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Centuries‑old beliefs protect Ghana’s monkeys, but rising tensions and habitat loss now put that bond to the test. Plus: a literal lifeline for South Africa's seabirds and a hand-built amateur EV truck.
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00:17Welcome to Eco-Africa. If we care for the world, it will care for us. This wisdom is nothing new,
00:24but we as a society often lose sight of it in our daily struggles. Of course, taking care of the
00:31world includes all forms of life. As we're about to see, I am Chris Alems in Lagos, Nigeria.
00:42Hello, and I'm Malama Mukonde. It's the warmest greetings from me here in Lusaka.
00:47We're going on quite the journey today, so here's what's coming up in today's show.
00:54We visit the villages in Ghana where monkeys and humans live side by side.
01:01And we go for a ride with a Tanzanian cartoonist who is battling air pollution
01:06with hand-built electric trucks. And we learn how some Kenyans are working with sand to store water
01:15through droughts. How many places do you know where wild animals are given the same barrier rights
01:24as people? We take you now to a village in central Ghana where centuries-old tradition places the life
01:34of a monkey on the same level as human beings. Now, the question is, as the village grows,
01:42how can this attitude remain intact?
01:47An Osain Kalbos monkey found dead on a tree.
01:51It got stuck on a branch after leaping from another tree.
01:56Residents of Boabim village recover the remains of the monkey.
02:05Then, a traditional priest gives it a proper burial at a dedicated monkey cemetery.
02:13A sanctuary school practice which is still upheld here in the Boabim, famous monkey sanctuary.
02:23When any one of the monkeys dies, they shouldn't eat it. They shouldn't throw it away. But we have to
02:28bury it the same as a very human being.
02:31That's why we use a white colico to cover and then follow a bracing for remembrance of our ancestors and
02:38then to the shrine that,
02:40I mean, for the shrine to know that one of his son or one of his child is dead.
02:48This forest in the Bono East region of Ghana is home to Kambel Mone monkeys and Osain Kalbos monkeys which
02:58are critically endangered.
03:00It is one of their few remaining sanctuaries.
03:03It's strictly forbidden to hunt or harm the animals because of a local legend that dates back to the 18th
03:10century.
03:12It says that the community's founder discovered the golden bull by a stream alongside a group of monkeys.
03:19The bull was made sacred and an oracle ordered that the monkeys must not be harmed.
03:26If you kill one of these monkeys, you'll be killed. So if your negligence runs you to one of our
03:35monkeys, your negligence will run to your death.
03:39And that is non-negotiable. To us, you have killed one of our own. Yes. So that is why it
03:51was decreed that don't harm these monkeys.
03:53While elsewhere monkey populations are declining, they have remained stable here in the reserve.
04:00But with villages expanding and humans coming ever closer, conflicts have emerged.
04:06Farmers like Moses Ajay once cultivated crops near the reserve without any problems until the monkeys began destroying them.
04:15Like many others, he has switched to cashew farming as the monkeys leave those nests untouched.
04:20But growing other crops is almost impossible.
04:24We are about to leave the land for the monkeys to live here.
04:29And we don't know where to go further or where to stay for our daily bread.
04:37We don't have anywhere to live for our coming children.
04:44And I'm asking, why should I be the one to leave my land for the monkeys to take over?
04:56And I would be where? Where would I be?
05:00Within the community, there are further challenges.
05:02Residents say the monkeys frequently invade their compounds, stealing food from kitchens and rooms.
05:09What might sound like cute, cheeky behavior is in fact a nuisance for residents and potentially dangerous for the monkeys.
05:17Some people want the belief-based laws protecting the animals to be loosened.
05:25We should change the laws a little because times are changing.
05:30I am not suggesting that we should use guns or kill them.
05:35But the leaders should also think about how to protect human beings.
05:43What we can do is to either poison them or kill them, otherwise we are tired of them.
05:50But the traditional leaders remain firm.
05:57We will not review the custom in the day.
06:00When we do that, the monkeys will be wiped out and the forest will also vanish.
06:09Once spanning 4.5 square kilometers, large pipes of the reserve have been degraded due to encroachment.
06:17And the village has asked the government to build the road for better access to the area.
06:21It could boost tourism and therefore generate revenue for conservation efforts.
06:27Hundreds of large trees have been felled in preparations.
06:31The community already has turned the monkeys and local tradition into an attraction.
06:38These tourists have traveled almost a hundred kilometers just to see them.
06:47The revenue also helps locals to make a living and support education.
06:53Over the last decade, 10 students from the community have benefited from that including
06:58Edou Solomon Sapon.
07:01Actually this with that support that they give to me have made me to be able to complete.
