Ngorongoro Conservation Area in Northern Tanzania is one of the famous tourist attraction sites in East Africa, where geological features have added to the value of tourist products available there, besides wildlife. These geological features have been collectively established as Ngorongoro Lengai Geopark within the wildlife-rich Ngorongoro Conservation Area.

Most attractive among these geological hotspots is Mount Oldonyo Lengai – an active volcano in Tanzania. The guide drove on the closer slopes of the mountain as to allow me see its cone-shaped peak where it spits its fire when erupts. “Mountain of God” in Maasai language, Oldonyo Lengai is a unique and extremely fascinating strato-volcano that towers above the East African Rift Valley.

Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority (NCAA) management is now developing tourist lodges and other visitor service facilities in the Geopark to attract more tourists, both foreign and local visitors, NCAA Cultural Heritage Manager, Mr. Joshua Mwankunda said.

“Investing in this Geopark would make tourists visiting the wildlife conserved area in this part of Africa to stay longer”, Mwankunda noted.  From the lower slopes of Oldonyo Lengai Volcanic Mountain, my driver Patrick and I drove through to visit Malanja Depression, an attractive geological feature within the Conservation Area. Malanja Depression is a beautiful and scenery located on the south limb of Serengeti plains and east of Ngorongoro Mountain. The depression was formed by the movement of the land toward the west, leaving the most eastern part depressed.

Maasai children graze big herds of cattle, each with about 200 heads of goats and sheep, inside the depression. The lush grasses in the depression provide good pasture for livestock, also freshwater spring along the southern margin, for wild animals, livestock and the Maasai households.

Maasai homesteads beautify this area within Malanja Depression and provide cultural experiences to the visitors, giving symbiosis of life between man, livestock and wild animals; all sharing its nature.

Nasera Rock is such a spectacular geological feature which I managed to visit. It is a 50 meter (165) feet high inselberg located in the southwestern part of Gol Mountains inside Ngorongoro Conservation Area.

This light-colored rock is metamorphic gneiss into which molten granitic magma was injected and then cooled to form pink granite. It earlier provided shelter to early man.

In these caves, evidence has shown that the early human lived there about 30,000 years ago. Inside these caves, stone tools, bone fragments and pottery artifacts were discovered.  Olkarien Gorge is the other, attractive geological or geographical feature that I was lucky to visit. It is a deep and extremely narrow, about eight kilometers in length.

The gorge is also home to hundreds of vultures flying over. Maasai get their hair coloring soil (Okaria) from this gorge.

The Ngorongoro Lengai Geopark’s geological history began 500 million years ago when granite sand gneiss seen in the North of Gol Mountains and in the West around Lake Eyasi was formed.  Geoparks are mostly focused at building sustainable use of geological heritage and natural landscape as tourism resources to attract tourists to visit Africa, where such natural wonders are located.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) designated Ngorongoro-Lengai as a Geopark site in April 17, 2018 to become the only tourist Geopark in Africa south of the Sahara Desert.

The other Geopark in Africa is M’Goun Global Geopark in Morocco. There are 161 Geoparks globally, in 44 countries listed under UNESCO as global heritage sites. The size of Ngorongoro as a whole is massive, with Ngorongoro Crater covering an area of  250 kilometers,  Olmoti Crater 3.7 kilometers and Empakai crater 8 kilometers.

Ngorongoro- Lengai Geopark is now becoming an important additional reason why tourists should keep flocking in its volcanic caldera and home to the highest density of big game in Africa. Geotourism is a nature tourism focused on sustainable use of geological heritage and natural landscape as tourism resources to attract tourists, provide geoscience knowledge to the public and students and encourage appreciation and develop a sense of place and value for protection.

Geotourism uses geological heritage and its interaction with ecology and culture to enhance the geographical character of a place, such as the environment, esthetics, culture and sustainable development of communities.

The Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority offers a range of investments in accommodation from high class tourist hotels and lodges, semi-permanent camps, tented camps, mobile camps and picnic sites to be put in place by investors including local and foreigners.

