Kenya Evicts Forest Squatters
Thousands of people who had settled illegally in Kenya's most important forest, Mau forest, have left their homes at the beginning of an eviction plan aimed at ending rampant environmental degradation in the Rift valley. Security officers this week entered the Mau forest, the country's largest water catchment basin, in the first stage of a government operation that will eventually see up to 30,000 families leave. More than a quarter of the 400,000-hectare forest has been lost because of human activity over the past 20 years. This move threatens Kenya's tourism, tea industry and energy sectors, and the livelihoods of millions of people reliant on the Mau ecosystem. A serious drought that has led to water and power shortages across the country was a contributing factor, but human destruction of the once-thick and lush Mau Forest (which has caused its aquifer levels to fall significantly and seen soil erosion increase), played a major part in the shortage of water. At its root, as so often happens in Kenya, is politics and corruption. Before the 1990s, the forest was a protected area. But then senior officials in President Daniel arap Moi's government grabbed large plots of the highly fertile land for themselves. Moi still owns a large tea farm in the Mau, profiting from the timber they cleared.

Genetically Modified (GM) Food?
We are the generation that are witnessing a world on the brim of a ‘hungry century’. Climate change is turning farmland around the globe into desert, combined with the growth of the global population and thus an increase in the demand for food – this is a recipe for starvation. Professor Robert Watson, the chief scientific adviser at the Department for the Environment Food and Rural Affairs, argues that the policy response of all governments, including our own, should be greater support for genetically-modified crop technologies. He argues that if crops can be genetically modified to be drought-resistant, or to grow on formerly barren land, they could play an important role in feeding the planet in the coming decades. We're talking super-crops! The problem is, these advances in GM crops are still far off, and many crops which dominate the GM market rely on ultra-intensive farming techniques, which invloves farmers soaking the environment in chemicals.

DRCongo, 100 Years On
Today, 100 years ago, the Archbishop of Canterbury led the great Congo demonstration to call for justice in the Democratic Republic of Congo Free State, condemning the "great wrong that has been done and is now being done" in the country. But the people of the DRC continue to suffer. The conflict in eastern DRC, one of the most brutal and deadly conflicts since the Second World War, has caused more than 5 million deaths over the past decade. Today the DRC is a contrast of culture, warm spirit, alongside horrifying acts of violence, illegal exploitation of natural resources and blatant abuses of human rights. Artists, writers, public figures and activists came together calling for action to end the conflict and address its underlying causes, to reform the Congolese army, and to help create the strong governance, development and accountability that are essential for long-term stability. The joint campaign, Congo Now, will mark the 50th anniversary of independence in June 2010 with a month of events across the UK, Europe and America. The initiative will call upon the British public and government, and to people all over the world, to unite to help the Congolese change the future of their country.

Norway Invests In The Rainforest
Guyana and Norway yesterday came to a historic agreement that will see the Scandinavian country invest $250m (£150m) to preserve the rainforests of the Latin America nation. With world leaders warning that no legally binding agreement will be possible at the climate summit in Copenhagen next month, the two nations completed one of the biggest forest conservation deals ever signed, showing their intention in a joint statement to "provide the world with a working example of how partnerships between developed and developing countries can save the world's tropical forests." Speaking yesterday during a visit to London, President Jagdeo, the Guyanese leader, said that public pressure was vital on rich, polluting countries to "help progressive politicians to deliver results on climate change." Countries like Guyana, whose capital Georgetown is extremely vulnerable to rising sea levels, have contributed next to nothing to the heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere that cause global warming. Yet they will be among the first victims of a changed climate and have been seeking ways to preserve the vast carbon sinks of their tropical forest, without sacrifcing development in a country where many live in abject poverty.

Osama bin Laden's Son: On A Path Of Peace
Omar bin Laden would like to promote peace in a United Nations role. In an interview with the New Statesman, Omar, the fourth eldest son of the world's most wanted man, reveals himself as someone definitely not cut from the same cloth as his father. Asked whether he plans to enter politics or public life, Omar said: "I do not believe that I would be a good politician - I have a habit of speaking the truth, even when it does not serve me well. But I would like to be in a position to promote peace. I believe that the United Nations would be ideal for me." Omar ended contact with his father, Osama bin Laden, in April 2001. Omar has, however, decided to bare all in a book, Growing Up Bin Laden, Osama's Wife and Son take us Inside their Secret World, co-authored with his mother, Najwa, and bestselling writer Jean Sasson. Might make for a rather interesting read...

Words: Yumna Martin.