07:07As I graduated, I graduated last Tuesday on the 17th February.
07:11So I'm hoping to further my education.
07:14And all these were possible because of the initial benefit that I get from the sanctuary.
07:19When humans and animals live in close proximity, conflicts often arise, especially when humans don't follow rules.
07:29But there are also opportunities like gentle tourism, reforestation and resilient agricultural practices.
07:36The Boabing Feima Monkey Sanctuary will continue to work towards solutions with villages to allow for peaceful coexistence.
07:48A key revelation in this report is how belief systems can drive conservation.
07:53The people of Boabing and Feima protect these monkeys not because they cause no trouble,
07:59but because of the cultural bond they share.
08:03In a world where wildlife is disappearing, the monkey population here is actually growing.
08:09Thanks to tradition.
08:11The tax now is how to ensure the next generation keeps that belief alive.
08:18Time for a change of pace in more ways than one.
08:22Masood Kimpaya has made a huge name for himself in Tanzania and beyond through his political cartoons and journalism.
08:30Now he has decided to do his bids towards fixing traffic pollution in his country with another handmade contribution.
08:48This is Tanzania's first hand-built and domestically designed electric vehicle.
08:54Tired of soaring fuel prices and worsening air pollution,
08:57political cartoonist Masood Kimpaya decided to act.
09:01He is known in Tanzania for his sharp pen and often car-themed cartoons.
09:06But now, he is also known for designing cars.
09:10Masood Kimpaya spent 11 months engineering and hand-building a compact electric pickup truck
09:16in a small workshop.
09:17The vehicle is tailored for low-income traders and delivery people who need affordable urban transport.
09:23Most components are locally sourced, though the batteries and motors are imported from China.
09:33I used to spend more than about 20 US dollars a day on petrol because my business involves deliveries.
09:40But with this electric car, I now spend about 3 US dollars a day to charge.
09:48The range of the car is up to 160 kilometers with a fully charged battery.
09:52And the inventor says this home-designed truck is much cheaper than buying a comparable imported EV.
09:58There are over 5,000 electric vehicles like this three-wheeler on Tanzania's roads.
10:03That's the highest in East Africa.
10:05But there's still no public charging network.
10:08Most owners rely on standard home sockets, a challenge in a country where scheduled
10:13outages of power for maintenance still occur.
10:16Masood Kimpaya is working on new designs.
10:18His next model is already under construction.
10:21And others keep coming in.
10:23There's even interest from Kenyan President William Ruto and the Kingdom of Iswatini.
10:28But the inventor has a bigger goal.
10:30Make EVs accessible to everyone.
10:34Customers want to see what they will save economically, you know.
10:38Our goal is to meet that need.
10:39While at the same time contributing to the global campaign to reduce the environmental impact.
10:47In the oceans of South Africa, commercial fishing boats used to kill thousands of seabirds every year.
10:55It was just an accidental by-product of their work.
10:59But it was an ecological disaster nonetheless.
11:03Seabirds like albatrosses help to keep marine and coastal ecosystems in balance.
11:09Thankfully, some people have developed simple but effective methods that have made a massive difference.
11:24Albatrosses often only have one chick at a time and care for it devotedly, sometimes for over a year.
11:31Once finally mature, the young bird will head for the waters of South Africa with their abundance of fish.
11:40But in that search for food, they're up against some daunting and dangerous competition.
11:46Trawlers, which tow their gigantic nets via steel cables called warp lines.
11:52Incoming birds, eager to catch some fish, sometimes fly into the cables and can even drown from their subsequent injuries.
12:00A silent tragedy that only properly came to light around the turn of the millennium.
12:05It was only once we started doing dedicated observations or putting cameras over the works that you can see this
12:13happening.
12:14So it's not a huge number every trail, but it's enough that over all the trawling effort,
12:21we were seeing thousands of albatrosses being killed every year by these warp strikes.
12:27In South Africa alone, up to 14,000 albatrosses perish every year.
12:33Part of a global disaster that costs the lives of over 700,000 seabirds annually.
12:40The simple looking solution, bird scaring lines.
12:44Suspended between the lethal steel cables, the yellow hose pipes and streamers form a visual barrier
12:50that deters birds from entering the danger zone.
12:54The idea dates back to the 1970s, but has been adapted to use with trawlers by the albatross task force
13:01of NGO BirdLife South Africa.
13:03We were able to reduce the mortality of albatrosses by an incredible 99 percent.
13:09There is nowhere on earth that this has happened.
13:12It was the first example of conservation success of this magnitude.
13:19Although that success didn't happen overnight,
13:22the albatross guardians tested the technique at sea while winning over trawler crews.