Freeland applauds the Thai Ministry of Public Health for their statement today during a public, Facebook Live press conference in Bangkok, in which they referenced a Monday news report supported by Freeland about Chatuchak market and acknowledged that wildlife animal markets and trade may endanger public health. The Ministry spokesperson summarized what a Danish member of the W.H.O. investigation team sent to Wuhan told the Danish newspaper Politiken, namely that markets like Chatuchak can transmit deadly viruses and could have even been the origin of COVID-19.

The Thai Ministry of Public Health is now going to collaborate with the Ministry of Environment and its Department of National Parks to closely inspect Chatuchak animal market, and to simultaneously roll out a joint plan to increase protection of wildlife and stop trade of wild animals in markets.

“We applaud this approach with cautious optimism,” said Freeland Founder, Steven Galster who provided information to Politiken for their stories on Chatuchak, while accompanying its reporter to the market on multiple occasions to document the conditions there. “Last time the government responded to media exposures … last March by going to the market, spraying it down, handing out leaflets, then letting it reopen. That did not help.

“But it appears that this time, higher-level and cross-agency attention on this subject from the Thai Government, along with this W.H.O. rep’s express concern, may lead to more solid results. We want Thailand to end its commercial trade in wild animals, in which case this country would become a world leader in the so-called ‘One Health’ approach, which combines protection of people, animals and ecosystems as the best way to prevent pandemics.” Freeland is a member of the global “EndPandemics” campaign.

Markets are “Ticking Time Bombs”

Southeast Asia has historically supplied much of China’s wildlife trade. Due to low (and often depleted) populations in China of commercially valuable species in demand there, Chinese breeders and commercial outlets have typically relied on importing animals from outside the country to maintain adequate stock and genetic diversity. Imported species would either be shipped or flown straight into China, or in many cases be sourced in, or transported through, Southeast Asia.

For example, pangolins range through parts of Asia and Africa, are nearly depleted in China. Their bodies or body parts have been trafficked from Southeast Asia and Africa through Malaysia, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Hong Kong, and Vietnam into China.

Commercially traded animals can carry pathogens for which people or other animals have no immune response, and those pathogens can be passed in a number of ways, whether the animal is traded legally or illegally.

For example, zebras legally imported 3 into Thailand in 2019 carried a midge that jumped to local horses, causing African Horse Sickness and a 90%+ mortality rate, resulting in over 600 horse deaths. Some animals being sold in China and Southeast Asian are bred for commercial sale as meat and medicine, while others as exotic pets. Some are sold as both, and some for additional purposes. Civets, for example, are sold as pets, coffee bean enhancers (through their feces), perfume gland producers, and meat.

Some of these animals are especially susceptible to viruses hosted by bats, including Rabies, Ebola, and Coronavirus. These animals include members of the Mustelide and Viverridae families, featuring mink, badgers, polecats, mongoose, civets, martens, and more.

SARS jumped to a human from a civet cat that was infected by a bat. Mink farms were discovered last year in several countries to carry a coronavirus. Pangolins are another animal that has been recently found to carry a coronavirus.

Freeland’s survey shows that all of these animals –and others that are susceptible to deadly viruses– are still being commercially traded in and through Southeast Asia. Furthermore, the Freeland survey found that a significant diversity of wild and exotic birds, potential carriers of H5N1 and other strains of “Bird Flu”, are still being mixed with domesticated birds, stuffed in cages and sold in cramped areas in some markets.

Portions of wildlife being traded from Southeast Asia to China –in legal, illegal, whole body, and derivative form— get sold within Southeast Asian countries that host their own conventional and online commercial wildlife markets targeting local and foreign consumers. Examples include markets and outlets in Jakarta, Bangkok, parts of Malaysia, Vietnam, Laos, and Myanmar.

