NEWSLETTER #4 - SOCIETY OF AFRICAN EARTH SCIENTISTS

    

Volume 1, Issue No. 4,  August/September 2012

Foreword by the Acting Chair of Society of African Earth Scientists, Chukwunyere Kamalu

Welcome to the fourth issue of the bi-monthly newsletter of the Society of African Earth Scientists (SAES).

A Proposal on Sustainable Development

On 26^th April 2012, when the Society was formally launched at the Africa Centre with a lecture on “Earth and Land in African Thought and Practice”, the lecture was followed by a  vigorous discussion on the role of SAES and  plans for delivering its  objectives.   Mr Sam Montoute made the suggestion from the floor of a sustainable development project involving the purchase of degraded and deforested land in Africa.  Sale of the land back to the  community from which the land was purchased -  at the same price as it had been purchased for - would return the land back to the community in an improved state (after having improved the land  value and revitalised the land by planting trees and vegetation).  Following the Africa Centre launch, I suggested that Sam should draft a brief paper on the project which we could publish in the SAES newsletter. The paper  is included below.  

New SAES Science Blog

In September, the Society started its own science blog on the internet. This represents an interesting development as it now gives the Society a public platform on which to publish its papers for public attention. In particular, the Society is now able to display its note, EARTH, WATER AND JUSTICE, for  the information of African governments in respect of the environmental and social impact of land grabbing, and a reminder of  the responsibility of African governments to protect the rights of their citizens  and Africa’s natural resources.  The blogspot also avails the Society of a convenient means to archive  issues of its newsletters and an opportunity to raise funds through the letting of advertising space on its blog  to ethical business.

The  Bio- Energy Issue

Bio fuels is currently a topical issue which has featured in the SAES posts and in earth science discussions generally.  Many are of the popular view that bio fuels will reduce carbon emissions as they provide a sustainable alternative to carbon fossil fuels.  Many environmentalists and well meaning public have bought into the idea that bio fuels represent a sustainable and eco-friendly form of energy. However, the scientific research into bio fuels challenges this perception.
   In fact bio fuels, have been discovered to  sometimes equal  or exceed the carbon emissions of  conventional fossil fuels [1], [2]. They also threaten food security as more and more governments and corporations seize  fertile land to harvest bio fuel crops in place of food crops; depleting the local food producing capacity.
   The danger of bio fuels is that they are seen as sustainable when their effect can be  the opposite. We tend to see tree planting as always a sustainable eco-friendly measure; but this is  not always the case. Often tree planting is undertaken in developing nations by corporations from industrialised countries for the purpose of carbon trading; whereby a corporation removes the obligation it has to cut its carbon emissions in its native country by effectively exporting that  carbon reduction to the developing world by planting trees in Africa (for instance). As trees absorb carbon dioxide, the carbon emission reductions   achieved this way are considered  as a trade-off for the corporation’s emissions in its mother country. 
  This is the Clean Development Mechanism cited in the Kyoto Protocol, which is seen by many as not only inherently unfair but as i) promoting land grabbing as it encourages private companies to pursue the acquisistion of land for this purpose, ii) enabling industrial economies to use this as a loophole to avoid direct cuts to their carbon emissions and exporting these cuts to the developing world, iii) the largely monoculture plantations resulting from this action bring about environmental damage as some corporations plant foreign trees like evergreens from Europe to grow in one seventh of the time they would take to grow in Europe, contaminate the groundwater with pesticides and herbicides, deplete the groundwater supply of the locality, destroy bio diversity, etc. 
   In October the British NGOs Biofuelwatch and Friends of the Earth will be holding a joint conference on bio fuels where it is expected some of these issues may be addressed. A report back on this meeting is expected in the next newsletter.

Affiliation and Association with other earth/solar science organisations

SAES is delighted to announce its affiliation with both the African Association of Women in the Geosciences and Solar Sister.

A SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT PROJECT IN AFRICA

A proposal  by Sam Valentine-Montoute
    I would first like to introduce myself: my name is Samuel Valentine-Montoute and I was born in London, United Kingdom; however my parents were from the Island of St. Lucia, Caribbean.  From them I learned to love and appreciate the natural world; to utilize the plants and animal life around me in order to extract food, medicine, a home and a trade.  I grew to understand the importance of looking after the earth, for without it life could come to an end.  Thus, like others of the same mind, I have a growing concern for the planet we are living on and have laboured to find ways in which we can affect the future well-being of this planet in a cost effective way that we all can contribute too, and gain from.  
Our contribution can take place on two levels: one to protect the environment; and the second, to utilise land that can be productive, not only for ourselves, but for our grandchildren and their children.  For this to be possible, we would have to consider ourselves as caretakers of the earth, and not the owner’s.  For this project we could only achieve our goals by purchasing and thereafter using the land in a way that is neither a threat to the individual or community nor detrimental to the environmental well-being of the planet. The method I am about to describe to you will not only be economical viable to all parties involved, but will prove to be sustainable to the local community for the foreseeable future. 
   My proposal is to establish a joint venture between private individual’s, and community members.  To raise capital for the venture, shares will be sold and the money used to purchase all materials, equipment and land.  However, to protect all parties, and the land itself, a joint agreement between the local, regional and national governments and the community members will be drawn up.  The land will be protected by an Act of Parliament, such as the Forestry Act of 1919 of the United Kingdom.  Any and all transfer of ownership or proposed change in usage of the land can only take place through the above mentioned  Act. 
   It is further proposed that any discussion surrounding the disposal of the original parcel of land must be granted by the original owners – the community.  This would occur by the repurchase of the land by the community itself, at the original price, excluding inflation.  Thus, the land cannot be sold to a third party, at any time during its ownership by private investors; but must revert back to its original owners.  This should secure in the minds of the local community that they will never lose ownership of the land, while it is in the hands of private investors.  If the national government chooses to purchase the land through a Compulsory Purchase Act it has to be accompanied by an Act of parliament, and the price set at the full commercial rate. 
   Temporary ownership or lease can be obtained through the sale of shares, thus allowing individuals in the surrounding communities the opportunity of becoming investors in their local region.  The selling of shares can lead to the means of raising additional funds for the sole purpose of increasing land usage, for example increasing the range of crops grown on the land or timber for the construction or furniture industry.  However, it is important to state that the choice of crops or timber must be based on sustainability, and environmental benefit to all concerned, including the land itself.   To further increase the profitability of the land, and thus the financial reward to the community, it is proposed that research be undertaken with regards to exploiting the financial rewards arising from the sale of the carbon dioxide that would naturally be captured by the timber, to the relevant institutions or governments.
   It is also proposed that the program be used as a means of providing practicum’s (work experience) to national and/or international learning institutions – community college’s, technical institutions and universities.  Learning institutes would be invited to lease portions of the land, or participate by becoming partners in the venture, with the possibility of providing basic learning tools to community members, as part of the arrangement.  The reintroduction of local plants, foliage and animals, and the long-term impact this may or may not have upon the land and the various people groups that live in and around the vicinity and their changes in lifestyles that may or may not occur, could be studied and learned from, with the results being used on behalf of communities around the world. 
   Accommodation will need to be built to house visiting professors and their students, and well as other interested parties.  In keeping with the overall theme of the program, buildings will be erected using local materials, which would blend in with the environment.   All necessary structures will be made available for a project of this magnitude, including the Internet and other mobile devices.  Observations points will also be erected to all the study of the local wildlife, without causing interruption to their daily lives. 
   Youth who have committed non violent crimes could be offered the opportunity to spend a period of time at the facility, rather than being sent to jail.  As part of their rehabilitation into society, the young people must be willing to learn a skill, attend classes for reading, writing and mathematics, and learn how to care for the land, animals and people groups that live in the area.  The cost for their stay will be borne by the National Governments from which these young people came from. 

