African cocoa plantations have seen massive growth in recent years on its path to help feed the world’s veracious appetite for a popular delicacy – chocolate. The Ivory Coast, the world’s largest producer of cocoa for chocolate, has seen nearly 94% of its forests replaced by cocoa plantations, according to the Mighty Earth Organisation. The […]
KAMPALA, Uganda Tour guide Patrick Kataama relied heavily on income from leading gorilla-trekking tours in Uganda’s national parks. These tours were abruptly shut down in late March 2020, after the first COVID-19 cases were reported in Uganda and the country was placed under lockdown. “This came as a shock to me,” Kataama tells Mongabay. […]
Years before the obsession with wild-borne pathogens latching onto humans gripped the world, Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka was already dealing with disease spillovers. Except, she worried about humans infecting gorillas in her native Uganda. “Disease transmission goes in both directions,” says Kalema-Zikusoka, a trained wildlife veterinarian. It demonstrates, albeit narrowly, an idea gaining currency in the COVID-19 […]