Bangkok’s Chatuchak market is the country’s –if not the region’s— largest hub for exotic animal sales. According to Freeland’s new survey, which included a spot check just two days ago, one can still purchase at this market, among many other species: ferrets; polecats; coati; civets; mongoose; meerkats; raccoons; capybara; scarlet macaws; African gray parrots; cougars; dozens of species of turtles from around the world; over 100 species of snakes; African and Asian land tortoises; over a dozen species of small, medium, and large size rodents; and exotic lizards from Latin America, Africa, and Australia. Some dealers offered zebras, baby hippos, and kangaroo. They offered to sell breeding pairs for commercial purposes, and they did not request proof of a breeding license.

Freeland has campaigned 19 years to close Chatuchak’s animal market section, and other wildlife markets in Asia, and for authorities to clamp down on illicit wildlife trade to prevent extinction, preserve biodiversity, and avert zoonotic outbreaks. Our “Sold Out”, “iTHINK”, and recent partnership “EndPandemics” campaigns have specifically included calls to close the animal market at Chatuchak, pointing to signs of illegality, inhumane conditions, threat to species from unsustainable trade, and threats to people.

In light of COVID-19, Freeland appealed in March 2020 to several Thai Ministers to close Chatuchak Animal Market as a matter of public health and international security. Freeland’s media campaign to expose illegality and zoonotic spillover risk at Chatuchak Animal Market resulted in the Thai Department of National Parks conducting a cleanup operation there in late March. Officers patrolled animal stalls, asking for sales and breeding licenses, while a virus disinfectant team sprayed the entire animal section. The market was then reopened within two months and remains in business.

“We remain extremely concerned that Chatuchak animal market and other such markets –large, small, and online– in the region are still operating,” said Freeland Founder Steven Galster. “We are also concerned that criminal suspects operating major wildlife trafficking supply chains have not been put out of business.

“Furthermore, there remains an abundance of wildlife breeding farms (some registered as zoos), as well as online wildlife trading that continue to operate in this region. It is probable that COVID-19 jumped to a person from a commercially traded animal. It is possible that such an animal was being sold in a wildlife market in Southeast Asia, like Chatuchak, or from an online platform, or from a breeding farm. It could take years to figure out the exact source. But why, in the meantime, are we allowing these commercial wild animal platforms to continue operating if we know they pose a risk of a deadly spillover? Surely we do not want to see a new outbreak?”

In reference to Thailand, Galster added: “We remain firm believers that Thailand can convert from wildlife trade ‘gateway’ to a ‘wildlife guardian’, and become a world leader in pandemic prevention. Authorities have done a great job flattening the curve here, but they have left this one door wide open –their wildlife trade.”

काठमाडौं :  यातायात व्यवस्था विभागले अनुमतिपत्रको परीक्षा पास गरेका नयाँ सेवाग्राहीलाई एक महिनाभित्रमा अनुमतिपत्र दिइसक्ने योजना बनाएको छ ।विभागले गत वर्ष खरीद गरेको ‘मास प्रिन्टर’ को क्षमता एक घण्टामा ४५० अनुमतिपत्र छाप्न सक्ने रहेको छ ।

नयाँ चालक अनुमतिपत्रका लागि फाराम भर्नेको सङ्ख्या पाँच लाखभन्दा बढी हुँदा ठूलो सङ्ख्यामा कार्ड छाप्ने उपकरण (मास प्रिन्टर) को प्रयोग गरेर एकैदिनमा धेरै सङ्ख्यामा अनुमतिपत्र छाप्न सकिने विभागले जनाएको छ । एक दिनमा १० घण्टा सञ्चालन गर्दा पनि चार हजार ५०० छापिने निर्देशकले बताए । उपकरणलाई २४ घण्टा चलाउँदा १० हजार बढी छापिने उनको भनाइ छ । विभागले कोभिड–१९ नियन्त्रणका लागि सरकारले जारी गरेको बन्दाबन्दीको समयमा तीन ‘सिफ्ट’ मा उपकरण सञ्चालन गरेको थियो ।