Sam Valentine-Montoute

September 2012

 If you are interested in taking forward the issues addressed in this proposal you may contact the author at the following email address: Contact: sam.montoute@btinternet.com

Earth Science Book Reviews 

Geological Atlas of Africa - With Notes on Stratigraphy, Tectonics, Economic Geology, Geohazards, Geosites and Geoscientific Education of Each Country, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 2^nd edition 2008.  Thomas Schluter.

This volume [3] claims to be the first summarization of the geology of Africa presented in atlas form and including the stratigraphy, tectonics, economic geology, geohazards, geosites and geoscientific education of each country and territory of the continent.  The summary information on  the book states “The atlas aims to contribute to capacity building in African Earth Sciences and to initiate research and economic opportunities by providing a database of basic geological background information.”
   As well as this the book is full of attractive illustrations and the introduction contains certain gems of information for those interested in the historical background of  the subject.  On page 9 the author appears to grudgingly admit  that the earliest scientific geological map originates in Africa. It says: "Undoubtedly existed in Egypt a highly developed surveying and engineering system, but unfortunately no cartographic proof of it is known - except on a map drawn on a papyrus... prepared during the 19th dynasty under the Pharaoh Sethos I with his son Rameses II...". One would normally suppose that either there is proof or there is not. Plainly there is proof,  because this is the 19th dynasty papyrus the author has mentioned. However,  the way this is written (with"buts" and caveats designed to sow doubt in the reader as to whether this actually did originate in Africa or not)  is to give the impression that there is no proof. Thankfully, we are able to read between lines, and the bottom line I understood from this is that the earliest evidence of scientific geological mapping points to its origin in Africa.
   This is a text  highly recommended for  those fascinated by the geology of Africa.

Earth Science Events

October 9, 2012.

 Forests are not Fuel: The Limits of Bio-energy in Climate Mitigation
Hosts: Biofuel watch & Friends of the Earth
Venue: 8 Hop Gardens, off 52 St Martins Lane, London WC2N 4EA

October 22 - 24, 2012
WINDABA 2012
Venue: Cape Town Convention Centre, Cape Town, South Africa
Windaba 2012 is the international event on wind energy in South Africa hosted by the South African Wind Energy Association.
The South African Wind Energy Association (SAWEA) introduce WinDABA 2012, South Africa's Wind Industry's Conference and Exhibition.

November  19-21, 2012
International Conference on Biodiversity and Sustainable Energy Development
Venue: Hyderabad, India
“Biodiversity-2012 paves a path to move towards the nature respecting the beautiful lives comprising the diversity. The conference states a call to the scientific community to take the Social responsibility saving the Mother Nature and providing a ground to explore the survival opportunities by sharing thoughts through scientific research and applying them into social life. Biodiversity-2012 shares the opportunity to bring together researchers from academia and corporate, activists, ecosocial organizations and NGOs to foster collaborations through the research talks & presentations to put forward many thought provoking strategies sharing the common agenda of Biodiversity Conservation”.

December 3 - 4, 2012
Achieving Food and Environmental Security - New Approaches to Close the Gap
Venue: Royal Society, London
THE ROYAL SOCIETY 2012 scientific discussion meetings at the Royal Society.
3 – 4 December
This meeting is free to attend, but pre-registration is essential.
For more details visit http://royalsociety.org/events

December 3 - 4, 2012
Annual International Conference on Geological & Earth Sciences (GEOS 2012)
Venue: Hotel Fort Canning, Singapore, Malaysia

December 3 - 4, 2012
Annual International Conference on Geological & Earth Sciences (GEOS 2012)
Venue: Hotel Fort Canning, Singapore, Malaysia

December 10 - 21, 2012
Conference and Advanced School on Quantification of Earthquake Hazards in the Caribbean – The Gonave Microplate
Venue: Santiago de Cuba, Cuba.
Two-week workshop dedicated to understanding the  deformation processes around the Gonave microplate and the related earthquake hazards, followed by an advanced school on the theory and application  of modern seismological and geodetic methods
Weblink: http://www.agenda.ictp.it/smr.php?2380

