Preserving Our Planet

     Joseph Kony: the face responsible for far too many atrocities   The ugly truth of poaching   This week, I’m back in Africa, focusing on just one of the many grave issues swilling about in the fuliginous reality that is poaching: the most contentious issue regarding conservation currently muddying some of our social media channels. Those behind this issue include the poaching Kingpin, Joseph Kony.   For years, allegations of corrupt officials, terrorist involvement and debase governments have imperturbably been cast about by apoplectic supporters of iconic animals such as elephants and rhinos. Blame has been laid firmly at the door of the Chinese for their ivory trinkets – a market worth billions.   No longer are the poachers’ actions a secret, and organisations and governments alike have vowed to eradicate poaching completely. Not surprisingly, David Attenborough has even voiced his opinion and leading Hollywood heart throb, Le...

Sea Shepherd: the saviour of the seas   Paul Watson: Shepherd of the Seas. Discovering Sea Shepherd In 2009, I happened upon an article about a marine conservation group who were recruiting volunteers for a mission in the south Antarctic seas to stop Japanese whalers from illegal fishing. I was tempted to apply but without nautical experience – bar a few minutes at the wheel of a catamaran in the Whitsunday islands – I was not really in a position to do anything productive. My time steering the cat was short-lived as the skipper was not happy that my directional skills meant the cat was veering off course and likely to go backwards if it was at all possible. I couldn’t help but keep the idea of helping Sea Shepherd at the fore of my mind and futilely discussed how good it would be to volunteer with various friends. I i...

There is now so much plastic in our oceans, they are drowning in it!     The ocean is the origin and the engine of all life on this planet — and it is under threat. The future for our oceans is bleak For years campaigners have been fighting over-fishing, climate change, pollution, habitat loss and the murder of cetaceans and other marine life. In 2017, the future of our oceans is bleak! It’s that simple. What most people are tending to ignore is the fact we need our oceans for our continued survival.  Call me extreme, call me alarmist, call me what you like but do some research and you will see I am right. Our oceans provide around 50% of our oxygen; our oceans are depended on by millions of poor people around the world as a main food source; our oceans are giant hydro pumps used to give us fresh water. By devastating our oceans, we devastate our water, food and oxygen. None of which we can survive for long without. We are surrounded by evidence: only a f...

Writing about politics in Africa is a complex business   With my travel writing experiences still fresh in my mind, I was keen to keep writing and it was at the forefront of my mind for months after my East to West trip across Africa. Opportunities for writing whilst living in Morogoro, at the base of the Uluguru Mountains, weren’t in abundance and it was eighteen months before I had the opportunity to write professionally again. In 2013, I moved to Dar for a more thrilling life than the quiet one offered in Morogoro. I was more excited than a child at Christmas and jumped around like a Mexican jumping bean as my visiting mother tried to make sense of my life in Tanzania, and sleeping with a guard outside my bedroom window each night. Hot In Dar The move was anything but simple and it took a while to settle into my new life but I loved it and within a few months I was writing for Hot In Dar – a fresh-on-the-scene free magazine in Dar. Better still, I was being pa...