काठमाडौंको तारकेश्वर नगरपालिका वडा नम्बर १ मा  फेरि बर्ड फ्लु देखिएको छ । पशु सेवा विभागका अनुसार स्थानीय किसानले पालेका कुखुरामा बर्ड फ्लु रोग  पुष्टि भएको छ । बर्ड फ्लुका कारण १५ हजार कुखुरा नष्ट गरिएको पशु सेवा विभागले जनाएको छ ।  तारकेश्वर नगरपालिका वडा नम्बर १ मा पालिएका कुखुराको नमुना केन्द्रीय पशुपन्छी रोग अन्वेषण प्रयोगशालामा आरटी पीसीआर विधिबाट परीक्षण गर्दा बुधबार बर्ड फ्लु पुष्टि भएको विभागकी महानिर्देशकले जानकारी दिएको छ ।

Sandals Emerald Bay, Golf, Tennis & Spa Resort in Great Exuma,The Bahamas, has officially reopened its doors today, welcoming guests back with its warm Bahamian hospitality and enhanced health and safety measures in place to guarantee travelers’ peace of mind through the Sandals Platinum Protocols of Cleanliness. Sandals Emerald Bay, with its unique blend of sophistication and seclusion, marks the 11th Sandals Resort currently open for guests to indulge in within a picturesque environment that allows couples to focus on what’s most important – each other.

“Sandals Emerald Bay is a true exotic escape, and our team is beyond ready to welcome our beloved guests back home to paradise,” said Adam Stewart, Executive Chairman of Sandals Resorts International. “We’re greeting our guests with the same 5-star service they’ve come to expect with the seclusion and luxury they’ve been longing for, immersed in the most romantic setting.”

The resort boasts an 18-hole, 7,001 yard, par-72 championship golf course designed by World Golf Hall of Famer and brand ambassador, Greg Norman. Greg “The Shark” will help to tee-off the grand reopening celebration today by taking over @SandalsResorts Instagram with the “Ask me Anything” stories Q&A segment.

Spanning 500 acres with just 249 rooms and suites, Sandals Emerald Bay boasts a variety of open-air spaces for couples to reset their romance and rekindle their love with luxurious accommodations and hyper-personalized service at every level. Couples can enjoy a worry-free all-inclusive vacation knowing they’ll experience the Sandals Platinum Protocols of Cleanliness from the moment they arrive, and through the entire on-resort experience, including across over 18 key touchpoints.

Guests booking their next trip to Sandals Emerald Bay can do so with confidence through Sandals Resorts’ ‘Book with Confidence’ program and Travel Protection Plan Insurance, purchased on behalf of guests, and recently extended for all bookings made now through August 31, 2021. Plus, the Luxury Included® resort company now offers complimentary COVID-19 testing on-resort for departing flights heading back to the U.S., Canada, and the United Kingdom per new CDC requirements, in an effort to make the vacation experience as seamless as possible.

अमेरिकाको फुड एण्ड ड्रग एड्मिनिस्ट्रेसन (एफडीए) का विशेषज्ञहरुले जोन्सन एण्ड जोन्सनले विकास गरेको कोरोना भाइरस (कोभिड–१९) विरुद्धको खोप ८८ प्रतिशत प्रभावकारी देखिएको बताएको छ ।

जोन्सन एण्ड जोन्सन कम्पनीले आफूले विकास गरेको खोप लक्षण नदेखिइकन हुने संक्रमण नियन्त्रणको लागि पनि प्रभावकारी हुनेएफडीएका विशेषज्ञहरुले बताएको छ ।

सर्वोच्च अदालतले प्रतिनिधि सभा पुनर्स्थापना गरिदिएपछि अर्थतन्त्रले पुनः गति लिने संकेत देखाएको छ । कोरोना भाइरसको संक्रमणले थिलाथिला भएको अर्थतन्त्रको पुर्नउत्थान नहुँदै प्रधानमन्त्री केपी शर्मा ओलीले संसद विघटन गरी निर्वाचनमा जाने घोषणा गरेसँगै अर्थतन्त्र ओरालो लाग्ने अनुमान गरिएको थियो ।

