BLANTYRE, Malawi (PAMACC News) - Hundreds Lilongwe residents, students, environmentalists and campaigners took to the streets on Saturday in a global push to end plastic pollution.The Association of Environmental Journalists (AEJ) mobilised people of all walks to pick plastic bags that litter the streets of the capital.However, the clean-up campaign was marred by lack of garbage collection trucks from Lilongwe City Council who backtracked at the eleventh hour because there were no allowances for its workers.The 'Green Awareness Walk came days after the World Environment Day commemorated on June 5 whose theme calls on all nations to beat plastic pollution.AEJ and its partners shifted the observance to Saturday for the convenience of students and the working class.The marchers, carrying placards demanding an end to plastic waste, walked from Lilongwe Community Ground to Bwaila Secondary School via M1.The procession, led by Malawi Prison Brass Band, made three stops where speakers from Lilongwe University of Science and Technology, Civil Society Network on Climate Change and National Youth Network on Climate Change spoke on the dangers of the plastic epidemic, including soil degradation and stifling marine life in lakes and oceans.They distributed 2000 “Think Green” stickers to motorists, according to AEJ.“Honestly, I have never seen people seriously talking about issues of plastics in Malawi. When I read some of the placards, I was really impressed and that's why I made a brief stop to grasp more and watch the brass band perform also” said Shanina Rose, from Area 25.Speaking at Bwaila Secondary School, in Malawi’s Capital City, director of environmental affairs in the Ministry of Natural Resources Energy and Mining, Tawonga Mbale-Luka, said time has come for Malawians to realise that plastics hurt the environment, including farms, water bodies and public health.“We do not necessarily have to wait for the courts to say how bad they are when scientific evidence is available for all to read,” she said in reference to a long-awaited court ruling on the legality of the ban on production, importation and use of thin plastics.Plastic manufacturers in Malawi obtained an injunction restraining the government from banning thin plastics of less than 50micron metres.“We are happy that we still have people who agree with us that we need to ban thin plastics in Malawi. I want to encourage you to keep the momentum high because you are doing the right thing. As a government, we are waiting to hear what the courts will say on the case and we only hope it will be in our favour,” said Luka.AEJ secretary general Charles Mkoka said they were happy with the attendance, as the march got rid of a truckload of plastic litter from the streets.However, he bemoaned the city council’s last-minute withdrawal from the initiative to make the capital city a little cleaner. “We regret to note that despite giving us a go ahead to conduct this walk and accepting to provide the trash van and servicemen to assist in the exercise, the city authorities on late Friday afternoon changed tuned…

YAOUNDE, Cameroon (PAMACC News) - In the face of multiple urban climate challenges with rising temperatures ,persistent floods , drought and other climate threats that are menacing Cameroon’s major cities , the government is multiplying efforts for a green city drive as the country prepares to host the 2019 African Nations Cup. Authorities say they have pledged to steer deforested cities from edge of climate disasters with a multi-facet urban city greening project."It is our responsibility to give our cities the much needed environmental facelift and make them safe now and in the future," says the minister of forestry and wildlife , Jules Doret Ndongo , at the launching of the 2018 tree planting season in Bertoua in the East region, May 4th. The Minister of Environment, Nature Protection and Sustainable Development in collaboration with WWF and partners, on May 28 2018, on his part mounted the first ever giant biodiversity poster in the 2 international airports in Cameroon to walk the green city talk.The event accordingly marked the end of 2018 biodiversity day celebrations and beginning of World Environment Day celebrations in Cameroon.Environment experts say Cameroon has multiplied investment efforts in recent years in line with the government’s drive towards economic emergence by 2035 ,triggering rapid disappearance of its forested areas with expanding urbanization and population surge in most cities."Cameroon is on the move with multiple investments as the country pushes towards economic emergence. Unfortunate this also means sacrificing huge forested areas where these projects are located," says Zachee Nzoh Ngandembou,CEO of the Centre for Environment and Rural Transformation,CERUT, an NGO that promotes rural development in Cameroon. A report by Global Forest Watch shows forest loss in Cameroon of 777,000 hectares between 2001 and 2015.Experts say the deforestation has since 2016 aggravated with heavy investment projects in cities following Cameroon’s preparation to host the 2019 African Cup of Nations Games. Many of these infrastructures in roads, stadia and other sports training grounds,hotels ,urban housing scheme etc have seen large portions of hitherto forest lands sacrificed exposing many cities to scorching heat and high temperatures and other climate extremes. "Forest losses not only hurt ecosystems and drive climate change but put the livelihood of millions of city dwellers in danger," says Paul Donfack, a consultant with the African Forest Forum.The environmental impact of forest loss is really immeasurable with extreme weather like rising city temperatures, heavy floods, droughts and water shortages thus putting the lives of vulnerable population at risk, he says. But the government is hoping the new urban greening forests project will help cities catch up with the loses."The new urban reforestation project will help boost the tree planting schemes launched by the government in 2017," says Bruno Mfou’ou Mfou’ou, director of forestry in the ministry of forestry and wildlife.The government in 2017 launched a project to restore 12 million hectares (30 million acres) of deforested land to redress the challenges of dwindling forests and help mitigate the effects of climate change, he said."The urban city greening scheme…

