Conservation alone 'is not enough' {Richard Leakey on gorillas, poverty, charcoal, GHGs} (BBC)

[eppur_se_muova]

VIEWPOINT
Richard Leakey

Millions of people were horrified by the recent slaughter of mountain gorillas that dominated headlines for the inhumanity that seems to cling to this corner of the world.

In the space of a month, nine gorillas - more than 1% of the known population of these charismatic relatives of ours - were wiped out. All were from the Democratic Republic of Congo's (DRC) Virunga National Park.

Predictably, the slaughter drew an outraged response. Wildlife conservation organisations leapt into action and began raising funds to deal with it, and a crisis team went in on the ground.
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At the heart of the crisis is charcoal - the main form of household energy in Africa. And making charcoal means felling forests, destroying wildlife habitats, damaging ecosystem services such as water catchments and soil fertility.
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In that respect, the forests' destruction is a double whammy. Burning charcoal is one of the greatest sources of atmospheric carbon dioxide, but it also strips away the trees that otherwise soak up so much of the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
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more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6983914.stm

Big kudos to Leakey -- he continues to sound alarms about African issues that would otherwise get no press in the West.

[NNadir]

1. Leaky is a hero.

That's easy for me to say.

He's one of the world's most eloquent speakers for nuclear energy.