- 18 hours ago
Eco Africa - Cleaning the Earth
Category
📚
LearningTranscript
00:00Pollution comes in various forms and impacts on the land, the sea and the air.
00:24Welcome to Echo Africa. On this edition, we'll be looking at ancient and state-of-the-art approaches to making our planet a cleaner one.
00:33I'm Malama Mukonde in Lusaka, Zambia and co-hosting this edition with me is my co-host, Chris Elems in Lagos, Nigeria.
00:45Thanks so much, Malama. And without further ado, let's see what this week's show has in store for you.
00:52Technology aids coral reef conservation.
00:58How an artist is turning plastic waste into museum exhibits.
01:04And in Uganda, why sacred sites are sanctuaries of biodiversity.
01:12To Kenya, an a global threat to marine ecosystems.
01:16Long after they've served their purpose, discarded fishing nets continue to haunt our oceans.
01:22Known as ghost nets, they drift silently through the water, trapping marine life and leaching ample microplastics.
01:30But on the coast of Kenya, an innovative project is testing out an alternative.
01:36A shark that couldn't free itself.
01:41A turtle tangled up in a plastic line.
01:45Birds, dead in nets.
01:48Fishing equipment all too often becomes a death trap for other animals.
01:52And lost nets also disintegrate into microplastic.
01:55Some 30 million tons of plastic waste ends up in the world's oceans each year.
02:00Ghost nets make up a big part.
02:03Now there are plans to help stop that with biodegradable lines.
02:07They are currently undergoing rigorous testing in Kenya by fishers going about their daily business
02:13in a badly damaged coral reef and by seaweed farmers of Kibunyu in Kenya's south coast.
02:23Up until recently, they used lines made of plastic.
02:27But when these fail, they turn into dangerous marine litter.
02:31When we started seaweed farming, we used plastic roofs.
02:40But when they turn, they float about in the water and are consumed by fish and turtles.
02:46Their sharp ends can cause injuries.
02:53And the plastic waste also ends up in the mangroves.
03:02Today is harvest day.
03:04The seaweed is pulled out together with the eco-ropes it has been growing on for six to eight weeks.
03:10It is later dried and processed into food, cosmetics or fertilizer.
03:14The women have been using the biodegradable lines for a year.
03:18At low tide, they seed new beds.
03:21Small beds of seaweed are tied to the eco-friendly material.
03:27The Kenyan Fisheries Service launched the pilot project in early 2024.
03:32The new lines are reaping positive results compared to conventional ones.
03:40We have noticed certain advantages.
03:43For example, after 45 days of farming the seaweed, there were no lost seedlings on the new roofs.
03:51We are seeing a continuous push towards seaweed that has grown using eco-friendly methods.
04:05So very soon we will be seeing the market paying more for seaweed that has grown using technologies
04:14that are less polluting to the environment compared to those that are polluting the environment.
04:19The biodegradable rope is made in South Africa's Cape Town.
04:23It was developed by Katch Green, a company that works with the innovative polymer biodolomer,
04:29a Swedish invention made from limestone and sugarcane.
04:33It has the same properties as plastic, but it doesn't disintegrate into microplastics
04:38and decomposes within a few years.
04:41The project is funded by international environmental programs and the UN.
04:48The aim?
04:49To create a genuine alternative to plastic, not just for seaweed farming, but also for industrial fishing.
04:56Back on Kenya's south coast, fishers like Hassan and Choma have been testing nets in which at least some components,
05:06such as the float and lead lines, were replaced with biodegradable material.
05:10So if they are lost, they will at least partially decompose.
05:14However, the material hasn't stood up to everyday use.
05:18They don't work.
05:22And that's a real problem for small-skilled fishermen like me.
05:25It's a loss.
05:27You buy an expensive net, and a month later, you're already paying to fix it,
05:32while your catch barely covers the cost.
05:34So there's a cost of repair that is frequent when using fishing net compared to seaweed ropes.
05:45So I think at some point we have not entered the second phase where we are providing fishermen
05:51with the materials for repair of those nets, and I think that is what has caused a delay in adoption.
05:58But that's the next phase that we'll get into.
05:59While biodegradable nets aren't currently meeting fishers' expectations,
06:04they are being successfully used off the nearby island of Wassini.
06:09These divers are volunteers trained to rescue the degraded coral reef.
06:13Bits of living coral are being attached to biodoloma ropes to help revive it,
06:19in a way that's cheaper, quicker, and greener than the conventional method using concrete.
06:24It has proven successful and hasn't damaged the delicate marine ecosystem.
06:32We are hopeful that in three to five years, the ropes will have dissolved without causing any harm,
06:38while in the meantime the corals will have been able to establish themselves
06:42and begun to thrive in their natural habitat.
