Eco Minute 13:30

BULLETIN 28 January 1:30 pm

Good afternoon, here is your Eco Minute

# President Cyril Ramaphosa has signed into law the Marine Pollution Amendment Bill, providing stronger measures to better protect the country’s oceans from ship-related pollution. South Africa has a coastline of more than three-thousand-kilometres from Namibia on the Atlantic coast to Mozambique on the Indian Ocean. The Presidency says the law broadens the powers of the minister of Transport to make regulations including the prevention of air pollution from ships. It adds the legislation also increases fines from 500-thousand- to ten-million-rand for any person convicted of serious offences under the act.

# Nineteen African penguins rescued after an oil spill between Hout Bay and Kommetjie in Cape Town, are currently undergoing rehabilitation. The source of the spill remains unknown, but the penguins were reportedly underweight and suffering from stress. Daily Marverick reports the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds is leading their rehabilitation, which includes washing and reconditioning their waterproofing. The efforts to clean and release the endangered birds are part of ongoing conservation efforts to combat the impact of oil pollution on wildlife.

# And finally: Changing patterns of climate variability and extreme weather events are negatively affecting food security in Latin America and the Caribbean. This is according to a new report by several United Nations agencies. The report states that hot weather and drought, intensified by the El Niño weather phenomenon, raised the price of corn in Argentina, Mexico, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic. Heavy rain in Ecuador caused a 32- to 54-percent increase in wholesale prices. The UN says urgent action to build resilience within agrifood systems is needed.

Stay tuned for more news………….