- 2 days ago
Young Ghanaian journalists are creating compelling stories about the country’s environmental issues and prompting change
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00:00the world is facing so many environmental challenges right now you might see some of
00:22them on your very own doorstep like trash but you might not be aware of others like biodiversity
00:30loss and if you don't know what the problems are you can't fix them welcome to echo africa we will
00:37be showing you not only the crisis our planet faces but the ways to solve them i'm alama mukonde
00:44in losaka zambia and a warm welcome from me too here's what we've got coming up
00:55in uganda former poachers are now protecting mountain gorillas
01:01solar power is helping save babies lives in cameroon
01:09and conserving albatrosses in south africa
01:15here on the show our mission is to turn the spotlight on the causes and the impact of the
01:25climate crisis but across the world these issues don't always get the media attention they deserve
01:31we head now to ghana plastic waste illegal mining disappearing forests the country's
01:38environment is under pressure now a new generation of reporters is stepping up to investigate and
01:47their work isn't just about making headlines it shows that when environmental reports or stories
01:53are told well they can drive real change it's an exciting encounter for both sides elephants and human
02:03bitches identify Ugandan
02:04Tadana
02:05�
02:06olhares elephant population has plummeted since the 1970s from around 30 000 to about just
02:131000 30-year-old Beijepak sticky abou Bakar his Clos puddin environmental
02:16journalist he's here in the mole national park to report on how garnered remaining elephants are being
02:25being protected before it's too late so it's important to preserve those animals so making
02:31documentaries usually as i am on today is to send a message outside that there's the need for us to
02:38conserve otherwise we lose everything and future generation would come and finding out what is
02:43an elephant what is a monkey they have not seen it before joining him is in turn and dalatu from
02:50jakpa's home village she wants to learn from him how to tackle environmental issues the park ranger
02:57also hopes jakpa's report will raise awareness people in the nearby communities or the surrounding
03:04villages they don't take biodiversity very so serious they don't take it serious so when they
03:08come to talk about it i am happy because it is an education that goes to the communities and the
03:14people and that will show them the importance of biodiversity and keeping the environment for
03:19future generations in ghana's capital akra the center for sustainable transformation runs a program
03:26called young reporters for the environment it trains young people who want to shine a light on
03:33environmental issues but it's not just about learning how to be a journalist the aspiration for everyone
03:39who comes through the program is that you acquire the knowledge and skills and also the agency to
03:46hold stakeholders policy makers accountable and not just that the ability to be able to contribute to
03:56national conversations on sustainability ghana urgently needs environmental reporting endangered species
04:04plastic pollution deforestation the challenges in ghana are immense 37 year old mahmoud mohammed nuruddin
04:14he's an award-winning environmental journalist today he's reporting on mary bambo a cocoa farmer from the tiwa area in eastern ghana
04:28through the red plus climate program she earns money from planting extra trees among her cocoa crops
04:34these trees these trees absorb co2 improve the microclimate and protect the cocoa from heat stress her harvest has quadrupled
04:49it improves the air around us and it supports the growth of the cocoa trees
04:56you can already see the impact in my farm
04:58many people especially women in my community are encouraged by what they see in my farm
05:08mahmoud believes it's important to report on projects that reward environmentally friendly behavior
05:15like here in the northern village of youwagu where the forest is considered sacred women receive medicinal
05:22herbs as a reward for not cutting down trees a simple appeal for more environmental awareness often isn't enough
05:30the challenge is that some people don't really care about
05:36the environment when you are educating them telling them that
05:41the practices they are
05:44embarking on
05:45and so it becomes difficult for people to change you keep on telling the stories
05:54and they wouldn't want to change because they are gaining they think they are gaining from
06:00from the whatever practices they are doing coordinating with the cameraman manasse safu nyamiche
06:06is just starting out in echo reporting and is passionate about making a difference the 23 year old
06:13is reporting from a neighborhood in accra next to a notorious plastic and textile landfill this is