06:44A promising vision, marine animals returning to a flourishing ecosystem.
06:53The new material has some issues, but here, underwater, it's showing its potential
06:59to rebuild a reef while itself slowly disintegrating into water,
07:05a small amount of CO2, and lime-containing biomass.
07:09Coral reefs are among nature's most beautiful works of art.
07:16Now, teeming with life with thousands of different species of marine creatures.
07:22But human-caused global warming and pollution are threatening these biodiversity hotspots with extension.
07:29Now, scientists fear that most of them might disappear by 2050.
07:33They urgently need protecting, a task that is becoming easier, thanks to AI.
07:41Life sounds very different underwater.
07:44A technique called passive acoustic monitoring allows researchers to listen in 24-7.
07:49Off the island of Réunion, the method is being used to measure the impact of human activity on coral reefs
07:56and to assess their health.
07:58The challenge is to detect when things are going well and when they're not,
08:06how certain areas are evolving, and then to respond with management measures.
08:11These measures can be as simple as restricting access, preventing fishing in certain areas, etc.
08:16The marine biologists use underwater microphones, or hydrophones as they're called,
08:24planted close to the coral reef.
08:29The recordings allow them to detect when greater numbers of certain species enter the reef,
08:35a sign that they are spawning.
08:36Back on dry land, the researchers evaluate what the microphones have picked up.
08:46It would be practically impossible to listen to this amount of data in real time.
08:54We've now got over 100 terabytes of data.
08:57This is a huge amount of information, spanning years of audio.
09:02Humanly, it would be very difficult to listen to all of it.
09:04This is where AI and our traditional signal processing algorithms can help process years of data
09:11in a few minutes or hours, depending on the tools and analyses we need.
09:18They can then use the information to create sound maps of the reef,
09:22showing the spots where humans create the most disturbance,
09:26or where marine life is most active.
09:28The data could also help local authorities set up protected areas,
09:33or to curb tourist activity or shipping when the fish are spawning, for example.
09:38The team plans to take their project off the Indian Ocean Island one step further.
09:43In the next stage, recordings of ambient sound from healthy reefs
09:49will be used to attract more life to degraded ones by broadcasting them underwater.
09:57Acoustics can also help to bring back small fish larvae and corals,
10:02and in this way, restore the ecosystem.
10:08To Nigeria now, where I can tell you the power grid is infamous
10:12for insufficient connectivity and frequent outages.
10:16As a result, many people rely on highly polluting generators.
10:21But with more sustainable options available,
10:23we'll look at Abuja's bustling Wuse market,
10:27where a truly quiet revolution is underway.
10:32Wuse market in Abuja is one of the major trading hubs in Nigeria's capital.
10:38It's much quieter here than it used to be,
10:41and a bird's eye view reveals why.
10:43Solar panels.
10:45Many traders have switched to solar energy
10:47and moved away from using fuel-powered generators.
10:54It's worth it because the cost of supply,
10:57the cost of energy has come down.
11:02That is one advantage of it.
11:04I always have a steady power supply
11:07since I introduced the solar.
11:10Many still rely on fuel-guzzling generators
11:13because the supply from the national grid is unreliable.
11:16But with inflation and the removal of fuel subsidies in Nigeria,
11:21prices have exploded.
11:23People now think twice before turning on their generators.
11:26They are also very noisy.
11:29Two out of three users say they have a hearing impairment.
11:33Moreover, the toxic fumes are a health hazard
11:35and account for massive CO2 emissions.
11:38Nigeria is estimated to have around 22 million generators.
11:43Half of them are used by households,
11:46the other half by medium and small enterprises.
11:49In 2023, Nigeria emitted 129 million tons of CO2
11:55from fossil fuels and industry.
11:57Almost 40% of that is thought to come from generators.
12:02And this is where the solar panel system
12:05widely used in Wuse market was developed.
12:07A non-profit research institute based in Berlin.
12:11Its mission is to help people in countries
12:13with electricity shortages
12:14to switch from generators to clean solar energy.
12:17Using data on sunlight as well as power grid supply and demand,
12:21they've developed an optimized product
12:23that users dubbed the solar generator.
12:26That's basically the project that we call
12:29Solar Killed the Generator Star.
12:31Where we said we will basically look at
12:33what these fuel generators do on a daily basis for customers.
12:36So we analyzed their usage.
12:40And based on that,
12:42we decided to build a solar alternative,
12:46which our customers call the solar generator,
12:48because for them, you know, fuel generator, solar generator,
12:50it's the same machine in the sense
12:53it does electricity for them.
