African Medicinal Plants

Eggplant, brinjal or aubergine -- the dark-purple fruit has many guises; but is it also a colon cancer-fighting superfood as a prominent dietician would have Nigerians believe? As Africa Check discovered, there is no proof to support the claim. A prominent dietician has urged Nigerians to reduce their risk of colon cancer by eating more eggplant. Yemisi Olowookere's comments were published on a number of news websites, all of which stated that eggplant is "an excellent source of dietary fibre which can protect against colon cancer". Olowookere, a dietician at the Garki Hospital in Abuja, also recommended having eggplant with every meal to treat hyperlipidemia or excess fat in the blood, saying studies have suggested the fruit is effective at controlling high blood cholesterol. She added there is further proof that eggplant can fight ageing, inflammation and neurological diseases. According to the IQ4News website, Olowookere - who comments regularly in the ...

France on Thursday became the first European country to publicly destroy illicit ivory stocks, crushing more than two tonnes of the contraband in a public ceremony at the foot of the Eiffel Tower. The ivory, worth an estimated one million euros, was fed into a giant crushing machine and ground into tiny fragments which will be sent off for incineration (see slideshow below). It was the first time ivory has been publicly destroyed in Europe since a global trade ban was imposed in 1989. "With this destruction today, France is sending an unequivocal message to poachers, traffickers and consumers of illicit wildlife products," French Environment Minister Philippe Martin, who attended the event in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower in central Paris, said Thursday. "We are resolved to continue the fight against trafficking, and to remove any temptation to recover the seized ivory" he added, referring to the significant contraband market for ivory. Some 22,000 African elephant...

Fifty heads of state invited to London summit, which will aim to halt surging demand for elephant and rhino products David Cameron   will host the highest level global summit to date on combating the illegal   wildlife   trade in   London . The summit next February, to which 50 heads of state have been invited, aims to tackle the $19bn-a-year illegal trade in endangered   animals , such as elephants and rhinos, by delivering an unprecedented political commitment along with an action plan and the mobilisation of resources. The Prince of Wales and his son the Duke of Cambridge, who will both attend the summit, have previously highlighted the strong links between wildlife poaching, international criminal syndicates and terrorism and threats to national security. "We face one of the most serious threats to wildlife ever, and we must treat it as a battle – because it is precisely that,"   said Prince Charles in May . Elephant ivory and rhino horn are worth more...