Oxpeckers investigation wins Asian journalism award
Transnational investigation into abalone smuggling from South Africa to China wins at Asian Environmental Journalism Awards...
22 Mar, 2019
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Combining traditional investigative reporting with data analysis and geo-mapping to expose eco-offences and track organised criminal syndicates in southern Africa
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Millions of UN dollars fail to reach villages fighting to survive in Mozambique
Estácio Valoi exposes how the failure of UNDP funding intended to combat environmental destruction left Mozambican communities to battle cyclones, floods and drought alone
29 Mar, 2019
Mining opponents operate in ‘environment of fear’
'We know our lives are in danger': Attacks on anti-mining activists and environmental defenders documented in a new report. Andiswa Matikinca investigates
16 Apr, 2019
Mining opponents operate in ‘environment of fear’
'We know our lives are in danger': Attacks on anti-mining activists and environmental defenders documented in a new report. Andiswa Matikinca investigates
16 Apr, 2019
Millions of UN dollars fail to reach villages fighting to survive in Mozambique
Estácio Valoi exposes how the failure of UNDP funding intended to combat environmental destruction left Mozambican communities to battle cyclones, floods and drought alone
29 Mar, 2019
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Richtersveld diamond deal leaves locals with the dirt
Tensions mount in the diamond-rich Richtersveld after the sale of mines by Trans Hex left a multi-million-rand rehabilitation debt. Yolandi Groenewald investigates...
18 Mar, 2019 -
Exposing the abalone-rhino poaching links
John Grobler investigates the overlap between abalone and rhino horn smuggling syndicates operating between South Africa, Namibia and Hong Kong...
08 Mar, 2019 -
Namibia starts controversial hyena cull to save its wild horses
Shooting hyenas to save wild horses raises heated debate about interventions between endemic wildlife and ‘feral’ animals. Linda Baker investigates...
26 Feb, 2019 -
Dynamic data discovery: The future of detecting wildlife cybercrime
Being able to identify online transactions and conversations involving vulnerable species will assist in the fight against wildlife trafficking. Roxanne Joseph reports...
04 Feb, 2019 -
New tool tracks Europe’s role in international illegal wildlife trade
Our digital geojournalism tool #WildEye gives easy access to data on seizures, arrests, court cases and convictions related to wildlife crime in Europe...
28 Jan, 2019 -
What is free, prior & informed consent for mining?
The Western majoritarian view does not work when consulting mining-affected communities such as Xolobeni, reports Andiswa Matikinca...
24 Jan, 2019 -
The world’s largest ‘paper park’
Six years and €50-million since its creation, Oscar Nkala visits the Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area to find out what impact it has had on wildlife and communities...
14 Dec, 2018 -
SA sets hard rules at COP24
South Africa and its allies at the COP24 climate negotiations are pushing for a strong rulebook on the Paris Agreement. Yolandi Groenewald reports from Katowice...
13 Dec, 2018 -
Directors targeted for Mintails mess
Executives at Mintails and DRDGOLD scramble to avoid liability and the possibility of criminal charges for R460-million environmental mess on the West Rand...
12 Dec, 2018 -
A dark battle to save pangolins
South African pioneers are inventing ways to save casualties of the world’s biggest wildlife crime, reports Louise de Bruin...
04 Dec, 2018 -
Kenya – the epicentre of East Africa’s donkey crisis
Stolen donkeys are smuggled across borders with Tanzania and Ethiopia to feed Kenya’s expanding abattoirs and Chinese demand for donkey-hide glue. Oscar Nkala investigates...
28 Nov, 2018 -
Disrupting wildlife crime on the Dark Web
As enforcement steps up, illicit operations go deeper into darkness. New research suggests the marketplace could become impossible to disrupt, writes Roxanne Joseph...
27 Nov, 2018 -
Mining starts in Mpumalanga water zone
Local residents reported blasting and the removal of coal close to the wetlands of the Greater Lakenvlei Protected Environment. Andiswa Matikinca investigates...
21 Nov, 2018 -
Help us to track wildlife crime
Our new #WildEye project aims to expose wildlife smuggling networks and how they work across the greater European continent...
20 Nov, 2018 -
How #MineAlert helped Mabola
An anonymous tip-off sparked a sustained investigative journalism trail and a precedent-setting High Court judgment, writes Julia Thomas...
16 Nov, 2018 -
Mabola case sets new boundaries for protected areas
Judicial review of Cabinet decision to open Mabola strategic water zone raises questions about the status of mining in protected environments. Tholakele Nene reports...