NAIROBI, Kenya (PAMACC News) - This year’s World Environment Day (WED) comes when the ogre of corruption, threatening to tear apart the fabric of our society is dominating the national debate in Kenya. The World Environmental day celebrated on the 5th of June every year, seeks to raise consciousness and rally people across the world on the importance of a clean environment. Thousands of activities, including tree planting, clean-ups, workshops, conferences and rallies are held, depending on the context in various parts of the globe. The theme of this year’s WED, is “Beat plastics pollution”, and is being hosted by India. This year, we focus on the environmental challenges we face due to the piles of plastics produced and dumped on land and sea every hour, and their adverse effects on the beauty of the earth and the oceans. The global focus on this theme brings the issue of policy making and intervention to the centre-stage, with a view to “doing something” to arrest the problem. Thousands of trees will be planted during this day, while tons of plastics will be collected and piled at some safer place away from people and water. The Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA) will join several partners, led by the City County of Nairobi, to plant trees at Kikuyu Springs, one of the main sources of the water we drink in the city, which is threatened by encroachment by private developers, illicit tree poachers and degradation. Planting trees and collecting garbage in front of cameras, as many leaders have done during this rainy season, is one commendable thing. And tending those trees to maturity and stopping garbage gettingpile-up should be a process rather than an event. These symbolic gestures by the top leadership should be followed by a more sustainable effort to harvest this goodwill by institutions entrusted to guard our environmental with preservation and protection. But due to the runaway corruption which has passed the red line, any effort to reverse the damage visited upon the environment will likely be futile. Indeed, the report of the taskforce appointed by Environment and Forestry Cabinet Secretary KeriakoTobiko exposed the rot in the Forestry department and recommended drastic action against forest officials who have plundered this important national resource. One of the chilling revelations of the report is the fact that a whooping two billion shillings earmarked for a school forestry programme, was misappropriated. This is in addition to thousands of tons of trees which were felled by unscrupulous merchants in collusion with people who were entrusted with the responsibility to keep watch over our forests across the country. It will therefore be a pointless attempt and narrow way of seeing things if we plant trees without minding whether the land on which we are planting will be a target by marauding land grabbers and speculators. It will also be waste of resources and valuable time if we collect all that garbage just for the camera, and when we go back home, we are the…

Bénin (PAMACC News) - Fita et kokohou sont deux villages du Bénin. Le premier est de la commune de Dassa, au centre du Bénin et l’autre, est une localité de la commune de Djougou dans le Nord du Bénin. Deux hameaux dont la vie des habitants a changé depuis quelques jours avec l’arrivée de l’électricité. Il s’agit de la mise en service de deuxmini-centrales solaires photovoltaïques résilientesqui alimentent kiosques et lampadaires solaires. Une solution alternative à la lutte contre les effets du climat.« Même dans mes rêves, je n’ai jamais imaginé voir un jour de mes propres yeux l’électricité dans mon village »disait un habitant de Fita, village de la commune de Dassa, situé à 15 kilomètres du centre-ville. « Ici, on était habitué à l’obscurité. Ce qui fait que le soir venu tout le monde se terre chez lui ». Et pourtant, ce n’est plus un rêve. L’électricité est belle et bien à Fita, depuis quelques jours, même si c’est une énergie hors-réseau. C’est d’ailleurs pour ça, que l’intéressé a passé de longues minutes à remercier non seulement ceux qui ont permis l’installation de cette mini-centrale mais aussi le ciel pour lui avoir offert de son vivant ce beau cadeau. Et pourtant, le cadeau dont il parle n’est pas du tout tombé du ciel. Il a fallu le Programme des Nations-Unies pour le Développement (PNUD) et le Fonds pour l’Environnement Mondial à travers le Projet de renforcement de la résilience du secteur de l’énergie aux impacts des changements climatiques au Bénin (PANA Energie) pour que l’électricité à Fita soit une réalité.Sa majesté, le roi de FitaGbèdozanKinmafli, sous l’autorité de laquelle est placée la cérémonie officielle de mise en service de la mini-centrale, a eu des mots très aimables à l’endroit du gouvernement pour avoir pensé à sa région. « L’arrivéede l’électricité va régler un problème fondamental, a indiqué le roi. Les élèves n’auront plus à étudier sous les lampions, les lanternes et les torches, forcément, ils auront de meilleurs résultats ». Il s’agit là, a fait remarquer le maire de la commune de Dassa, Nicaise Fagnon, « de la territorialisation de l’un des projets phares du gouvernement, celui d’améliorer les conditions de vie des populations ». Mise en service des lampadaires solaires résilients C’est au Ministre de l’énergie, Dona Jean-Claude, qu’il est revenu l’honneur d’allumer le premier lampadaire résilient. « Lalumière, c’est la vie, a-t-il souligné en s’adressant à la population enthousiaste. « Ce gouvernement vous doit et va vous donner plus, pour que vous soyez heureux, a-t-il ajouté ». Contrairement aux lampadaires solaires classiques, ceux de Fita sont des lampadaires solaires à éclairage puissant, constant puis dégressif, tout intégré, conçu de façon compact. Il jouit d’une durée minimum de six heures et une autonomie de trois jours. La plupart des lampadaires sont disposés dans des endroits stratégiques de façon à offrir à tout le village un éclairagepublic. C’est donc un système beaucoup plus amélioré qui n'a besoin que d’une faible quantité de rayons solaires pour produire une grande…