 April 16-19,  2013

12^th International Conference Groundwater-Soil-Systems and Water Resources Management
Venue: Barcelona, Spain
Weblink: http://www.aquaconsoil.org/AquaConSoil2013/Start.html

 May 3 - 5,  2013

Colloque maghrebin de geophysique appliquee
Venue: Meknes, Morocco
Overview of  latest scientific developments and recent work to help the fight against the loss of environmental resources and ensure environmental sustaoinability.
Weblink: http://www.fs-umi.ac.ma/cmga6-meknes-2013

Some selected Reading, Links, etc

1] Haberl et al,  Correcting a fundamental error in greenhouse gas accounting related to bioenergy, 2012.  http://www.cccep.ac.uk/Publications/research-articles/error-greenhouse-gas-accounting-bioenergy.pdf

2] Schulze et al,  Large-scale bioenergy from additional harvest of forest biomass is neither sustainable nor greenhouse gas neutral, 2012. http://ncfp.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/biomass-energy-not-sustainable-or-carbon-neutral.pdf

3] Schluter, T., Geological Atlas of Africa - With with notes on stratigraphy, tectonics, economic geology, geohazards, geosites and geoscientific education of each counry, 2^nd Edition, Springer-verlag, Berlin, Heidelberg, 2008.
http://books.google.co.uk/books?hl=en&lr=&id=IfvKWpsISTQC&oi=fnd&pg=PA4&dq=african+geology+undergraduate+textbooks&ots=lQ7JXRkO0H&sig=Y4l2oLYNi5EVzjuxupZbpMdciz4#v=onepage&q&f=false

4] A link on “Groundwater and Rural Water Supply in Africa”: http://www.iah.org/downloads/occpub/IAH_ruralwater.pdf

5] Link to Journal of African Earth Sciences: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-african-earth-sciences/

EARTH, WATER AND JUSTICE - A note by the Society of African Earth Scientists on the environmental effects of land grabbing

Introduction

Land grabbing may be defined as the buying or leasing of large areas of land by local or international corporations in developing countries; often resulting in the eviction of indigenous people from their ancestral homeland, or family land owned through customary land tenures established over generations.

   This brief note, inspired by the reports of African Biodiversity Network (CDM and Africa [11]), Friends of the Earth (Land, Life and Justice [6]) and others, sketches an outline of the scientific and ethical case against land grab, specifically in respect of its serious threat to Africa’s water security, soil fertility and biodiversity, and food security. It also  highlights the injustice of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) scheme, proposed as part of the famous Kyoto Protocol. As noted in the report of the African Biodiversity Network, rather than serving as an honest vehicle for development, the CDM serves as  a motivating factor in land grabbing.

   It is hoped that this note, with its essential recommendations, will help dissuade African governments from giving away the most precious birthright of Africa’s children and future generations: our land and the natural resources within it. Land grabbing has few or no benefits for Africans, but numerous dangers:

Land Grab Threatens Water Security

A recent report by GRAIN [1] warns that land grabbing will alter the hydrological balance of the local environment and have an adverse effect on local community water supplies in Africa. The reason for this is that the high water demand envisaged for irrigation of crops planted on land grabbed farms, is expected to exceed that available in local rivers and local groundwater [2]. In some instances the rate of groundwater exploitation will far outstrip the rate of groundwater recharge [3], leading to the significant depletion of the water table in local aquifers [4].

   There are already many documented instances where pesticides and fertilizers used on large scale farming contaminates the groundwater supplies and denies access to clean water to local communities[5].

   Most of the prevention of access to local water resources has occurred through the forcible displacement of peoples from the land  they have lived on and farmed for many generations (according to customary land tenure).  Forced displacement has separated people from the land from which they draw their water.  In cases where people have not been physically removed from their land, their access to nearby water wells is being barred by force [6] under the new land acquisitions and arrangements.

Land Grab Threatens Biodiversity and Soil Fertility

Land grab farming tends to be in the pattern of large scale monoculture[7], whereby the fertile soil is more prone to be eroded and lost forever, as mono-cultural planting means that for part of the season,  the soil is not protected  from soil erosion by rainfall by the canopy of other crops;  whilst in the case of mixed cropping (where various species of crops are planted  together) there is year-round protection for the soil due to the fact that not all the crops, with canopies shielding the soil from the rain, are harvested at once[8].

Land Grab Threatens Food Security

Through land grabbing, many African people belonging to traditional farming families have been dispossessed of their land and the means to grow food for their families to survive [9]. Often the lands acquired were then used for agro-fuel crops instead of food crops [10]. The switch from food crops to agro-fuel crops  threatens the food security of not only the dispossessed communities, but the country and the region through the depletion of local subsistence farming capacity.

The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) as a Motivation for Land Grabbing and a Loop Hole for Industrialised Economies to avoid direct cuts to Carbon Emissions

   Documents published by the African Biodiversity Network [11] ,  Friends of the Earth and others[12] clearly highlight  the view that CDM motivates land grabbing.

 Through the disingenuous mechanism that is CDM the industrialised countries show their reluctance to adopt

i) political and economic responsibility for meeting their own climate change targets

ii)   social and economic responsibility to change their pattern of over-consumption

CDM has created a dangerous loophole for the industrial economies to avoid cutting greenhouse gases. Instead of effectively  passing on the responsibilities of the industrial north to cut greenhouse gases on to the poorer countries  of the south by  “offsetting” its carbon emissions against carbon absorbed by tree planting in Africa and other regions,  large industrial corporations should be making their best efforts to cut their own emissions . Africa and other regions are bearing the cost in the form of land grabbed for the purpose of tree planting to offset carbon emissions of large corporations. Above we see the environmental devastation resulting from this activity.