18 Oct, 2018 -
Parliament probes Mintails toxic legacy
Parliamentary committee asks for explanations following Oxpeckers report on mining company’s liquidation plans. Lisa Steyn reports...
19 Sep, 2018 -
Where are Cape Town’s climate funds, asks De Lille
Three years after drought-stricken Cape Town applied to the global Green Climate Fund, the city’s application is still pending. Yolandi Groenewald reports...
17 Sep, 2018 -
Fury at release of rhino ‘pseudo-hunt’ kingpin
Outrage greeted the early release of notorious Thai trafficker Chumlong Lemtongthai, who used false South African hunting permits to launder rhino horns. Simon Bloch reports...
13 Sep, 2018 -
Confessions of an ivory poacher
Oscar Nkala talks to a jailed Zambian elephant poacher about the structure, financing and operations of cross-border smuggling gangs...
24 Aug, 2018 -
Online trade: the devil’s in the data
Law enforcement agencies are creating new ways to combat online illegal wildlife trade. A centralised data repository is crucial to their success, writes Roxanne Joseph...
16 Aug, 2018
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'We know our lives are in danger': New report exposes attacks on SA's eco-defenders.#MineAlert's Andiswa Matikinca reviews the findings at bit.ly/2Uo8Do5
Human Rights Watch groundWork Earthjustice
Update on the case involving this weekend’s #rhino horn bust in North West provinceReport received from Simon Bloch:
Two suspects arrested in possession of the reported 187 rhino horns at the weekend, appeared in the Brits Magistrates Court this morning.
Petrus Steyn, 60, and Clive John Melville, 57, face charges of committing a restricted activity involving protected species without a permit.
Police also seized two vehicles and a firearm.
It is not yet clear to whom the suspects were transporting the horns, and whether they are members of an illegal syndicate, or had been hired as delivery boys.
According to a police media report released on Sunday,the horns were due to be shipped illegally to the underground rhino horn market in South East Asia.
Police have not yet confirmed whether there is evidence linking Steyn and Melville to the shipment of 82kgs seized at the Hong Kong International Airport 10 days ago.
Those horns, seized in a shipment falsely declared as auto parts and due to be trans-shipped from Hong Kong to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, originated from a direct flight from South Africa to Hong Kong.
Customs agents in Hong Kong discovered the horns after scanning the consignment and noticing suspicious shapes.
Pictures of those horns displayed by the Hong Kong Customs and Excise Dept suggest the rhino horns had been legally harvested and stockpiled by a rhino farmer or more, before being deliberately leaked and shipped from South Africa.
The required stockpile registration and identification code numbers appear to have been carefully removed by either hand held sand-paper, or a mechanical sanding machine.
According to a leading veterinary professional, this latest debacle "necessitates the URGENT need for an independent Inspectorate for auditing rhino horn stocks", not only in South Africa, but also Namibia, Swaziland, Botswana, Kenya, Zimbabwe, India, Nepal, and all countries where rhino stockpiles are kept, but especially South Africa!
Steyn and Melville have been remanded in custody, and the case was postponed untill April 26 for further investigation and formal bail applications.
Questions sent to the SAPS had not been answered at time of this publication being posted.
Caption.
Pictures of the horns seized over the weekend, and circulated on social media platforms, clearly show most of their registration and identification numbers.
The horns seized in Hong Kong seem to show the identification markings had been sanded off.
#MineAlert: The Draft Scoping Report for the amendment of current 83MR mining right: Thetha Terrace Mining Project near Pilgrim’s Rest in Mpumalanga has been released. Visit bit.ly/2TBiuKU for more info. Interested & Affected Parties are invited to a Public Open Day on 16 April 2019 at Pilgrim’s Rest Museum from 3pm
Andiswa Matikinca reads the signs behind the heavy rains that fell over Cape Town’s main water source during this year’s WWF Journey of Water
medium.com/oxpeckers/and-then-the-heavens-opened-35b9ee322a48
medium.com
Andiswa Matikinca reads the signs behind the heavy rains that fell over Cape Town’s main water source during this year’s WWF Journey of…#MineAlert: The Ga-Ngwepe community of Early Dawn in Limpopo is determined to oppose an exploration right granted to Platinum Group Metals’ Waterberg JV Resources (Pty) Ltd, which began drilling & prospecting activities in 2018. Impacts in residential areas include disturbed borehole water, noise & dust pollution, and destroyed graves. The Department of Mineral Resources still has not released the results of a joint investigation conducted with the Department of Water and Sanitation in September 2018. Visit bit.ly/2U1NZ1O for more info.
Photo: Johan Lorenzen
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