06:19a community that are living by these landfills at the end of the day they are going to bring in
06:24these toxic gases so as a filmmaker what i can do is also report on the environment so that people
06:30will also get to see the kind of environmental situations or environmental health impacts that
06:37we are facing as a problem so that we can act upon it back to mahmoud muruddin as a freelance echo
06:44journalist he is constantly on the move today he is stopping by his grandfather's house in kumasi
06:51his nephews and niece are also there at a friend's place nearby there is a room he can use to edit his
06:57coco story for a ghanaian news channel journalism alone can't support his family of three so as a trained
07:04agricultural scientist he also works as a farming consultant but ecogernalism is where his heart
07:11belongs and his family understands that they don't really complain about it because they serve about
07:20and then making impact and so if you are making impact it's good his biggest impact came when he
07:28uncovered the cause of illness in the village the drinking water was coming from a pond contaminated
07:34with animal phyzes after his reports an ngo installed a filtration system and so sometimes i watched
07:43i watched the story and i was like did i do this story i was so excited that i i did that story
07:52back in mole national park jackpa and his intern and dalatu wrap up filming now it's time to review the
08:00footage and decide which shots are the best shots for his newly launched blog because without an audience
08:08even the most urgent report won't make a difference so i just finished filming this story and i must say
08:16that it was very interesting telling the story about my colleague journalists seeing their passion that
08:23they bring to bear in telling these stories and one thing that stood out for me really was that their
08:29work is impacting communities and i was impressed also to see that local communities are now adopting
08:35indigenous solutions that are working next we head to uganda the country is home to more than half of the
08:43world's mountain gorilla population over the years however these gentle giants were threatened with
08:49extinction by disease deforestation and poaching the communities in and around the national parks where
08:57they live where they are worst enemies but guess what not anymore this mountain gorilla lives in pundi
09:05national park in uganda it's one of only two places in the world where the species is formed just a few decades ago
09:14it was on the brink of extinction due in part to illegal hunting
09:23this man used to be a hunter who killed game and gorillas until he realized this was wrong and he joined
09:31a group of reformed poachers dedicated to preservation of these endangered creatures coexistence and improving
09:39livelihoods as reformed poachers we take care of this park because it provides an income our people
09:50get employment and we benefit financially visitors and tourists come to the park and the country gets
09:58an income and thanks to revenue sharing our children can go to school and we have hospitals and improved
10:06growth infrastructure that's how we benefit compared to when i was a poacher
10:21buindi national park and the surrounding region are home to many protected plants and animals
10:27threatened not just by poaching but also habitat loss and disease awareness rising projects
10:35among local communities are key to conservation efforts their participation has helped stabilize
10:42the gorilla population this year a census is underway peter to message joins park rangers to count
10:50the gorillas in windy national park as a former poacher peter knows the area like the back of his hand
10:57the group carefully follow the tracks of the gentle giants and here they find some
11:13a band of gorillas enjoying a snack
11:15they don't seem bothered by being watched not even by someone who used to hunt them
11:28before becoming a gorilla guardian peter to message like many others used to hunt using snares like this
11:36while others poach the gorillas deliberately for rituals or illegal trade he trapped game in order to
11:43provide food for his family like antelopes bush pigs and forest hoax but the trap doesn't choose what it catches
11:53when we set traps to catch edible animals we would sometimes trap other non-edible animals such as foxes
12:07chimpanzees or even gorillas by accident i would find them in the traps but this was not intentional
12:16the region around the national park has also benefited from tourism
12:20it has helped fund several conservation and involvement projects a revenue sharing scheme ensures that
12:2720 percent of tourism revenue in the national park goes directly into community projects
12:33providing locals with a sustainable livelihood
12:38meanwhile the mountain gorilla census continues in the forest the final number won't be based on
12:45sightings alone but also with the help of dna analysis fecal samples from nests provide information