   Furthermore, as Friends of the Earth note in their report; the industrial north has the challenge of tackling its own habits of drastic over-consumption to a level that is in sync with the sustainability of the Earth and its ecosystem.

Essential Recommendations for Action by African Governments

Whilst the behaviour of investors in Africa’s land grab that results in the destruction of African livelihoods and environment is to be condemned; Society of African Earth Scientists (SAES) can only make essential recommendations that address the governments of Africa, who ultimately hold the reigns of control over the leasing and sale of African land and  have the sacred responsibility of protecting their citizens and ensuring a prosperous future for the people of Africa. The essential demands include

a) African governments should protect the rights of African citizens with customary land tenure. No African citizen should be made homeless from their ancestral home.

b) African governments should protect Africa’s precious water resources, both its rivers and its groundwater resources

c) African governments should protect Africa’s natural forests and the rights of its indigenous peoples

d) African farming must aim to be agro-ecological and sustainable [13], prioritising food production and avoiding the production of agro-fuels and other large scale monoculture plantations motivated by carbon emission trading, which deplete the soil’s fertility,  threaten food security,  and the long term biodiversity and sustainability of the environment

References

1    1) SEE http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/land-grabs-leave-africa-facing-hydrological-suicide-report/ and GRAIN. http://www.grain.org/article/entries/4516-squeezing-africa-dry-behind-every-land-grab-is-a-water-grab

        2) The term “groundwater” refers to water that lies below  the natural ground surface

        3) A hydrologic process where water moves downward from surface water to groundwater.

        4) An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing permeable rock or unconsolidated materials (gravel, sand, or silt) from which groundwater can be usefully extracted.

        5) Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Prospects for the Environment: http://www.fao.org/docrep/004/y3557e/y3557e11.htm; Xu, Y and Brent Usher (eds), Groundwater Pollution in Africa, Taylor & Francis, UNEP, 2006.

       6) Friends of the Earth: Land, Life and Justice - How Land Grabbing in Uganda is affecting the Environment, Livelihoods and Food Sovereignty of Communities, April 2012. http://www.foei.org/en/resources/publications/pdfs/2012/land-life-justice

        7) And Benjaminsen, T et al, Conservation & Land Grabbing in Tanzania, paper presented at the International Conference on Global Land Grabbing, University of Sussex, England, 6-8 April 2011: https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:yOgvd-gq0vwJ:www.future-agricultures.org/component/docman/doc_download/1297-conservation-and-land-grabbing-in-tanzania+&hl=en&gl=uk&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESgHy3KlkKrUlzrt0ErzA3N7gFvz0H-OKa98Rqx2lcp7Q_DMcdoBMdH7eXSTNB5HjiuX9bTj5Gz-UTZfjt9FrjuetRAwwxcdUgxbEIJ6neNe1Q_rsn0WGfOhyhs0zYypoyv4Trzt&sig=AHIEtbQeBpvzUX1POyO2-V2xz86OPLK32w

        8) International Fund for Agricultural Development, Soil and Water Conservation in Sub-Saharan Africa, Rome, 1992.

      9) Friends of the Earth, Op. Cit.

        10) Ibid.

        11)African Biodiversity Network, The CDM and Africa: Marketing a new land grab https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:ULbMvT38_84J:www.africanbiodiversity.org/system/files/PDFs/CDM%2520Report_Feb2011_lowres.pdf+&hl=en&gl=uk&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESgZfAkp-zMecSvyxx7vzEPlKkIUOjadftPgZ-tfeF50oHIebWu3Te6mXtEI4_bCheXS3rg5ytclxEKxGpSk0aLDXtyzw11xLbuUb3ikc07DUYmhfeAdzcOekwparoHGGTvtXRL4&sig=AHIEtbRqqSY9uUuJuCHVwjdlU8RPlxGMqg

        12) Friends of the Earth, Op. Cit. See also Benjaminsen, T.,  et al, Op. Cit
        13) Jordan, et al (eds), Land & Power:  Sustainable agriculture and African Americans - A collection of essays from the 2007 Black environmental thought conference. Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE), 2007.

Society of African Earth Scientists

September 2012

NEWSLETTER #2 - SOCIETY OF AFRICAN EARTH SCIENTISTS

Volume 1, Issue No. 2,  April/May

Foreword by the Acting Chair of Society of African Earth Scientists, Dr Chukwunyere Kamalu

Welcome to the second issue of the newsletter of the Society of African Earth Scientists (SAES), which will appear as a bi-monthly publication.

   On 26^th April, the Society was formally launched at the Africa Centre with a lecture on “Earth and Land in African Thought and Practice”. This was followed by a very vigorous discussion on the role of SAES and  the level of development of its concrete plans for delivering its stated objectives. Fifteen persons participating at the launch included a cross-section of enthusiastic attendees from a diversity of backgrounds, including earth science, agriculture, other science backgrounds as well as the interested  public. They included members of facebook groups: Africa technology Group and Contributions of African Scientists and inventors.

   Vigorous debate after the lecture raised the issues of land tenure and sustainable development project work in Africa. These contributions highlighted the need for SAES to have well thought out  field projects that would meet its stated objectives.

   SAES facebook  discussions have noted two main suggestions for carrying out this field project work. One requires the SAES purchase of land  and the other doesn’t:

• One contribution at the SAES launch which re-ignited the debate on field projects suggested that SAES should purchase land in Africa which is in degraded and deforested state from a local community and sell it back to the community for the same price as we bought it (after having improved the value and revitalised the land by planting trees and vegetation - using irrigation perhaps and providing access to the use of local groundwater).
• The other suggestion was that any individual members of SAES who wished to embark on a sustainable development project in his/her home village could do so with SAES support and input.

Both options for field project work remain under consideration.

      Future programmes will include workshops in a) soil and water conservation and b) solar energy (photovoltaics), still to be announced.