13:28And finally managing to get bird scaring lines made mandatory in South Africa in 2006.
13:36The lines are cut to size and assembled here.
13:40By people who have disabilities, but no shortage of skill and dedication.
13:44Over a thousand have been made since the launch of a special social project,
13:49covering the demand for 60 percent of South Africa's deep sea trawlers.
13:53For many of them, a first step towards meaningful work, giving them a renewed sense of purpose.
13:59For the members, it's been great.
14:02They've learned so much and they actually feel that what they're doing is contributing
14:10towards saving the sea life for future generations.
14:16It also gives them an incentive.
14:18You find that the members actually have money to take home.
14:22So it enhances their capacity in their families.
14:27But while bird scaring lines are mandatory, they're not always used.
14:32A situation that fisheries expert Sihle Nkongo wanted to set straight.
14:37He invented a sensor that detects when the nets are deployed.
14:41Encased in a weatherproof shell, it measures the tension in the main pipe
14:45that the likewise yellow streamers are suspended from.
14:49That data is transmitted in real time, revealing whether or not the deterrent lines were actually deployed.
14:56A win on the conservation front.
14:58And for fisheries that want to prove their eco-friendly credentials
15:02to be awarded globally recognised sustainability certification.
15:08It's in on the vessel's best interest to ensure that they can confirm
15:14that the vessels have been compliant with deploying the best carry lines.
15:18So the device comes very handy to the companies as well.
15:23These yellow-coloured lifelines are also mandatory in the likes of Namibia, Argentina and Chile.
15:29But on the global scale, protection is still insufficient.
15:32The moment they count is 700,000 seabirds are dying as a result of seabird bycatch annually.
15:42Albatrosses off the coast of South Africa are now much better protected.
15:46But worldwide, more than half of the 22 species of the bird are still endangered.
15:53When humans argue, nature often suffers.
15:57And I'm not even talking about the environmental impact of wars.
16:02Even tensions between neighbouring countries can destroy habitats that have remained intact for thousands of years.
16:10Now Europe's primal forest on the border between Poland and Belarus has become a flashpoint in the European Union struggle
16:19with unchecked human migration.
16:22Well, we went to see what can be done to protect the ancient biosphere.
16:29This is where the EU ends.
16:31This fence separates Poland and Belarus.
16:35Built in 2021 to keep asylum seekers out, it cuts through a nature reserve.
16:40The Biawoviezer forest could lose its UNESCO World Heritage listing.
16:46Can Europe reconcile its security policy with nature conservation?
16:51Europe's last primeval forest covers 1400 square kilometres.
16:56Conservationists are monitoring the forest's development.
17:03I've noticed in certain places where I used to encounter animals that they're now gone.
17:09I know this is because there were large numbers of migrants there, so it has an impact.
17:16At around 10,000 years old, Biawoviezer is the oldest remaining forest in Europe.
17:22One third lies in Poland and two thirds in Belarus.
17:26In 1979, it was declared a World Heritage Site.
17:30The yellow part is the Polish Biawoviezer National Park, which is strictly protected.
17:36In 2021, Poland built a border fence through the middle of the forest,
17:41to stop people from Syria, Afghanistan and African countries who were appearing at the border in their thousands.
17:48Poland says Russia is using migrants to destabilize the European Union by channeling them through Belarus.
17:56Katarzyna Novak is an expert on the environmental conditions of border areas.
18:01She documents the effect of border expansion on nature,
18:04wolves and lynxes unable to mate with their Belarusian counterparts.
18:09Destroyed trees, run over animals, plastic waste
18:13and a bison separated from its pack behind the fence.
18:19It's not just that something has been built through the middle, it's just it's also that the human
18:24activities and the maintenance and the additional fortifications, this has all been ongoing.
18:29We've created this multiple barrier system that is now an obstacle to animal movement,
18:35which will ultimately play a role in their genetic makeup.
18:415,000 soldiers and border guards monitor the 50 kilometer long border fence that runs through the forest here.
18:48When we arrive, we see how much it has been reinforced in recent months.
18:53More barbed wire, more cameras, more surveillance.
18:57The number of successful crossings has fallen dramatically in 2025.
19:01The Polish government has suspended the right to asylum here.
19:06Migrants and aid organizations report pushbacks to Belarus.
19:12Just a few meters away, backpacks with thermal blankets and empty bottles,
19:17presumably from volunteers who assist refugees at the border.
19:23Katarzyna Novak wants to protect nature here.
19:26She believes better cooperation with border guards would help safeguard both the forest and the people.