12:53about the number and relationship of the mountain gorilla troops in the park the results of the great
12:59ape census will be published in 2026 in the meantime the rangers and conservationists in and around windy
13:08national park keep up their work to ensure that humans and apes can continue to live side by side in harmony
13:18we go now to cameroon where a power outage is nothing unusual in some hospitals a sudden blackout can be
13:27a matter of life and death especially for the tiniest patients in our latest doing your pets
13:34we'll see how innovation and determination are improving newborn care and offering hope for families
13:48little nahma was born three months premature she owes her life to this incubator
13:54it creates a micro climate in which humidity and temperature are regulated
13:58her body has everything it needs to grow just like in the womb
14:07the fact that incubators function non-stop at this hospital in the town of funbo is not a given
14:16here in cameroon power outages are common
14:18before we got these hybrid incubators we used imported ones but they were too sensitive to power cuts
14:33the incubators are built locally in cameroon they can run on solar-powered batteries and mains
14:39electricity the idea came from entrepreneur serge ju he witnessed firsthand how a mother lost five babies
14:46because of power outage the tragedy spurred him into action we knew that for a viable solution for us
14:56here we needed to use renewable energy which is cheap and reliable so we opted for solar power and built
15:03a hybrid incubator that can function fully even in remote places or places with no reliable power supply
15:10thus saving lives the locally made incubators are also creating long-term jobs production of the mawau
15:21incubators started in yaounde two years ago the models have proven effective and more than 200 have sold so
15:28far they're also boosting the use of solar power the hospital in funbo for example now operates three
15:36wards with solar power one of which is the maternity ward the incubators were financed by an ngo they cost
15:46the equivalent of around 4 500 euros that's a lot of money but nothing compared to the many lives that
15:53have been saved nahma is also coming on well she's already breastfeeding a huge relief for her mother
16:01when i see my child so healthy and how she's developed so wonderfully compared to the first day i saw her
16:11i'm really proud it's a big change and what better reward for the nurses and the incubators inventors too
16:25here in lagos we're near the coast and seabirds are a common sight
16:31but their populations are under threat from habitat loss pollution disease and the warming oceans
16:38it's a problem not just here we head north to norway in europe and a remote region in a country
16:46where a local fisherman has come up with a new way of giving seagulls a better chance of surviving
16:54welcome to the seagull hotel in vadu there's no room service and only self check-in but the
17:02accommodation is a popular choice among seagulls and other seabirds it's been there for three years
17:09no the first year there was 55 nests last year which was 74 and this year we have 76
17:19fisherman jan vida hansen built the hotel so seabirds could nest safely
17:25for puffins and other birds the cliffs in norway's easternmost town of vadu used to be a haven but
17:32nowadays seabirds here are under siege from climate change predators and disease
17:4170 to 90 percent of of the seabirds is gone during the last 30 years lack of food
17:50during the bird flu that's been pretty hard the last three years there
17:54is known for its birding tourism a short boat ride away lies honoya island thousands of birdwatchers
18:04flock to this uninhabited spot which is home to 100 000 seabirds during breeding season
18:10but the island's seabird population has also declined dramatically food has become scarce due to
18:17overfishing and rising water temperatures in the barren sea fish that need colder water
18:23are being pushed further north and the migrating pattern of other species have been disturbed
18:29it's a bit scary to see that there is i was seeing birds that usually eat fish
18:35on the tundra that they start eating berries because they don't have their normal food
18:45tourism can also have a negative impact visitors can cause the birds stress disturbing them when they're
18:52nesting but closing the island to bird lovers is not really an option it would have a huge impact
19:03on vadu's economy every small business in in the town it's depending on on the tourists to come and
19:11visit the island and and stay in the town and shop and use the gas station and use the small restaurants
19:20and some smaller gull species have actually moved closer to people in search of protection from
19:27non-human predators like the guests in this bird hotel
19:38back to africa now and another threat facing seabirds now in south africa over 10 000 of them used to be
19:46killed as bycatch in commercial fishery a disaster because seabirds like albatrosses help maintain the