यसअघि ०७४ सालमा सम्पन्न प्रतिनिधिसभा र प्रदेशसभा निर्वाचनका लागि करिव ७ अर्ब ७६ करोड खर्च भएको थियो । उक्त निर्वाचनमा सरकार, सुरक्षा निकाय, पर्यवेक्षकलगायतमा खर्च जोड्दा ३० अर्बभन्दा बढी लगेको थियो । आगामी वैशाखमा हुने भनिएको प्रतिनिधि सभाको निर्वाचनका लागि मात्रै पनि ठूलो खर्च हुने थियो । कोरोना भाइरसले थिलोथिलो भएको समयमा मुलुकले निर्वाचनमा हुने भीमकाय आकारको खर्च व्योहोर्न नसक्ने र अर्थतन्त्र झन धरारायी अवस्थामा पुग्ने अनुमान अर्थविद्हरुले गरेका थिए । तर सर्वोच्च अदालतले संसद पुनर्स्थापना गरेपछि निर्वाचनमा जाने फर्जुल खर्च नियन्त्रण भएको छ । प्रधानमन्त्री केपी शर्मा ओलीले ५ पुसमा प्रतिनिधि सभा भंग गरी आगामी वैशाख १७ र २७ गते दुई चरणमा मध्यावधि निर्वाचन गर्ने सिफारिस गरेसँगै लगानीकर्ताहरुले आर्थिक अस्थिरता निम्तिएको प्रतिक्रिया दिएका थिए । सरकारले पुस ५ गते प्रतिनिधि सभा विघटन गरी निर्वाचनमा जाने निणर्य गरेको थियो । निर्वाचनका लागि ७ अर्ब रुपैयाँ छुट्टाएको थियो । संसद पुनर्स्थापना भएपछि उक्त रकम विकास निर्माणमा जाने र त्यसले अर्थतन्त्रलाई गतिशिल दिन सहयोग पुग्ने अनुमान अर्थविद्हरुले गरेका छन् । कोभिडका कारण मुलुकको आम्दानीको स्रोत सुक्दै गएको छ । यस्तो अवस्थामा सरकारले निर्वाचनको घोषणा गरेको थियो । निजी क्षेत्रको सवैभन्दा ठूलो संस्था नेपाल उद्योग वाणिज्य महासंघले संसद विघटन भएसँगै बिज्ञप्ति मार्फत राजनीतिक दलका नेताहरुलाई निकै सुझबुझ तरिकाले गर्न निणर्य गर्न आग्रह गरेको थियो । राजनीतिक अस्थिरताले लगानीको वातावरणमा खलल पुग्ने भएकाले निणर्य लिनु पहिले गम्भीर भएर सोच्न महासंघले दलहरुलाई आग्रह गरेको थियो ।

Ukraine International Airlines  is pleased to announce the possibility of resuming flights to Baku from March 13, 2021. Restart will resume direct flights between the capitals of Ukraine and Azerbaijan, and will also provide passengers from different regions of Ukraine with convenient connections in Kyiv.

Until the end of April, UIA plans to operate flights to Heydar Aliyev Airport twice a week on Tuesday and Saturday.

Currently, only citizens of Azerbaijan, employees and heads of diplomatic missions and consulates in Azerbaijan and members of their families, foreigners with a residence permit, family members of a resident (children, parents, spouse / spouse with documents confirming family ties) are allowed to enter Azerbaijan, provided negative result of a PCR test, which was taken in an accredited laboratory “IMMD” no more than 48 hours before departure. A mandatory requirement is the presence of a printed negative test result for COVID-19, which contains a QR code, which makes it possible to electronically verify the document in accordance with the requirements of the Heydar Aliyev International Airport.

In turn, travelers from Baku to the cities of Ukraine will need only to have an insurance policy covering the cost of treatment for COVID-19.