Drought, And How People Cope With It | EcoAfrica

most of us are now feeling the effect of climate change there is forest fires drought and whether in africa or europe everywhere is hotting up which means our weekly environment show is now more important than ever welcome to echo africa from ogun state nigeria i am chris elements a warm welcome from me too i am sandra twinobiu and i'm here in kampala uganda well drought and how people cope with it is only one aspect we're looking at in this week's show also on the program reviving an ancient irrigation method in tunisia we show you how to better maintain the increasing number of wind turbines in europe's waters and saving the giraffe how namibia is protecting the world's tallest land animal today we start our show in europe where persistently hot temperatures have been causing major problems including forest fires crop failure and heat related debts the world wildlife fund says its calculations show by 2050 the number of people facing extreme water shortages in europe will have risen by 50 percent farmers are especially feeling it right now most farming areas are at less than half their regular water capacities so do we really have options for countering the water shortage [Music] this plant is still something of a rarity on german farms the chickpea it's more commonly cultivated in the drier regions of southern europe these scientists have planted the legume here on a small organic farm to test it under these conditions chickpeas grow well in the chalky sandy loam soil found in the ukumark a region in northeastern germany this year we had severe drought once again and the crop developed really well here in this location it demonstrated a high tolerance for drought and that will be very important in the future here in one of the country's driest regions the researchers are testing five different types of chickpea and they're also collaborating with local organic farmers the most productive chickpea plants could boost their income up to now chickpeas have mainly been imported and demand for them is rising and guns in china one very decisive factor will be the extent to which we managed to create landscapes that retain water effectively particularly in agriculture and it's not enough to just switch to new crops like chickpeas water shortages are not just affecting farming groundwater levels have fallen throughout germany the amount of water currently lacking is a whole year's worth of rain say climate researchers there's little coming from above to replenish the large amounts of water evaporating from rivers lakes and marshland less rainfall higher temperatures and more evaporation means that we're facing critical situations more frequently saving water would be one of the first steps to take but people are still filling their private pools or watering their gardens liberally further depleting groundwater resources stroudsburg ekna a suburb of berlin where a lot of new houses have pools is one of the few municipalities in the region to take action from now onwards anyone using more than the average of 105 cubic litres per day will have to pay a fine and new construction has been put on hold but water shortages are probably here to stay climate researchers estimate that the state of brandenburg will have to make do with 20 less water by 2045. there's already a low water management plan but that won't be sufficient because of water loss due to rising temperatures and subsequent evaporation we decided that we would take legal steps to establish an official water reserve the plan is to set aside 20 percent of available water as a precaution meaning the local waterworks and citizens would have less water at their disposal the german capital has its own experience of managing limited amounts of water berlin's drinking water supplies come from groundwater which is largely fed by nearby lakes and rivers but it's not enough the city has been boosting groundwater levels for a long time now pre-purified water from two rivers is pumped into ponds which then seeps down into the ground water that provides around 10 percent more drinking water and that's all recycled too and i'm showing on a warm summer's day we use about 750 000 cubic meters a day and at the same time we put the same amount of waste water back into the system you can see that more or less balances out with that kind of circular usage then the quantity should be adequate in dry years too but if levels continue to drop then there may be less water in circulation the water companies are calling on the city to provide more spaces that are able to absorb rain water rather than the ever more impermeable surfaces keeping water in the soil that's an important aspect of organic farming jungkooster had a good lupine harvest this year it's a crop that can cope with modest rainfall preparation of the soil also plays an important role after the harvest it's only lightly tilled and then cow manure is spread on top to create humus we have a certain amount of water available for the year all the work we do on the fields has to be adapted to that so we try to work the soil as lightly as possible so we don't aerate too much soil because then the water simply evaporates the cultivation of these protein-rich legumes is profitable because the crop can be turned into flower or used in vegan products yogusta is looking for other alternatives for the future so perhaps along with white lupines chickpeas will soon be harvested here too well staying on the subject of water scusty we now head to tunisia in northern africa here farmers use up to 80 of all water used in the country so they really need to change their behavior moving forward sometimes it is enough to take advantage of the old traditions so take a look at this week's doing a beat [Music] olive trees are hardy plants that do well in arid regions up to a point in the past there used to be adequate rainfall here in northern tunisia but due to climate change it's become a lot drier and now farmer mohammed ben ismail transports water to the orchards from a well that is far away water that's becoming increasingly scarce so he's filling ola's clay pots that he's buried in the ground the unglazed vessels have porous walls and are quite large [Music] if the soil dries out the pots act as a reserve to keep the roots well supplied the trees just get the right amount of water this method's better than direct watering because when you pour water onto the ground the water around the tree evaporates and better still this ancient method does the job using around 60 percent