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14 August 2018
Media effectively used to save the giraffe
“If we can save the habitat wildlife need, then the animals will be just fine,” said Dr Francois Deacon, a wildlife habitat expert in the UFS Department of Animal, Wildlife and Grassland Sciences.
The University of the Free State (UFS) is leading the fight against the extinction of giraffes and has assembled the largest research team in the world to manage, coordinate, and address this issue. Seven UFS departments are involved in this research. 

Dr Francois Deacon, a wildlife habitat expert in the UFS Department of Animal, Wildlife and Grassland Sciences, is leading the team of researchers who tasked themselves with better understanding the giraffe, and in so doing, save the giraffe. He said: "One way to stop the plummeting numbers is to learn more about how giraffes use their habitat and how much area they need in order to survive."

Dr Deacon focuses on the spatial ecology of wild animals. His main research focus is to understand the ecological and biological factors that regulate giraffe in their natural habitat.

Documentaries save

He collaborated with a documentary film crew to release the second in a trilogy of documentaries regarding giraffes and their natural habitat. The first, Last of the Longnecks, focused on the fact that giraffes are becoming extinct. The second documentary, Catching Giants, which was released last year, includes footage on how a multi-specialist research group of over 30 people from 10 different countries worked together to collect information about these little-known animals.

Documentaries such as these, together with a recent insert in the local wildlife documentary on SABC 2, 50/50, also helped to raise awareness on the giraffe and its plight.

Telling the truth

Dr Deacon said: “It is extremely important for the public to see how involved we really are with a major problem such as a species becoming extinct. Media exposure outlines the truth of what man is doing to nature. Cooperating with media such as the BBC, National Geographic, and 50/50, offers other journalists, producers, editors, and authors the opportunity to also take responsibility for raising awareness on the issue.” 

“Apart from the fact that awareness is shedding light on the problem, it also highlights who the leaders in this field are, what they are doing to address the problem, and what more is needed to make a change. The latter includes the funding of postgraduate students to conduct further research on this matter. If we were able to gather sufficient knowledge through different research questions across the globe, we could really make a difference in saving giraffes from extinction.” 

News Archive

Alcinda Honwana: Youth Protests Main Mechanism against Regime
2015-05-25

Prof Alcinda Honwana

"Enough is Enough!": Youth Protests and Political Change in Africa (speech) 

The Centre for Africa Studies at the UFS hosted an interdisciplinary project on the Bloemfontein Campus from 20-22 May 2015.

The project, entitled Contemporary Modes of Othering: Its Perpetuation and Resistance, looked at different perspectives, representations, and art forms of otherness, how it is perceived, and how it is resisted.

The annual Africa Day Memorial Lecture was held on Thursday evening 21 May 2015 at the CR Swart Auditorium. Guest speaker Prof Alcinda Honwana addressed the subject of ‘Youth Protests and Political Change in Africa’.

“Youth now seem able to display what they don’t want, rather than what they do want,” Honwana said in her opening remarks. “Thus, we see the young driven to the streets to protest against regimes.”
 
Honwana shed some light on recent examples of youth protests in Africa that have enjoyed global attention. Looking at the protests in Tunisia (2010), Egypt (2011), Senegal (2012), and Burkina Faso (2014), it is clear that these events in northern and western Africa have inspired others globally. Yet, Honwana stated that, despite these protests, no social economic change has been seen, and has left dissatisfaction with new governments as well.

“Once regimes fall… young activists find themselves more divided, it seems…

“Which leaves the question: Will street protests remain young people’s main mechanism to avert those in power?”

Background on Prof Alcinda Honwana:

Alcinda Honwana is currently Visiting Professor of Anthropology and International Development at the Open University (UK). She was chair in International Development at the Open University, and taught Anthropology at the University Eduardo Mondlane in Maputo, the University of Cape Town in South Africa, and the New School for Social Research in New York. She was programme director at the Social Science Research Council in New York, and worked for the United Nations Office for Children and Armed Conflict. Honwana has written extensively on the links between political conflict and culture, and on the impact of violent conflict on children and youth, conducting research in Mozambique, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Angola, Colombia, and Sri Lanka. Her latest work has been on youth and social change in Africa, focusing on Mozambique, Senegal, South Africa, and Tunisia.

Honwana’s latest books include:

• Youth and Revolution in Tunisia (2013); 
• Time of Youth: Work, Social Change, and Politics in Africa (2012);
• Child Soldiers in Africa (2006);
• Makers and Breakers: Children and Youth in Postcolonial Africa (2005, co-edited).

Honwana was awarded the prestigious Prince Claus Chair for Development and Equity in the Netherlands in 2007.

 

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