Tausi Insider

A ReconAfrica oil drilling site in Namibia. John Grobler/Tausi Insider A Canadian oil company says it will push ahead with exploration drilling and seismic work in Namibia, despite its failure to find commercial amounts of oil in its latest well. Reconnaissance Energy Africa Ltd. RECO-X, also known as ReconAfrica, is exploring for oil in the Kalahari region of Namibia, not far from the Okavango River, which flows into the Okavango Delta, a world-famous wildlife region that attracts thousands of tourists annually. Environmentalists have been fighting the project for the past three years, with help from celebrities such as Prince Harry and Leonardo DiCaprio. They are concerned that it could jeopardize elephant migration routes and underground water sources that reach the Okavango River. ReconAfrica announced on Wednesday that it did not find enough oil for its Makandina 8-2 Well to be commercially viable. The well, which it began drilling in late June, was at a total depth of 2,056 met...

People visit the immersive video experience hosted by the National Geographic Society at a press event during COP15 in Montreal on Dec. 7. ANDREJ IVANOV/Getty Images Anyone showing up to the United Nations biodiversity conference, known as COP15, will discover it takes time just getting in the door. Having first shown proof of vaccination in order to obtain a conference badge, the would-be attendee is then handed a box of KN95 masks and a two-week supply of COVID-19 test kits. The next stop is to show a negative result from a rapid test before being admitted. For the thousands of participants, it’s a fitting reminder that the pandemic is still with us – fitting because global pandemics are a risk we all face when wildlife is destroyed or harvested in ways that expose humans to the viruses of other species. But there is another way that the pandemic reveals what is at stake as countries work toward a pact to protect nature for future generations. At COP15, a movement grows to manage n...

Women in rural Kwazulu Natal, South Africa use hippo rollers to transport their water home. Handout The organizers: Luke Vorstermans and Linda Ryan The pitch: Creating the Roll a Hippo Foundation The reason: To help people in Africa transport water Luke Vorstermans and his wife Linda Ryan have been to Africa several times and they’ve often seen women carrying large jugs of water on their heads. When he returned home to Gibsons, B.C., from one trip, Mr. Vorstermans saw a handy device on the internet called a “hippo water roller” that made moving water much easier. The roller is essentially a plastic barrel with handles. Once the barrel is filled, it can be easily rolled along almost any surface. “I looked at this and I said, ‘Why are women still carrying water in the old, hard way when this is available?’,’ Mr. Vorstermans recalled. He contacted the manufacturer in South Africa and was told that there had been minimal demand for the roller, which was sideline for the company. Mr. Vor...