19:34Ideally we would work together to stop feeding wild animals along the border so that we don't get
19:41these unnatural concentrations of wild animals and people which can lead to pathogen transmission.
19:49Researchers say border protection and nature conservation must work more closely together
19:54and that includes transparent environmental monitoring.
19:57Only then will the ecological diversity of Biawubieja stand a chance of surviving for thousands of years to come.
20:06Looking after nature is not just about living things.
20:10Careless treatment of the physical landscape can have unpredictable domino effects.
20:17Take construction in the Kenyan capital Nairobi.
20:20It is booming which has caused huge demand for river sand to make concrete and mortar.
20:27But getting that sand has come at a huge cost to the region.
20:32But some people have figured out how to turn the tide.
20:37The dried-out bed of the Thwake River in eastern Kenya.
20:42Villagers from nearby walk over the sandy strip that cuts through the landscape.
20:48Their donkeys carry yellow jerrycans in what almost appears to be a desert.
20:55But this riverbed hides a secret. Just a few centimeters beneath the surface, there is water, the lifeline for communities
21:03around.
21:06In arid and semi-arid regions of Kenya, most rivers only flow seasonally.
21:11To capture the little water they get, locals build sand dams.
21:16Simple, yet powerful structures that trap sand carried by the river during the rainy season.
21:24And that sand then stores water for the dry months ahead.
21:28What looks like mainly sand is up to 40 percent water.
21:32The Africa Sand Dam Foundation supports the construction of such dams in arid regions,
21:37helping communities adapt to the realities of climate change.
21:45And they are also enabling the conservation of the rivers.
21:48Because when you construct a sand dam, as much as it is holding water, you are also conserving the river.
21:54And by conserving the river, you are conserving it against soil erosion.
21:58And you are also promoting biodiversity, because in areas where we have sand dams, there is a lot of vegetation
22:04that is growing around those areas.
22:06Because when you raise the water table, you enable the growing of a lot of trees and a lot of
22:11new vegetation.
22:13Farmers like Joseph Kilonzo profit a lot from the dam and the water it provides.
22:19This area is usually very dry. Without water nearby, nothing would really grow.
22:25But now, things are doing well.
22:28Like this maize plant, it's not even the maize season. It's the dry season here.
22:34Still, because of the water, I've been able to grow all these crops.
22:38I've planted papayas over here.
22:44Onions and kale there, and down below, some orange and fig trees.
22:50But the sand that sustains lives here is also in high demand elsewhere.
22:55Across Kenya, the booming construction industry consumes millions of tons of sand every year.
23:01It's a billion dollar industry. It is legal, but the market is unregulated.
23:06But in the past, illegal mining gangs often clashed with rival groups and conservationists, even leading to fatalities.
23:16In Makuweni County, local authorities stepped in to regulate the mining.
23:21We were washed it by matters of sand. In a way or the other, sand within Makuweni is seen to
23:27be so pure,
23:29it's seen to be of good quality, and everybody was harvesting sand from our rivers.
23:33And also, the issue of the rivers being seasonal, it becomes easy for someone to harvest sand from such kind
23:39of a river,
23:39especially during the dry season, unlike whereby you're harvesting sand on a flooded river.
23:45In neighboring counties, the problem still persists, and places enormous pressure on communities and ecosystems alike.
23:53Sand mining can lead to river degradation, soil erosion, and loss of biodiversity in riverside areas.
24:00Regulation and laws were necessary, and just the first step for revitalization and sustaining the community's livelihoods.
24:12Back in Makuweni County, 150 kilometers from Kadu-Kaseveni, another sand conservation project is underway.
24:21Three villages have joined forces to restore their river.
24:26This whole area used to be covered with grass, the kind we fed our cattle.
24:31But over time, floods and heavy rains washed it all away.
24:36That's why you can see the stones showing now.
24:39It used to be a fertile place, and we want to bring it back to life.
24:45Once the sand dam is finished, we'll plant grass here along the river bank,
24:50so the water won't wash it away, and the vegetation can grow back like before.
24:56The Africa Sand Dam Foundation provides the materials and the expertise for building the dam.
25:01The community provides the labor.
25:04By securing water for the next dry season, they are responding to a huge challenge,
25:09a climate that's becoming harder to predict.
25:12This resourceful and responsible approach shows how communities can shape their own future.
25:19And well, with that, it's goodbye from me, Malama Mukonde, in Lusaka, Zambia.
25:27And goodbye also from me, Crystal Lems, in Lagos, Nigeria.
25:31You can find plenty more EcoAfrica stories online, and please write to us and share your thoughts
25:38your thoughts at ecoatdw.com. See you next week.
26:10Bye.
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