The Top 5 Happy Eco News Stories for March 7, 2022

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An Elephant in Camp. What Should I Do?

Elephants- One of the most magnificent, loyal and intelligent land mammals. 

Guest post By: Felicitas Taube, Blogger on Eco Warrior

In this post I talk about my experience of when I spent two months in the African Bush to do a Field Guide Course. What is your opinion about sharing a Camp with Elephants? Find out for yourself.

It is important to have a clear image in mind when it comes to the elephant. Often, we oversee the power of that animal and for some of us, it might be more important to get the perfect picture, forgetting what is happening around us. So, let me introduce you to an Elephant.

To fuel its massive body of an average of five tonnes, the elephant needs to feed about 16 hours a day. Thereby it consumes around 150kg of plant material and favours trees such as the Knob thorn, Baobab or the Marula tree. The powerful trunk of an elephant possesses about 40.000 muscles, where we humans have about 600 muscles in our entire body. It uses it for grabbing, sucking up water, greeting each other or to pick up a scent in the air. At the same time, the trunk is incredibly precise when picking up objects. While feeding, the elephant’s trunk spirals around the branch and pulls the leaves off, then navigates it back to the mouth… [read more].

Global Climate Crisis: The Democratic Republic of Congo Offers a Solution

Guest Post By: Issa Ludunge Jospin, Researcher in Earth and Environmental Sciences within the CREGEM-R.D. Congo

Located at the center of Africa, the Democratic Republic of Congo (D.R. Congo) is a vast territory full of spectacular natural potentials. Grace to its forests, which alone possesses a set of two-thirds of the Congo Basin forests and nearly 10% of the world’s rain forests, it provides ecosystem services to the community at the local, national and global levels. It also has a vast swampy forest known as the “central bowl” which is one of the world’s great river basins and plays an essential role in carbon sequestration, making them essential in the fight against global warming. The D.R. Congo is called the “water tower of Africa” thanks to its great hydraulic potential for clean power generation consisting of rivers and lakes at a variety of elevations. All of this makes this nation a significant player in the fight against global warming.

The progressive awareness of the citizens living in this country, in relation to the climate problem, is good news because contrary to past years, a collective awareness in environmental protection is being seen both among political decision-makers and in civil society. This has grown considerably, and their actions are gradually erasing doubts about the ability of this territory to fulfill its civic role in the present and future climate crises…  [read more].

The Happy Eco News Weekly Top 5

1. What is ‘Tree Banking’ – And How is it Helping This Indian Village Reach Net Zero?

Takeaways:

• One village in Kerala, India has launched a campaign to be carbon-neutral by 2025.
• The farmers are paid to plant and look after 350 000 trees called a ‘tree banking’ scheme.
• So far, 780 farmers have enrolled in this scheme and together they have planted 172,000 saplings and earned 350,000 rupees… [read more].

2. Newly Proposed Grassland Conservation Act Offers Hope for Vital Ecosystems

Takeaways:

• Grasslands habitats across the globe have significance to many people including Native Americans and ranchers, and wildlife who call these areas home.
• This is why the North American Grassland Conservation Act would develop a grant program to provide landowners with economic incentives to protect and restore the disappearing grasslands.
• Additionally, this act would help contribute to climate resilience, ranching livelihoods, cultural heritage, and wildlife abundance… [read more].

3. Help for Earth’s Climate Challenges is Coming From Space

Takeaways:

• Satellite-imagery monitoring technologies offer data to show real-time CO2 emissions which can help countries and businesses reach their reduction targets.
• Having data that is global in scope and provides high quality and resolution will offer context for the impacts of individual companies.
• Moreover, we will be able to increase the ability to evaluate the performance of landscapes and emissions over time… [read more].

4. Oregon Department of Transportation Completes Portland LED Streetlight Project

Takeaways:

• The Oregon Department of Transportation has replaced more than 8 000 streetlight fixtures with energy-efficient LEDs.
• The streetlights are dark-sky friendly and will use 50% less energy than the traditional highway lighting.
• This switch will reduce carbon emissions by an estimated o 3500 metric tons a year… [read more].

5. What Should Farmers Grow in the Desert?

Takeaways:

• Bridgestone Corporation is trying to establish high-grade natural rubber used in airplane tires and surgical gloves with a crop accustomed to drought.
• For this project to be successful, the company will have to develop a wundercrop that produces high rubber yields with very limited amounts of water.
• Once completed, this processing facility will be able to transform 1,000 tons of biomass daily into multiple high-value products… [read more].