   From 11-15 June 2012 the world’s largest solar energy exhibition, Intersolar Europe, will be taking place in Munich, Germany. Both Yeno Thorli and Chukwunyere Kamalu will be attending. It is an opportunity to see if there are appropriate new solar technologies relevant to sustainable African community development at an affordable price. A report back on the exhibition will feature in the June/July newsletter.

   Lastly, a theme that has been resonating both at the launch and on the SAES facebook page has been the issue of African land grabs and the ominous cloud that it has cast over the African environmental, social , cultural, economic  and political  future.  As a society of Earth Scientists, we cannot ignore the threat that land grabbing poses to our work. We know that to lose land to foreign investors is also to lose our groundwater and threaten our water security and implementation of progressive sustainable development programmes. 

   Researching on the internet one will find a  number of organisations that represent themselves as anti-land grab groups. However anti-land grab groups for Africa suffer an obvious  credibility gap if they are not initiated by Africans. One exception to this is the website stopafricalandgrab.com, created by a Nigerian, Dr Emeka Akaezuwa [see selected reading and links at end of the newsletter]. In particular, the literature and video material on the site are genuinely informative on the reality and consequences of land grabbing. The African People’s Declaration stated seems to cover the key demands to be observed in securing rights to African land and resources. From this point of view, the Stop Africa Land Grab movement that Dr Akaezuwa  has tried to initiate through the website and through petition deserves the support of others also alarmed at the pace of  Africa’s effective re-colonization through these aggressive land grabs.  In this vein, SAES has formally offered its support to Dr Akaezuwa’s initiative by means of a letter from the Chair outlining areas of support such as: promotion of the African People’s Land Grab Declaration; dissemination of information from the website; the holding of events to raise awareness of Stop Africa Land Grab; SAES research to develop factual data, reasoned arguments  and a general strong case to persuade African governments of the danger land grabbing poses to future generations,  and the making of the SAES case for land conservation/sustainable development, which is being seriously threatened by land grabbing. It is surprising that at the time of writing only 281 signatures have been added to the Stop Africa Land Grab Petition. Reasons we might identify for this must surely centre on  i) lack of trust; ii) people not believing that a petition is an effective means of protest; or iii) people are simply not convinced that land grab threatens the very survival of future African generations.

   

As of 18^th June 2012, Dr Emeka Akaezuwa has formally accepted the SAES offer of support, as re-iterated in his response below:-

Dear Dr. Kamalu,
On behalf of the Stop Africa Land Grab Movement, I gladly accept your offer of support for the initiative to stop Africa land grab and save our people from re-enslavement under the guise of foreign investments.

We wholeheartedly accept the areas of cooperation you enumerated: helping to boost the number of signatories to the petition; disseminating the African People's Declaration; sharing videos and links; developing factual data; and holding events and workshops to raise awareness.

On our part, we will publish any material you have on the topic of land conservation/sustainable development. Please send me, at any time, presentations, research papers, articles, etc. that members of your organization would like to publish.

After I received your email, I went on your website where I read about the great work you are doing. As a learned society, I think your organization should play the very important role of being the Stop Africa Land Grab's scientific experts on land conservation/sustainable development. If you accept this proposition, I would like to ask you to join the Stop Africa Land Grab Movement's brain trust on behalf of the Society of African Earth Scientists. If you cannot accept the offer to join the brain trust, could you appoint someone else?

I have a couple of interviews this week but next week is less busy. If it is all right by you, I will like to schedule a phone conversation with you next week. I think we can get a lot done by phone.

I thank you for taking the initiative to reach out to us and I look forward to working with you.
Thank you very much.
Emeka Akaezuwa, Ph.D
Stop Africa Land Grab Movement.

REVIEW: LAUNCH OF THE SOCIETY AFRICAN EARTH SCIENTISTS (SAES)

By Yeno Thorli. 

The inauguration of the Society of African Earth Scientists (SAES) took place on Thurs 26 Apr at the Africa Centre in London. SAES's acting chair Dr Chukwunyere Kamalu gave its first lecture on 'Earth and Land in African Thought and Practice'. He highlighted the role of the earth and land in Afrikan society and culture, including the role of the ancestors as the owners of the land and the living as the custodians, who must preserve the land and soil for future generations. 

   There were hidden gems in the talk that were teased out further as a vigorous and challenging Q&A session unfolded. Dr Kamalu was grateful for the passionate contributions and feedback from the discussion, and assured participants of his determination for SAES to act including consideration of: SAES position on land tenure in its mission statement; Purchase of land in Afrika for SAES sustainable development including the planting of trees (and vegetation) to conserve the local environment and groundwater supply. [This suggestion was made against a depressing background of statistics given by Dr Kamalu on the growing threat of land grabbing on the continent to Afrikan development efforts.]

    Some participants felt the language and construction of the ideas was a bit 'retro' in parts and that Dr Kamalu spoke of Afrika in abstraction and almost in romantic-speak. Afrika comprises 56 countries so the use of generalities flagged up many questions. Dr Kamalu stated the Society is a work in progress and contributions are welcomed. The initial aims of the Society of African Earth Scientists are: promotion of African self sufficiency in clean water, food and sustainable energy provision; and the promotion of  land, soil and water conservation; and monitoring and writing about the effects of climatic change on the continent.

    These are to be fulfilled through: the promotion of skills sharing and ideas among African scientists on the continent and in the Diaspora; workshops and seminars on a land, soil and water conservation and renewable energy technologies; sustainable development projects in specific African countries and develop templates for its reproductions throughout the continent;  Provide independent timely authoritative research papers towards influencing   policy formulation in African states; on land, soil, water conservation and renewable technologies.

    Ideas for future SAES events include workshops on soil & water conservation and the under-utilisation of renewable energy technologies in Afrika.

