Geographical

Official magazine of the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG)

Tommy Trenchard

The Lobito Corridor: the new scramble for critical minerals

10 minutes

Stretching from Angola’s Atlantic coast to central Africa, the Lobito Corridor is now a key rail route in the global scramble for critical minerals — and a test of whether the West can match China’s reach on the continent At the train station in Luau, a dusty border town between Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), waiting passengers jostle anxiously … [Read more...] about The Lobito Corridor: the new scramble for critical minerals

Sierra Leone’s disappearing island

6 minutes

Tommy Trenchard reveals how families are battling to survive on Sierra Leone's Nyangai Island amid rising tides from climate change Life is rarely easy in the remote villages scattered along Sierra Leone’s Atlantic coastline. Poverty is widespread, jobs are few and infrastructure and basic services are rudimentary at best. But for the residents of Nyangai, a diminutive … [Read more...] about Sierra Leone’s disappearing island

Sharing the revenue from South Africa’s roobios tea with the indigenous Khoisan people

8 minutes

South Africa’s Khoisan people have long been marginalised and landless. But now, a historic benefit-sharing agreement for the money generated by rooibos is offering a step in the right direction When Barend Salomo was a boy in South Africa’s Cederberg Mountains, his father would take him on walks through the rugged terrain to teach him about local flora and fauna. By the … [Read more...] about Sharing the revenue from South Africa’s roobios tea with the indigenous Khoisan people

How a simple treatment could end the misery of clubfoot for millions

9 minutes

A relatively simple treatment is changing the lives of children born with the common defect clubfoot When Patience Kanyangarara’s father saw his newborn baby’s contorted feet for the first time, he felt certain the child had been cursed. Otherwise entirely healthy, the baby’s feet were twisted inwards at right angles from the ankle, a sure sign, he thought, that her … [Read more...] about How a simple treatment could end the misery of clubfoot for millions

South African villages are being ravaged by illegal chrome mining

8 minutes

Industrial-scale illegal mining is destroying villages in South Africa and now accounts for ten per cent of all chrome produced by the country – the world’s biggest supplier of the ore, which is essential for stainless steel production Amid the din of heavy machinery, a dozen men and women wearing Wellington boots and balaclavas slowly pick their way along the edge of a … [Read more...] about South African villages are being ravaged by illegal chrome mining