Environment + Energy – Views & Research

Two African wild dogs lie outside on the grass in the sun

African wild dogs: DNA tests of their faeces reveal surprises about what they eat

Carel Oosthuizen, University of Pretoria; Andre Ganswindt, University of Pretoria; Bruce Crossey, University of Pretoria, and Grant Hall, University of Pretoria

A plant with reddish flowers against a grassy background

Burkina Faso and Mali’s fabulous flora: new plant life record released

Cyrille Chatelain, Conservatoire et Jardin botaniques de Genève (CJBG); Adjima Thiombiano, Université Joseph Zi-Kerbo; Blandine Marie Ivette Nacoulma, Université Joseph Ki-Zerbo, and Mamadou Lamine Diarra, Université des sciences, des techniques et des technologies de Bamako

Hundreds of tiny gold balls - nanoparticles - are seen bunching around a shiny sphere - an oxidation reaction

Tiny technology that can find pollution in South Africa’s water and trap it

Philiswa Nomngongo, University of Johannesburg

Why aren’t South Africans growing more indigenous crops? How farmers can be nudged to change their ways

Qinisani Nhlakanipho Qwabe, Nelson Mandela University

Humans lived in African rainforests 150,000 years ago, far earlier than believed – new research

Eslem Ben Arous, Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana (CENIEH) and Eleanor Scerri, Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology

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Energy

A hand holds up a handwritten sign saying "#End Fossil Fuels Subsidies"

Fossil fuels are still subsidised: G20 could push for the funds to be shifted to cleaner energy

Llewellyn Leonard, University of South Africa

South Africa finally has a masterplan for a renewable energy industry: here’s what it says

Ricardo Amansure, Stellenbosch University

A giant circular array of solar panels on the ground with heliostats and a huge central generating tower

Wave energy’s huge potential could finally be unlocked by the power of sound – new research

Usama Kadri, Cardiff University

Uganda’s electricity distribution is changing hands – what’s at stake

Peter Twesigye, University of Cape Town

How refugee entrepreneurs are supplying sustainable energy to the camps they live in

Sarah Rosenberg-Jansen, University of Oxford

Natural World

Uganda’s lions in decline, hyenas thriving - new findings from country’s biggest ever carnivore count

Alexander Richard Braczkowski, Griffith University; Arjun M. Gopalaswamy, Nelson Mandela University, and Duan Biggs, Northern Arizona University

First fossil hyena tracks found in South Africa – how expert animal trackers helped

Charles Helm, Nelson Mandela University and Clive Thompson, Nelson Mandela University

Two men wearing caps and warm jackets stand in front of a rocky wall. One of them is pointing ahead.

Cameroon’s Baka people say they are part of the forest: that’s why they look after it

Simon Hoyte, UCL

Two men stare at a giant logging truck on a dirt road between large trees

World’s largest insect faces extinction: how to save two species of Africa’s giant Goliath beetle

Luca Luiselli, The Rivers State University of Science and Technology

An adult man's hand holding a giant black and white beetle in his palm. It takes up his whole hand and extends beyond.

Lost fynbos seeds from underground ‘time capsules’ in South Africa can grow again – new study

Alanna Rebelo, Agricultural Research Council; Karen Joan Esler, Stellenbosch University; Patricia Holmes, Stellenbosch University, and Tony Rebelo, South African National Biodiversity Institute

View from a mountain top, looking down to a city and away to distant mountains

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Agriculture + Land

Investing in agriculture reduces poverty and inequality: economic model finds the best funding mix for 10 African countries

Margaret Chitiga-Mabugu, University of Pretoria and Ramos Emmanuel Mabugu, Sol Plaatje University

Ghana’s first genetically modified crop: why we created a new cowpea variety, how we tested it and what we found

Jose Maria Barrero, CSIRO; Gloria A. Adazebra, CSIR-Savanna Agricultural Research Institute; Jerry A. Nboyine, CSIR-Savanna Agricultural Research Institute, and TJ Higgins, CSIRO

Africa’s refugee camps are plagued by flooding: we looked into drainage systems that can withstand local conditions

Kiran Tota-Maharaj, Royal Agricultural University; Upaka Rathnayake, Atlantic Technological University; Colin Hills, University of Greenwich; Oluwatoyin Ajibade, London South Bank University, and Shanika Arachchi, Atlantic Technological University

A barren area with bushes in the background and tents and grass huts

We studied smallholder farming in three African countries for 10 years: why profitable irrigation is key

Karen Parry, Australian National University; André F. van Rooyen, CGIAR, and Henning Bjornlund

Kenya’s goal to plant 15 billion trees should include farmers – study shows they are keen

Ennia Bosshard, University of Exeter

A green mountain in the background with a line of eucalyptus trees in the foreground, and a plot of maize, as well as some small houses and huts

Water

South Africans flush toilets with drinkable water: study in Cape Town looked at using seawater instead

Teboho Mofokeng, University of Cape Town

A beach with sea and mountain in the distance

South Africa’s unsafe water supplies: licensing service providers won’t solve the issue

Tracy-Lynn Field, University of the Witwatersrand

A woman sits on a wheelbarrow at the end of a queue of people lining up with buckets and containers for water

Water cooperation is essential when countries share lakes and rivers – yet it’s been deteriorating in many places, with serious consequences

Susanne Schmeier, IHE Delft and Melissa McCracken, Tufts University

People wash clothes at the edge of Lake Chad with the sunsetting over the water.

South Africa has failed to deliver access to enough water for millions – a new approach is needed

Tracy Ledger, University of Johannesburg

A hand holding a bucket under a tap that is filling up with water

Pollution

Glitter’s sparkle hides a darker side – it can change the chemistry of our oceans

Juan Diego Rodriguez-Blanco, Trinity College Dublin and Kristina Petra Zubovic, Trinity College Dublin

Uganda’s boda boda bikes are deadly polluters: study models how going electric could save lives

Gabriel Okello, University of Cambridge

About 150 motorbikes crowding a very congested road

Deep-sea mining threatens sea life in a way no one is thinking about, and Trump’s order could clear the way for operations soon

Alexus Cazares-Nuesser, University of Hawaii

An aquatic invertebrate that looks like a floating star or an underwater sunflower floats above nodules on the seabed.

Plant-based plastics could help reduce the millions of tonnes of medical waste hospitals generate each year

Elham Moshk Bid, University of Saskatchewan; Chris Zhang, University of Saskatchewan; Duncan Cree, McMaster University, and Lori Bradford, University of Saskatchewan

A collection of used, single-use medical plastic items — such as syringes, wipes, medicine containers and gloves.