For further info and membership of SAES Email: saescientists@hotmail.co.uk, or join the Facebook group on https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/saescientists/>

Earth Science Events

  

June 11 – 15, 2012

Intersolar Europe

World’s largest exhibition for the solar industry

Venue: Munich, Germany

July 13 – 18, 2012

Global problems of the state, reproduction and use of natural resources of the planet Earth

Venue: web-based

Conferences on population are ominous, and one wonders what if anything is being planned/ speculated about populations in the southern hemisphere. The XXVIII International Research and Practice Conference “Global problems of the state, reproduction and use of natural resources of the planet Earth " is held.

The subject of the event is Earth sciences, biological, veterinary and agricultural sciences.

Closing date for application is July 12, 2012

Conference organizers:The International Academy of Sciences and Higher Education (Great Britain)
All-Ukrainian Academic Union (Ukraine)
International Commerce and Industrial Union (UK)
American International Commercial Arbitration Court (USA)
Heidegger Centre of Scientific Initiative (Germany);
Association for the Study of Natural Science (Spain);
Open Philosophical Society of Existential Psychology (France);
Institute of Problems of Society Life (Israel);
Marshall Institute of Economic Analysis (USA);
Venture technologies department of Rörelse Corporation.

August 21-22, 2012

World Congress on Earth Science & Climate Change

Venue: Chicago, USA

The scientific program paves a way to gather visionaries through the research talks and presentations and put forward many thought provoking strategies in Earth Science & Climate Change.

October 22 - 24, 2012

WINDABA 2012

Venue: Cape Town Convention Centre, Cape Town, South Africa

Windaba 2012 is the international event on wind energy in South Africa hosted by the South African Wind Energy Association.

The South African Wind Energy Association (SAWEA) is proud to introduce WinDABA 2012, South Africa's Wind Industry's Conference and Exhibition. We welcome you to join us in this exciting event taking place at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC), Cape Town, South Africa.

November  19-21, 2012

International Conference on Biodiversity and Sustainable Energy Development

Venue: Hyderabad, India

Biodiversity-2012 paves a path to move towards the nature respecting the beautiful lives comprising the diversity. The conference states a call to the scientific community to take the Social responsibility saving the Mother Nature and providing a ground to explore the survival opportunities by sharing thoughts through scientific research and applying them into social

life. Biodiversity-2012 shares the opportunity to bring together researchers from academia and corporate, activists, ecosocial organizations and NGOs to foster collaborations through the research talks & presentations to put forward many thought provoking strategies sharing the common agenda of Biodiversity Conservation

December 3 - 4, 2012

Achieving Food and Environmental Security - New Approaches to Close the Gap

Venue: Royal Society, London

THE ROYAL SOCIETY 2012 scientific discussion meetings at the Royal Society

Achieving food and environmental security – new approaches to close the gap
3 – 4 December
Organised by Professor Guy Poppy, Professor Paul Jepson, Professor John Pickett CBE FRS and Dr Michael Birkett

This meeting are free to attend, but pre-registration is essential.

For more details visit http://royalsociety.org/events

December 3 - 4, 2012

Annual International Conference on Geological & Earth Sciences (GEOS 2012)

Venue: Hotel Fort Canning, Singapore, Malaysia

Some selected Reading, Links, etc

1. Please refer to the African People’s Land Grab Declaration:   http://www.stopafricalandgrab.com/ 
2. Maathai, Wangari, The Challenge for Africa, Random House, NY, 2009.
3. Schluter, T., Geological Atlas of Africa – with notes on stratigraphy, tectonics, economic geology, geohazards, geosites and geoscientific education of each counry, 2^nd Edition, Springer-verlag, Berlin, Heidelberg, 2008. http://books.google.co.uk/books?hl=en&lr=&id=IfvKWpsISTQC&oi=fnd&pg=PA4&dq=african+geology+undergraduate+textbooks&ots=lQ7JXRkO0H&sig=Y4l2oLYNi5EVzjuxupZbpMdciz4#v=onepage&q&f=false
4. A link on “Groundwater and Rural Water Supply in Africa”: http://www.iah.org/downloads/occpub/IAH_ruralwater.pdf
5. Link to Journal of African Earth Sciences: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-african-earth-sciences/

NEWSLETTER #3 - SOCIETY OF AFRICAN EARTH SCIENTISTS

Volume 1, Issue No. 3, June/July 2012

Content

• Chair’s Foreword
• A note by the Society of African Earth Scientists on the environmental effects of land grabbing
• Earth Science Applications- Earth Now
• Earth Science Events
• Suggested Reading and links

Foreword by the Acting Chair of Society of African Earth Scientists, Dr Chukwunyere Kamalu

Welcome to the third issue of the bi-monthly  newsletter of the Society of African Earth Scientists (SAES).

Intersolar Europe June 11-14^th 2012      

In June, both Yeno Thorli and I attended the Intersolar Exhibition of solar technology, in Munich, Germany. There were nearly 2,000 exhibitors from 49 countries but the only exhibitors from African countries were one from Egypt and one from Morocco (none outside North Africa). There were some examples of appropriate technology of interest from an African rural community development viewpoint: solar pumps for boreholes and irrigation which appeared to be very effective, able to pump water from 350 m depth. It was in fact a great networking opportunity to meet Africans in the solar field and this should be kept in mind for future events.  Also to be kept in mind, was the possibility of using a similar African based event to stimulate inter-African trade among indigenous solar tech businesses.

The SAES Case against Land Grabbing

 A note of the Society of African Earth Scientists was drafted to explain the environmental   impact of land grabbing. The note will be published on the Stop Africa land Grab website. The draft of the note is here presented and members are welcome to feedback. This forms part of the responsibility undertaken by SAES as the scientific consultant to Stop Africa Land Grab to publish a concise position paper that will set out the scientific and ethical case against land grab in order to persuade African governments against the reckless giveaway of Africa’s precious land and  natural resources.