less water chemist and olive tree expert iman queslati is carrying out tests on trees here in ben ismail's orchard [Music] [Music] when it's dry and the trees need water their roots can absorb it directly from the supply in the buried pots and there's another advantage these trees produce around 20 more olives despite less water being used the ola method dispenses water much more efficiently [Music] [Applause] and how about you if you're also doing your bit tell us about it visit our website or send us a tweet doing your bit we share your stories [Music] the renzori mountains are africa's largest mountain range also known as the mountains of the moon they straddle the border between uganda and the democratic republic of congo they are a popular destination for climbers and wildlife tourism absolutely and it's one of the most beautiful places in your country sandra but sadly here too climate change is having an impact and the affirmed glaciers are melting forest could help to slow the process in the area one man in uganda has used his own money to do just that here is our eco-hero of the week nature's chorus it is the suit rewarded for nurturing and protecting this small forest and allowing it to flourish i've got a pattern with animals and birds and the ecosystem we must see this is amazing because the tranquility you can have your peace of mind here you can meditate unlike that noise in the city tomboy jenna's family once grew crops on this land but decades ago the former hotel manager dedicated with five acres of it suddenly for trees i've been to europe and all these places and whatnot switzerland geneva zurich and paris and all these places these people have got the green [Music] trees and whatever it is in their cities and i don't see why we can't at least take some of those things and do it the same in our replicate them in our cities the small wooded area is close to the center of what portal in western uganda often referred to as the garden city fort portal is a gateway to numerous national parks and safaris but its popularity is both a blessing and a cast this city of 50 000 inhibitants is expanding and has taken a toll on the local nature we used to have trees in town and this and that those trees are no longer there even we used to have wetlands conserved but those that's not the case anywhere this is a wiring trend for the environmentalists fort portal is surrounded by a number of precocious natural sites including kibale national park which has protected population of wild chimpanzees and queen elizabeth national park home to great herds of elephants [Music] and on the horizon the rewind zory mountains africa's third largest mountain range here just as elsewhere around the globe the glaciers at 5000 meters are melting due to human-driven global warming the fresh water that flows through the river of fort portal comes from here it's another part of the fragile ecosystem that mojana wants to see protected that river they literally know is passes behind the resort mountains and enters lake albert as the semiliki river and it goes through lake albert comes out as albert nail and joins the other the other what you call the river name and off it goes to swiss canal so that's the linkage really the eco-activist is so passionate about the environment he is even willing to fight for it in court boyjana celebrated success at the fourth portal courthouse after suing a road construction company for polluting the air i won the case that's when the whole country knew that even that that i'd call 39 exists whereby every citizen is entitled to a clean and earth environment from then now these fellows cannot do a road in any in any community without spraying it with the water water pumps whatever it is on the road so that the the madam becomes weight and doesn't have to meet the that dust but what happens to bojana's little paradise when he is no longer around he is rejected an offer of millions from tourism group trustees are to ensure that the forest remains as it is even after his death when he passed away in the future um people coming after me don't destroy what i've nurtured for all these years or what my grandmother who came here in 1930 left that legacy my mother followed it i've done it and i want even the future generation to do the same over the last three decades uganda has lost more than half of its natural forest to encroachment according to this conservationist that alone should be enough incentive for the next generation to follow his example now let's move to europe the governments they are searching for new sources of energy and not just because of the energy crisis caused by war in ukraine so they switch to renewables more and more big wind farms are being planned and constructed in the north sea the problem is they also need regular maintenance scientists from the uk want to help facilitate that task in the future offshore wind turbines they produce a lot of electricity but maintaining them is complex and costly this tank at a scottish university can simulate conditions at sea the scientists here are testing a remotely operated vehicle or rov designed to make the upkeep of offshore wind farms safer and cheaper if successful the device could revolutionize the offshore wind industry you have to imagine that in 10 15 years time there'll be hundreds of wind farms which means thousands of wind turbines all across the coast of the uk you also have some maybe new hydrogen technology is being developed and all of this will need to be maintained inspected and serviced at the moment using large ship with lots of crew and this is not scalable there are currently around 5 500 offshore wind turbines in europe alone like britain many countries on the north and baltic seas want to expand their offshore production in the coming years wind turbines are becoming bigger and bigger most of the heavy steel structures are anchored to the seabed and deep water far off the coast that puts them under a lot of strain so the supports must be checked regularly for signs of damage a typical mission would be to send the vehicle down typically in the north sea 40-50 meters rarely more but in other parts of the world you're talking of hundreds of meters and you need to equip the system with some autonomy so the system has a set of cameras here a sonar system acoustic system to image lights and a robotic car most maintenance work on wind turbines is done by industrial divers but it's tough work and very expensive not to mention extremely dangerous in future many tasks could be performed by rovs typically