12:55But the solar one is obviously much preferred.
12:57It's not just the typical inverter and battery for solar modules.
13:02It's also equipped with some more smart technology.
13:05The devices installed in Nigeria send live data to Berlin,
13:09so the system can be monitored and optimized for end users.
13:13For example, here you can see the systems we have installed in Nigeria with their exact location.
13:19You can see that most of the systems are installed around Abuja and around Lagos.
13:25So usually we see that a system is currently not sending data or sending faulty data.
13:30And what we do is we send an installer.
13:34We call someone in Nigeria, one of our project partners,
13:37and tell them, please check out this system in this location installed with this specific customer.
13:42The so-called solar generator is an affordable alternative to a fuel generator
13:47and helps bypass regular power cuts from the national grid.
13:51Users can rent the systems, including one year of repair and maintenance,
13:56for 20 euros a month,
13:58or buy it in installments of 35 to 70 euros a month from partner companies in Nigeria.
14:03With current gas prices, a solar generator is often cheaper than a fuel generator.
14:10Basically, the solar pays for itself.
14:13If you're a business that runs generator all the time,
14:16that means you have an overhead cost already of fueling or servicing your generator or buying components and all that.
14:25So we just transfer that cost to paying once a month,
14:30and then you're able to pay for the solar system.
14:34Apart from markets, one of the main customers for the solar generator are healthcare centers.
14:40Thousands of them across the country have little to no electricity.
14:44Vaccines and medicines can sometimes not be cooled adequately, as well as the waiting rooms.
14:50Unlike here in this primary healthcare center in Abuja,
14:54where these infants are getting their first crucial vaccines.
14:58It now has a steady power supply from the solar generator, a big difference to before.
15:03And if there is no light, if there is delivery, they use a touch light.
15:10And like for the other, the lab, if there is anything that we need to do,
15:17we go to other hospitals to run our tests.
15:20So by the time they brought the solar, everything is going well.
15:26Since 2019, the installed solar energy capacity in Nigeria has tripled,
15:33but it still only makes up 0.1% of the country's energy mix.
15:37But by the end of 2025, Nigeria's rapidly growing solar industry could face a major problem.
15:45Some politicians are pushing for an import ban on foreign solar products,
15:49and USAID, which supports the electrification of health centers, is set to be dissolved,
15:55following a decision in Washington.
15:59For now, we are aware that the cost of maintaining those systems is going to run for only a year.
16:07Now, that simply means that where there is a problem with that system after that year,
16:12we cannot attend to it, meaning the hospitals are going to be in the dark.
16:17That means they are going back to where they used to be before.
16:21Solar energy users and providers are hoping at least that the potential import ban can be avoided,
16:27and that technical innovations can ensure the continued development of renewable energies in Nigeria,
16:34and a steady and more reliable electricity supply.
16:41Plastic, plastic, plastic.
16:43It's omnipresent and an ongoing challenge.
16:47In Ghana's capital, Accra, you will find it everywhere, from the beaches to city streets.
16:53But one young artist is turning this crisis into a canvas in this week's Doing Your Bit.
16:59Artist Obed Addo is not using paint to express his ideas, but plastic waste.
17:13He carefully glues small shreds onto a wooden board, showing a woman in chains.
17:19A reference to Ghana's painful history with slavery.
17:24I know at first I was using paint to do the stuffs, but then I got inspired by the way the plastic is taking over.
17:34As an artist, if I not put myself in it and then show people how our impact is affecting us, it's going to be worse.
17:41Most of the plastic Obed Addo uses comes from his neighbourhood in Accra, where he regularly picks up usable trash items with his son.
17:53Back in his studio, they wash the plastic bags they collected and shred them.
17:59It takes months for an art piece to be finished.
18:06I want everyone to know the impact of our action on plastic waste.
18:14And two, in a respect of how you respect yourself or think about yourself, some people may think that they are not useful, they are nobody.
18:26But if I can pick this that you call a waste and transform it into something beautiful, it means that you two are worth it.
18:36You can be important if you get to someone who can hold you well.
18:42To raise more awareness about plastic pollution, Accra's Science and Technology Museum hosted an exhibition showcasing art made from waste.
18:52And Obed Addo was a part of it too.
18:56The pieces on display aim to inspire a positive change.
19:00The situation is dire where we're actually submerged in pollution and plastic is a big problem.
19:07It's not so much the plastic that is the villain, it's our attitude and how we dispose of it or what we do with it.
19:15So it's about teaching people to reclaim, repair, reuse, repurpose your refuse.
19:22And by the way, everything that you think is rubbish can be used for something else.
19:30There is worth in waste.
19:34Today is a trash.