Future Activities and Events

The planned workshops in i) Soil and Water Conservation and ii) Photovoltaics are yet to be scheduled. The delay has in part been due to the cost and lack of funds. However, it is envisaged that with sufficient notice adequate workshop fees can be raised to finance the workshop events and dates for the first workshop in October 2012 will soon be advertised.

   A third planned workshop will be a Stop Africa Land Grab event, as yet unspecified; but likely to feature a workshop around the videos and  articles  on the Stop Africa Land Grab website.

Affiliation and Association with other earth/solar Science  organizations

SAES is happy to announce its affiliation to YES (Young Earth Scientists) South Africa. Other organisations to  be considered for SAES affiliation are Solar Sister and  Association of African Women in the Geosciences.

EARTH, WATER AND JUSTICE

A note by the Society of African Earth Scientists on the environmental effects of land grabbing

Introduction

Land grabbing may be defined as the buying or leasing of large areas of land by local or international corporations in developing countries; often resulting in the eviction of indigenous people from their ancestral homeland, or family land owned through customary land tenures established over generations.

   This brief note, inspired in its title and thrust by the reports of African Biodiversity Network (CDM and Africa [11]), Friends of the Earth (Land, Life and Justice [6]) and others, sketches an outline of the scientific and ethical case against land grab, specifically in respect of its ominous signs of threat to Africa’s water security, soil fertility and biodiversity, and food security. It also briefly highlights the injustice of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) scheme, proposed as part of the famous Kyoto Protocol, and noted in the report of the African Biodiversity Network as being a motivating factor in land grabbing.

   It is hoped that this note, with its essential recommendations, will help dissuade African governments from giving away the most precious birthright of Africa’s children and future generations: our land and the natural resources within it.

Land Grab Threatens Water Security

A recent report by GRAIN [1] warns that land grabbing will alter the hydrological balance of the local environment and have an adverse effect on local community water supplies in Africa. The reason for this is that the high water demand envisaged for irrigation of crops planted on land grabbed farms, is expected to exceed that available in local rivers and local groundwater [2]. In some instances the rate of groundwater exploitation will far outstrip the rate of groundwater recharge [3], leading to the significant depletion of the water table in local aquifers [4].

   There are already many documented instances where pesticides and fertilizers used on large scale farming contaminates the groundwater supplies and denies access to clean water to local communities[5].

   Some of the prevention of access to local water resources has occurred through the forcible displacement of peoples from their land of many generations (according to customary land tenure).  This has involved people being displaced away from the land from which they draw their water, or in some cases, their access to water wells being barred by force [6] under the new land acquisitions and arrangements.

Land Grab Threatens Biodiversity and Soil Fertility

Land grab farming tends to be in the pattern of large scale monoculture[7], whereby the fertile soil is more prone to be eroded and lost forever, as mono-cultural planting means that for part of the season,  the soil is not protected  from soil erosion by rainfall by the canopy of other crops;  whilst in the case of mixed cropping (where various species of crops are planted  together) there is year-round protection for the soil due to the fact that not all the crops, with canopies shielding the soil from the rain, are harvested at once[8].

Land Grab Threatens Food Security

Through land grabbing, many African people belonging to traditional farming families have been dispossessed of their land and the means to grow food for their families to survive [9]. Often the lands acquired were then used for agro-fuel crops instead of food crops [10], threatening the food security of not only the dispossessed communities, but the region through the depletion of local subsistence farming capacity.

The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) as a Motivation for Land Grabbing and a Loop Hole for Industrialised Economies to avoid direct cuts to Carbon Emissions

   Documents published by the African Biodiversity Network [11] ,  Friends of the Earth and others[12] clearly highlight  the view that CDM motivates land grabbing.

 Through the disingenuous mechanism that is CDM the industrialised north shows its reluctance to adopt

i) Its political and economic responsibility for meeting its own climate change targets

ii) Its social and economic responsibility to change its pattern of over-consumption

CDM has created a dangerous loophole for the industrial economies to avoid cutting greenhouse gases. Instead of effectively  passing on the responsibilities of the industrial north to cut greenhouse gases on to the poorer countries  of the south by  “offsetting” its carbon emissions against carbon absorbed by tree planting in Africa and other regions,  large industrial corporations should be making their best efforts to cut their own emissions . Africa and other regions are bearing the cost in the form of land grabbed for the purpose of tree planting to offset carbon emissions of large corporations. Above we see the environmental devastation resulting from this activity.

   Furthermore, as Friends of the Earth note in their report; the industrial north has the challenge of tackling its own habits of drastic over-consumption to a level that is in sync with the sustainability of the Earth and its ecosystem.

Essential Recommendations for Action by African Governments

Whilst the behaviour of investors in Africa’s land grab that results in the destruction of African livelihoods and environment is to be condemned; Society of African Earth Scientists (SAES) can only make essential recommendations that address the governments of Africa, who ultimately hold the reigns of control over the leasing and sale of African land and resources  to private corporations. The essential demands include

• African governments should protect the rights of African citizens with customary land tenure. No African citizen should be made homeless from their ancestral home.
• African governments should protect Africa’s precious water resources, both its rivers and its groundwater resources
• African governments should protect Africa’s natural forests and the rights of its indigenous peoples
• African farming must aim to be agro-ecological and sustainable, prioritising food production and avoiding the production of agro-fuels and other large scale monoculture plantations motivated by carbon emission trading, which deplete the soil’s fertility,  threaten food security,  and the long term biodiversity and sustainability of the environment

