National Geographic: Test drilling for oil and gas begins in Namibia’s Okavango region

This month, ReconAfrica’s multimillion-dollar drilling rig pierced a riverbed in elephant habitat some 160 miles from the wildlife-rich Okavango Delta. BY JEFFREY BARBEE AND LAUREL NEME PUBLISHED JANUARY 28, 2021 – National Geographic WALVIS BAY, NAMIBIAThe search for oil and gas in the watershed of the world-famous, wildlife-rich Okavango Delta moved one step closer to reality when a…

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National Geographic: Oil Drilling, Possible Fracking Planned for Okavango Region—Elephants’ Last Stronghold

Hundreds of oil wells could come to cover a huge expanse in Namibia and Botswana, in what has been called possibly the “largest oil play of the decade. BY JEFFREY BARBEE AND LAUREL NEME PUBLISHED OCTOBER 28, 2020 – National Geographic JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA – Conservationists and community leaders in the spectacular Okavango wilderness region of Namibia and Botswana…

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Bats Magazine: Backyard “BATIVISTS”

BCI Intern Sophia Seufert inspires young bat lovers with video series   By Laurel Neme, Published in BATS Magazine “Anyone can be a backyard ‘bativist’,” says Sophia Seufert, BCI intern and Brandeis University junior. Seufert spent her summer creating a series of videos for BCI to help young people connect with bats and create “bativists”—that…

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National Geographic: Why Has This Rhino Poaching Trial Been Delayed 17 Times?

As poaching in South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province rises, conservationists say more should be done. By Laurel Neme PUBLISHED November 13, 2017 It’s been one delay after another in the case against South African alleged rhino poaching kingpin Dumisani Gwala and his two co-accused. The reported reasons run the gamut—changes in venue, changes in magistrates, changes in defense…

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Mongabay.com: Innovative technology creates safe haven for rhinos

28 November 2016 / Laurel Neme Unveiled last week, the new system integrates a set of technologies — Wi-Fi, thermal cameras, biometrics, closed-circuit televisions, and sensors — to create a security network across an entire game reserve. The new technology system — called Connected Conservation — is a joint initiative between two international technology companies: Dimension Data…

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National Geographic: Justice for Rhinos–When Will it Come?

Nothing prepared me for the venom in his eyes. While not directed at me, nobody in the courtroom could escape the anger seeping from his pores. Through a twist of fate, I was in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), a province on the eastern coast of South Africa, on September 19, the day the trial of a suspected…

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