Green Options » Mali

Worst Drought in 26 Years Threatens the Survival of the Last Desert Elephants in West Africa

Gavin Hudson — Fri, 22 May 2009 15:15:06 +0000

Editor’s note: This post was written by Emily Loose at the WILD Foundation. It follows up on Jake Richardson’s earlier post.

The future of a rare herd of desert elephants in Mali is under threat from one of the worst droughts in living memory, which has left a key water source at its lowest level in a quarter of a century.

The 350 to 450 elephants of Gourma, the northernmost herds still alive in Africa, are being forced to trek extreme distances across the fringes of the Sahara to find scarce water. Juveniles are likely the worst affected, as (unlike the bigger bulls) their trunks are not long enough to reach deep into wells - one of the only remaining water sources.

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Urgent: Extreme Drought Killing Elephants in West Africa

Jake Richardson — Thu, 21 May 2009 18:14:41 +0000

The worst drought in 26 years is threatening the survival of a rare herd of desert elephants in Mali. A number have already died and more are struggling to survive. Save the Elephants is taking donations to help the elephants before they die.

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Jatropha’s Failure as a Biodiesel Feedstock Opens Opportunities in Rural Electrification

Dave Harcourt — Mon, 04 May 2009 21:16:18 +0000

Only a few years ago Jatropha was considered to be the wonder biodiesel feedstock suitable for production by small scale farmers in poor soils and arid countries. It has not lived up to the hype and it will be years before it can compete agronomically with soya and it is not scalable to the refining industry’s needs under small scale farming. Small scale rural farmers are more easily integrated into Jatropha based electrification in underdeveloped rural areas.

The Jatropha Spin

Jatropha curcas, also known as the Physic nut, is a perennial poisonous shrub. It is an uncultivated non-food wild-species that grows easily in hedges and scattered around homesteads. It was spread from Central America to Africa by Portuguese traders who introduced it as a hedge material and a source of oil for light.

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Will the Sahara Desert’s Elephants Vanish or Survive?

Gavin Hudson — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 05:04:44 +0000

In the Sahara, life hangs in the balance. As nomadic lifestyles vanish, urbanization threatens one of the desert’s last elephant populations. Conservationists must work fast to quell human-elephant conflict in the most arid habitat on Earth.

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