References

1. SEE http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/land-grabs-leave-africa-facing-hydrological-suicide-report/ and GRAIN. http://www.grain.org/article/entries/4516-squeezing-africa-dry-behind-every-land-grab-is-a-water-grab
2. The term “groundwater” refers to water that lies below  the natural ground surface
3. A hydrologic process where water moves downward from surface water to groundwater.
4. An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing permeable rock or unconsolidated materials (gravel, sand, or silt) from which groundwater can be usefully extracted.
5. Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Prospects for the Environment: http://www.fao.org/docrep/004/y3557e/y3557e11.htm; Xu, Y and Brent Usher (eds), Groundwater Pollution in Africa, Taylor & Francis, UNEP, 2006.
6. Friends of the Earth: Land, Life and Justice - How Land Grabbing in Uganda is affecting the Environment, Livelihoods and Food Sovereignty of Communities, April 2012. http://www.foei.org/en/resources/publications/pdfs/2012/land-life-justice
7. Ibid. And Benjaminsen, T et al, Conservation & Land Grabbing in Tanzania, paper presented at the International Conference on Global Land Grabbing, University of Sussex, England, 6-8 April 2011: https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:yOgvd-gq0vwJ:www.future-agricultures.org/component/docman/doc_download/1297-conservation-and-land-grabbing-in-tanzania+&hl=en&gl=uk&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESgHy3KlkKrUlzrt0ErzA3N7gFvz0H-OKa98Rqx2lcp7Q_DMcdoBMdH7eXSTNB5HjiuX9bTj5Gz-UTZfjt9FrjuetRAwwxcdUgxbEIJ6neNe1Q_rsn0WGfOhyhs0zYypoyv4Trzt&sig=AHIEtbQeBpvzUX1POyO2-V2xz86OPLK32w
8. International Fund for Agricultural Development, Soil and Water Conservation in Sub-Saharan Africa, Rome, 1992.
9. Friends of the Earth, Op. Cit.
10. Ibid.
11. African Biodiversity Network, The CDM and Africa: Marketing a new land grab https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:ULbMvT38_84J:www.africanbiodiversity.org/system/files/PDFs/CDM%2520Report_Feb2011_lowres.pdf+&hl=en&gl=uk&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESgZfAkp-zMecSvyxx7vzEPlKkIUOjadftPgZ-tfeF50oHIebWu3Te6mXtEI4_bCheXS3rg5ytclxEKxGpSk0aLDXtyzw11xLbuUb3ikc07DUYmhfeAdzcOekwparoHGGTvtXRL4&sig=AHIEtbRqqSY9uUuJuCHVwjdlU8RPlxGMqg
12. Friends of the Earth, Op. Cit. See also Benjaminsen, T.,  et al, Op. Cit.

Society of African Earth Scientists

September 2012

An Earth Science Application Review – “Earth Now” satellite climate monitoring

Members may be made aware of a number of applications that are available for the use of monitoring climate, which make use of satellite technology.

   You might be interested to learn that some of the earth science applications are available free from the internet and can be operated on your mobile smart-phone.

   One such application is called “Earth Now” produced by NASA² and described on the NASA site:  “Earth Now displays data on many of the key vital signs of our planet that NASA satellites track. Whether your interest is current surface air temperatures over Australia, carbon dioxide or carbon monoxide levels over Canada, ozone over Oman, water vapour over Wales, gravity anomalies in Greenland or sea level height anomalies at St. Petersburg, Earth Now brings a world of ever-changing climate data to your fingertips”

   A view of the facility for mapping and displaying the intensity of the Earth’s gravitational field shows the field to be most intense in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The reason (probably somehow related to the abundance of valuable minerals of this  region) appears to be an area for specialised geological research and the only article on this area at the time noted is  to the interpretation of Congo gravity data by Yves Shandini et al³ in selected reading.

   It is a useful educational tool. It has small drawbacks: Temperature is indicated only in degrees Fahrenheit so you must make the conversion to centigrade. Also it measures the earth’s surface temperature 10 km above ground so an adjustment must be made for that, if need be.

Earth Science Events

  

October 22 - 24, 2012

WINDABA 2012

Venue: Cape Town Convention Centre, Cape Town, South Africa

Windaba 2012 is the international event on wind energy in South Africa hosted by the South African Wind Energy Association.

The South African Wind Energy Association (SAWEA) is proud to introduce WinDABA 2012, South Africa's Wind Industry's Conference and Exhibition. We welcome you to join us in this exciting event taking place at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC), Cape Town, South Africa.

November  19-21, 2012

International Conference on Biodiversity and Sustainable Energy Development

Venue: Hyderabad, India

Biodiversity-2012 paves a path to move towards the nature respecting the beautiful lives comprising the diversity. The conference states a call to the scientific community to take the Social responsibility saving the Mother Nature and providing a ground to explore the survival opportunities by sharing thoughts through scientific research and applying them into social

life. Biodiversity-2012 shares the opportunity to bring together researchers from academia and corporate, activists, ecosocial organizations and NGOs to foster collaborations through the research talks & presentations to put forward many thought provoking strategies sharing the common agenda of Biodiversity Conservation

December 3 - 4, 2012

Achieving Food and Environmental Security - New Approaches to Close the Gap

Venue: Royal Society, London

THE ROYAL SOCIETY 2012 scientific discussion meetings at the Royal Society

Achieving food and environmental security – new approaches to close the gap. Organised by Professor Guy Poppy, Professor Paul Jepson, Professor John Pickett CBE FRS and Dr Michael Birkett. These meetings are free to attend, but pre-registration is essential.

For more details visit http://royalsociety.org/events

December 3 - 4, 2012

Annual International Conference on Geological & Earth Sciences (GEOS 2012)

Venue: Hotel Fort Canning, Singapore, Malaysia

Selected Reading, Links, etc

1. A link on “Groundwater and Rural Water Supply in Africa”: http://www.iah.org/downloads/occpub/IAH_ruralwater.pdf
2. The link for the NASA “Earth Now” climate change monitoring app https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=gov.nasa.jpl.earthnow.activity
3. Shandini, Y., Gravity data interpretation in the northern edge of the Congo Craton, South-Cameroon, Anu. Inst. Geocienc., Rio de Janero, 2010:URL link is given as http://ppegeo.igc.usp.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0101-97592010000100007&lng=en&nrm=iso]