.”
Ngamo area is now full of dongas as a result of environmental degradation from sand poaching.
“We only have 27 registered sites in Gweru where sand extraction is carried out otherwise the rest operate illegally with no environmental plans to reclaim the land they would have dug,” Nyoka said.
He said EMA was investigating a case on the outskirts of Mkoba suburb where a child drowned in the pits left by sand poachers.
Most farmers resettled in the area have also joined in sand excavation — though legally — as they try to survive the harsh economic conditions.
Unlike the sand poachers the farmers have environmental plans to rehabilitate the land.
Environmental experts, however, say the reclaimed land would
never be restored to its original state.
“I realised that it was better to venture into sand extraction and do business instead of losing out to illegal operators,” Kesari Chidanhika, a farmer at Plot 65 said.

“We don’t expect much from the fields as the crops have wilted from the erratic rains and sand extraction is one way we realised we can make a living from.”
Another farmer at Plot 55, Martha Mugaviri, said she did not get inputs in the last farming season and sand extraction was a better alternative for her to earn a living.
Mugaviri, a widow, said besides the unpredictable rains, the soil in her plot was sandy and not suitable for cultivation.
“It is better that I venture into this business (sand extraction) so that I can improve both my homestead and fields,” she said.
Though Vungu Rural District Council has by-laws that govern and protect the use of land under its jurisdiction it appears it is has no capacity to ensure these laws are adhered to.

Quite moving, i know, but the environment will soon suffer. Were it not for global we wouldn't be facing this drought crisis. So right now today lets fight global warming and UP THE GREEN wherever we are to prevent any future effects.  

Poachers or protectors: How elephants are protected in Hwange

WHEN we say UP THE GREEN we definitely mean this, the perpetrator switching teams to fight the very evil he was pursuing. In our very own Zimbabwe in Matabeleland former poachers are being hired to protect the elephants.

 baby elaphants rescued video from Youtube.com

 Following the cyanide scandal of 2013 there is need to take drastic measures to ensure the lives of these majestic animals. The images of that time were so appalling especially to anyone who loves their environment.  Reportedly there was a day were as much as 130 elephants were killed.

a pile of dead bodies in 2013 pic by dailymail.co.uk

ivory confisticated from poacher pic by cnn.com

elephants on a happy day by dailymail.co.uk

There is new hope for the elephants thanks to s efforts of the rangers and the newly converted wildlife protectors.

you can also view the video by following the link below

http://www.theguardian.com/travel/video/2014/nov/22/zimbabwe-elephants-protected-poachers-video

Vic Falls Bans Open Space Churches

IF you're of the same thinking as me, you always look at the ''ma postori'' gatherings and wonder whether they have permission to not only worship but to cut down trees  in the spots they occupy across the bushes of Matabeleland and Zimbabwe.

If you were with me in thinking ,well we have been proven right All that occupying of bushes is against the law. The Victoria fall city councill last week banned open space churches saying they were a nuisance to tourism and a threat to the environment.

An article by all Africa.com points that A number of churches have sprouted along the highway on the buffer zone, which is reserved as an animal corridor forcing the council to take the bold step.

tourists in vic falls pic by rakeytravelandtours.com

 Town Clerk Christopher Dube announced the move to ban these churches at a full council meeting recently.

Dube said the council felt the proliferation of open space worshipers would have a negative bearing on tourism as they are now a common feature along major roads in the resort town.

"We want to engage them before we take action," said Dube.

"Churches should operate formally just like any other business. They should apply to use whatever space and people be informed that there will be a church than for them to just take their equipment and start making noise, that is not acceptable here in Victoria Falls."

worshipers in the bush by Nehandaradio.com

He continued: "This even disturbs tourism. There are places where they can go and worship such as the stadium and the local hall. There are open spaces where we can allow churches to conduct services such as crusades and police should be notified as this will be for a specified period not what they are doing.

"For now we don't want to be confrontational but they should respect the local authority and its by-laws. We will engage them but in the event they don't take advice we would then take action and they will be arrested," added Dube.

However the development is likely to invite war between the local authority and open space worshipers, particularly the apostolic sects and the Zionist churches.

A few years ago the Bulawayo City Council clashed with worshipers when the local authority resolved to ban them from worshiping under trees.

The idea was dropped after a stiff resistance from the churches.

While the controversy is brewing in the resort town i would like to say if you're' cutting trees and using  space illegally bump it down a notch because it wont be long before controversy follows you. Lets UP THE GREEN  by keeping our environment and following environmental laws.