you would have corrosion on the on the system you might have to turn a valve you might have to connect the cable you might have to change an anode clean the surface if it's too much bio firing etc so there's lots and lots of use cases for now the robot is still connected to land by cable later it will be able to operate fully autonomously in the sea or if necessary be controlled by a drone pilot the system will work for inspection of anything that you can find under the water for pipelines for seabed for for shipwrecks anything that you would like to explore anything that you would like to 3d model tests are still being conducted in the lab for now but last spring the underwater drone had its first field deployment at an offshore wind farm off the northeast of england it successfully recorded videos that allowed researchers to assess the exterior condition of foundations and cables we end up our show in namibia for more than five years now giraffes are on the red list of species threatened with extinction once common across the continent there are less than 100 000 of them left whoa what a shame but there is hope we went to the country in the very southwest of africa where scientists from an ngo have been studying giraffe populations very closely and they now say there are reasons to be cautiously optimistic most people are familiar with giraffes but far less is known about them than many realize what's certain is that they are the world's tallest land animals which enables them to reach leaves high on trees in the african savanna what's lesser known is that giraffes are incredibly fast in short bests they can run up to 60 kilometers an hour beyond that there are still many unanswered questions about them what are the different species how many giraffes currently live in the wild in namibia biologists lackland mcfeatures and geordi mission more want to learn more they photograph every giraffe they see so they can be identified later another adult female right 8573 observational studies like these have concluded that they are currently only 117 000 giraffes in africa by comparison there are nearly four times as many elephants if you think about something like an african elephant they're in the you know around that 400 000 mark i believe individuals so if you think that compared to 117 000 individuals it's pretty incredible for such a large browser species that is kind of one of the the most iconic species in africa really there's been very little work done on them i suppose the priority in the past has been some of the more sexier species like elephant and lion and giraffe have sort of gone under the radar and i think because they are quite widespread throughout africa you feel like you see them everywhere but that is deceptive climate change in humans clearing land for settlements in agriculture has led to a substantial loss of habitat for giraffes in the past 30 years the population of these graceful animals has sunk by about a third waste in rivers also threatens their drinking water when tourist numbers drop due to the coveted pandemic these guides started picking up the trash instead which will benefit the giraffes in the long term protecting these animals has a long history in namibia if i can tell you more a little bit about the bushmen they they were not killing giraffe at all even during their hunting activities they were not targeting giraffes because they thought it was the tallest animal and they realized that killing a giraffe you are cutting communication between yourself and the ancestors this was once considered a sacred spot three thousand-year-old cave drawings prove how important giraffes were to the people living here they were regarded as bringers of life they believed in the giraffe that they might extend their neck and touch the clouds and it make it rain so good rain is a good happy year for them while giraffes in western and central africa are still under threat their numbers in namibia and its neighboring countries are actually increasing rising from thirty thousand to almost fifty thousand that's largely because they are better protected here in national parks this is dan vision game reserve located near namibia's capital vindock today kids from a children's home are hoping to get their first glimpse of a real giraffe a giraffe skull like this one is very heavy the animals sometimes use the bony projections called ossicons in combat with other animals standing next to a leg bone gives the kids an interesting sense of proportion um i usually like giraffes i love the colors and i like it's also like i am tall very strong so giraffe kicks are very powerful that's how they defend themselves from predators for example lions so they can kick a lion the children won't have an easy time sporting the animals today giraffes are shy this turtle on the other hand wasn't too hard to catch don't put your fingers next to the mouth it's hoped that if children learn about the animals in their region they will be more likely to fight to protect them in the future sometimes you get a group of kids and when they see animals for example a giraffe they'll tell you it's an elephant or they see a wild beast and they tell you it's a horse and that's surprising because we have so many wildlife in the country that's why we think there is a need in environmental education and that this program is actually making a change in these people's lives giraffes prefer leaves from bushes and trees along river courses akashia trees are among their favorites biologists lachlan mcfeeter say that as a result they don't compete with livestock for food making conflicts with farmers rare so far the scientists have counted 450 giraffes here in northern namibia and they are doing all they can to make sure these elegant creatures survive wow what beautiful creatures and what an amazing planet we have certainly one worth protecting well i hope you enjoyed the show as much as i did sadly it's once again time to say goodbye from ogun state nigeria see you next week if you want to tell us your own ideas or simply find out more do send us an email or follow us on all our social media platforms there you'll find plenty of more stories and information so it is a goodbye from me here in kampala uganda do have yourselves a wonderful week ahead

Channel: Channels Television

Views: 2,127

Keywords: Channels Television, Channels TV, Africa News, Top African News, Breaking news, Nigerian Top Stories, COVID-19 Pandemic

Id: UONc8K8Qf_E

Length: 25min 40sec (1540 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 04 2022