"For years it was thought that the huge biodiversity in Africa’s Rift lakes was in good shape and unlikely to be affected by the burgeoning human population; the simple reason being that no industry had established on the lakes’ shores. Industrial pollution and loss of habitat is the main cause of biodiversity loss around the world but the lack of an industrial-sized infrastructure in the countries around the lakes discouraged prospecting entrepreneurs from setting up camp. However, the paucity of jobs and income more or less forced the riparian communities to increase their fishing efforts. This massive increase naturally brought an enormous reduction in fish stocks. Since the early 1970s beach seines have systematically been employed by almost every village along the shores of Lake Malawi and by 1985 the number of nets had increased 50-fold and the fishing efforts even more, but the amount of landed fish had actually decreased.
In the early 1990s fish stocks in the southeastern arm of the lake and those of Lake Malombe had collapsed. At present there is still no regulation in force even though beach seines and small-meshed gill nets are forbidden. When I visited the lake in the late 1980s beach seines were very prevalent and the catches, even strongly reduced from what they were 10 years earlier, were substantial. Nowadays beach seines are rare in the South East Arm of Lake Malawi, not because the authorities finally caught up with applying law, but simply because there are no fish left."
We inspire people to
plant, nurture, and
celebrate trees.
This is the mission
statement of the Arbor
Day Foundation, a 501(c)3
nonprofit conservation
and education
organization.
Founded in 1972, the
centennial of the first
Arbor Day observance in
t...
About Earth Day Network
The first Earth Day
on April 22,
1970, activated 20
million Americans from
all walks of life and is
widely credited with
launching the modern
environmental movement.
The passage of the
landmark Clean
Air...
South African
organization that is
involved in various
activities such as :
Training of companion
animals, Tellington Touch
body movement and
excersises for pets, pet
accomodation, finding
homes for dogs, lots of
media on offer, Open Paw
campaign to e...
CITES (the Convention on
International Trade in
Endangered Species of
Wild Fauna and Flora) is
an international
agreement between
governments. Its aim is
to ensure that
international trade in
specimens of wild animals
and plants does not
threaten the...
On March 23 at 8:30 p.m.
local time, hundreds of
millions of people around
the world will turn off
their lights for Earth
Hour, the world’s
largest collective
display of commitment to
protect the
planet. Will you
join us? By turning
of...
Hi everybody, we in South
Africa just experienced
this moment in time. This
will of course only be
possible in 88 years'
time ( on 01 Jan 2101 -
01:01:01). There is
significance in time, at
least on earth and this
to me is special as it is
also my mot...
The 18th session of the
Conference of the Parties
to the UNFCCC and the 8th
session of the Conference
of the Parties serving as
the Meeting of the
Parties to the Kyoto
Protocol opened on
Monday, 26 November and
continues until Friday, 7
December 2012 ...
YOU can protect and save
innocent animals EVERY
DAY by not eating them.
It's YOUR choice, every
meal, every day.
YOU decide whether to
support torture and
murder of innocent
animals who think, feel,
and experience fear and
pain
OR
whet...
YES on CA Prop 37! Don't
let the Monsanto monster
beat us down! Please help
out to support Prop 37 in
California, which would
require the labeling of
GMOs. If we can't ban
these potentially
dangerous engineered
products, we can at least
give consumer...