19:54balance of both marine and coastal ecosystems but thanks to simple but effective methods there's been
20:02a huge reduction in these deaths in recent years a newborn albatross on marion island 2000 kilometers
20:11southeast of the south african coast albatrosses often only have one chick at a time and care for
20:18it devotedly sometimes for over a year once finally mature the young bird will head for the waters of
20:25south africa with their abundance of fish but in that search for food they're up against some daunting
20:33and dangerous competition trawlers which tow their gigantic nets via steel cables called warp lines
20:42incoming birds eager to catch some fish sometimes fly into the cables and can even drown from their
20:48subsequent injuries a silent tragedy that only properly came to light around the turn of the millennium
20:54it was only once we started doing dedicated observations or putting cameras over the the
21:01works that you can see this happening um so it's not a huge number every trail but it's enough that
21:09over all the trawling effort we were seeing thousands of albatrosses being killed every year
21:15by these warp strikes in south africa alone up to 14 000 albatrosses perish every year
21:23part of a global disaster that costs the lives of over 700 000 seabirds annually
21:30the simple looking solution bird scaring lines suspended between the lethal steel cables the yellow
21:37hose pipes and streamers form a visual barrier that deters birds from entering the danger zone
21:44the idea dates back to the 1970s but has been adapted to use with trawlers by the albatross task
21:50force of ngo bird life south africa we were able to reduce the mortality of albatrosses by an incredible
21:5799 percent there is nowhere on the earth that this has happened there's it was the first example of
22:06conservation success of this magnitude although that success didn't happen overnight the albatross
22:13guardians tested the technique at sea while winning over trawler crews and finally managing to get bird
22:19scaring lines made mandatory in south africa in 2006
22:26the lines are cut to size and assembled here by people who have disabilities but no shortage of
22:33skill and dedication over a thousand have been made since the launch of a special social project
22:39covering the demand for 60 percent of south africa's deep sea trawlers for many of them a first step
22:45towards meaningful work giving them a renewed sense of purpose for the members it's been great they've
22:52learned so much and they actually feel that what they're doing is contributing towards saving the sea life
23:03for future generations also gives them an incentive you find that the members actually have money to take home
23:12so it enhances the capacity in their families but while bird scaring lines are mandatory they're not always used
23:21a situation that fisheries expert si leon congo wanted to set straight he invented a sensor that detects when
23:29the nets are deployed encased in a weatherproof shell it measures the tension in the main pipe that the
23:35likewise yellow streamers are suspended from that data is transmitted in real time revealing whether or not
23:42the deterrent lines were actually deployed a win on the conservation front and for fisheries that want
23:49to prove their eco-friendly credentials to be awarded globally recognized sustainability certification
23:58it's on a vessel's best interest to ensure that they can comply they can confirm that the vessels have
24:05been compliant with deploying the best carry lines so the device comes very handy to the company's
24:12as well we require that evidence for our marine stewardship council certification
24:18and the standard is in future going to require that we actually provide that evidence these yellow
24:24colored lifelines are also mandatory in the likes of namibia argentina and chile but on the global scale
24:31protection is still insufficient the moment the count is 700 000 seabirds are dying as a result of
24:39seabird bycatch annually if we can collaborate through collaborations and work collectively to achieve
24:48every single vessel to get every single vessel to use mitigation measures we will have done our work
24:56albatrosses off the coast of south africa are now much better protected but worldwide more than half of
25:02the 22 species of the bird are still endangered i can't imagine a world without seabirds let's hope the
25:11protection work takes off in other parts of the world too that's it on eco africa first time don't
25:19hesitate to get in touch and let us know what you think about our stories at eco at dw.com i am chris
25:27the lambs goodbye from me in lagos nigeria and goodbye from me too malama mukonde in lusaka zambia
25:36now don't forget to check out our social media channels well this is where we say our goodbye so see you
25:41next time
25:54oh
25:58oh
26:00oh
26:02I'll see you next time.
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