19:35But if you find meaningful in it, you can use it to do something that is beautiful, extraordinary.
19:41It is really amazing how we can use these things to do something beautiful like this.
19:48Yeah, so I think I can do it in this way.
19:51Someone can do it in a different way.
19:52Then we are reducing the pollution, especially the plastics.
19:56Africa is rich with sacred sites from pilgrimage destinations to mountains and waterfalls revered by local communities.
20:06Now, these places of tranquility and reflection open a window into the continent's diverse belief systems.
20:13Our next report from Uganda shows us that these sanctuaries are not only important for preserving the country's cultural and spiritual heritage.
20:22Kabaka's lake is a precious jewel on the edge of the Ugandan capital Kampala.
20:29It was created in 1886 by Kabaka Muanga II, then ruler of the Kingdom of Buganda.
20:37It was part of a royal project near his palace.
20:40The current king of Buganda still maintains the palace.
20:44While he holds no direct political power, he remains highly revered as a cultural and spiritual leader.
20:52Today, Kabaka's lake still provides a bond between Uganda's largest ethnic group, the Buganda, and their king.
21:01Every day, Lamek Kale removes garbage from the lake out of respect for the monarchy.
21:07I love keeping the lake clean, so if my king, the Kabaka, comes here, he finds it impressive.
21:16But Kabaka's lake is not only a symbol of cultural identity, it is also a living ecosystem in a busy city.
21:24As a rainwater reservoir, it helps to cool the microclimate and provides a habitat for water birds, such as the opened bale stock, an indicator of the health of wetlands,
21:37carrion-eating marabou stocks, and little egrets that breed here.
21:41Lamek's quiet dedication without a wage is preserving nature.
21:50Sometimes there are loyal pilgrims who appreciate what I do.
21:54They might easily give me 10,000 shillings in gratitude for my work.
21:58At Kampala's Chambogo University, environmental scientist Mary Therese Kabwa has found that when people sense a spiritual connection with nature, they tend to actively preserve it.
22:13In that sense, there is a broader benefit we get that when this site is not interfered with, okay, by anthropogenic activities and all that, it remains intact.
22:25Around 30 kilometers east of Kampala lies another sacred place in the kingdom of Buganda, the Sisibwa Falls.
22:35Legend has it that a woman gave birth to twins here in the form of two rivers, a divine event that makes the place sacred to this day.
22:46People come here to pray and seek healing.
22:49Spiritual guardians like Mubirubasawa care for the area, but the sacred forest around the waterfall almost protects itself through the powerful stories that are linked to it.
23:05For instance, we have specific trees that should never be cut down for any reason.
23:10Our forefathers foretold that destroying one of these trees would cause disasters that could not be reversed later.
23:20This sanctuary, protected by tradition, provides an emergency backup for the future.
23:26We get organisms both flora and fauna, yeah? We get the abundances maintained of those different organisms, but also these sites end up working like gene banks for us, yeah?
23:40That tomorrow, that tomorrow, that tomorrow if we lose species, whether aquatic or terrestrial, for that matter, that we can always go back and get genes or plants and we can be able to repopulate these areas where we maybe have done deforestation.
23:57Just beyond the sacred area around the falls, deforestation is well underway.
24:03Forests have been cleared to create fields for tea and cane.
24:07School students now come to Setzibua Falls to witness both sides, the cost of destruction and the power of preservation.
24:19Because as we started, they informed us that these forests have what they call carbon dioxide that reduces this growing rate of global warming.
24:28So I learned that I should protect the environment in this place and also in our areas as we go back.
24:36Some people like me had never seen any falls, but if we don't preserve this, I think the future generation cannot come into what we have seen today.
24:46So that's why I think we should protect areas like this one.
24:49The UN's cultural heritage agency, UNESCO, also notes that identity, spirituality, and cultural pride can all help drive conservation.
25:02At Setzibua Falls, nature is protected, not by law, but by cultural taboos and spiritual beliefs.
25:10Likewise, at Kawakas Lake, in serving the king, Lamek Kale is a true steward of the environment.
25:20Getting closer to nature really can be empowering, as I hope watching eco-Africa is too.
25:27As always, it's been a pleasure having you.
25:29So goodbye for now from me, Krista Dems, in Lagos, Nigeria.
25:34And from me, Malama Mukonde.
25:37And don't forget, we're always happy to get a post from you at echo at dw.com.
25:42And do check us out on our socials.
25:45Until next time.
25:45Bye.
Recommended
1:38
|
Up next
3:13
0:59
0:48
0:50
0:50
53:13
49:48
26:10
5:47
26:11
26:11
26:11
26:11
26:11
0:30
Be the first to comment