Mozambique offers more to see than the seaside

Mozambique offers more to see than the seaside

By Dorine Reinstein / March 25, 2016

The CFM railway station and bus terminal in Maputo. The station is a historical landmark from the colonial period.Photo Credit: Fedor Selivanov/Shutterstock.com

Mozambique is mostly seen as a spectacular beach destination with palm-lined, white-sand beaches. But the destination has so much more to offer than just its spectacular seaside resorts.

The country’s capital, Maputo, is often overlooked by travelers, but the city has a lot to offer. Although Maputo was badly damaged during the country’s 15-year civil war that ended in 1992, it is now a vibrant tourist town with hip sidewalk cafes, jazz bars and a lively arts scene.

Amazon: Xipaya heritage meets beiradeiros culture

Report from the Amazon: Indigenous and non-indigenous cultures, once hostile to each other, now mingle

24th March 2016 / Sue Branford

Xipaya Indians and beiradeiros (river people), are finding a life in common in the village of Tukaya on the remote reaches of the Iriri River.

Published under Creative Commons BY-NC-ND

• A small team of fact-finding researchers heads up the Iriri River, stopping at the village of Tukaya in time to enjoy a festival with the Xipaya Indians and their non-indigenous neighbors, the beiradeiros (river people).
• The two cultures, which once loathed each other, are experiencing a slow, contradictory, mixing of traditions. Older Indians sometimes deny and downplay their indigenous heritage, while younger ones embrace and celebrate it. Of course, the younger Indians have also wholeheartedly adopted some modern conveniences, like disposable diapers.
• Likewise the beiradeiros: they once enjoyed more privileges than the much abused Indians, but now complain that those living in the federally declared indigenous reserves have more advantages than their riverine counterparts. The day ends symbolically with a festival, as Indians and river people — antagonists long ago — join together in a community dance.

Beetles and forests

A forest full of beetles: an interview with bug researcher Caroline Chaboo

1st March 2016 / Shreya Dasgupta

Mongabay interviewed Caroline Chaboo, an Assistant Professor at the University of Kansas, who has been documenting beetles in the forests of Peru since 2008. Chaboo hopes that the beetle diversity she is uncovering in Peru will help showcase the value of the Peruvian forests.

Published under Creative Commons BY-NC-ND

• Caroline Chaboo has been documenting beetle diversity in the Peruvian forests since 2008.
• She focuses on leaf beetles, one of the most commonly encountered groups of beetles.
• Mongabay spoke with Chaboo about her love for beetles, and her work in Peru.

Beetles are everywhere.

Of the roughly 1.5 million species described so far, beetles account for around 400,000 species, making them the most species-rich group known in the world. In contrast, birds account for only around 10,000 of all described species, while only 5,600 of all known species are mammals.

Beetles are incredibly adaptable and diverse. They have learned to use a wide variety of habitats, and have become very specialized in the process, playing crucial roles in the ecosystem. They are important pollinators, recyclers, scavengers and decomposers. Much of beetle diversity, however, is yet to be uncovered.

In Peru, Caroline Chaboo, an Assistant Professor at the University of Kansas, is doing just that. Since 2008, she has been meticulously collecting beetles in the Peruvian forests, hoping to build an accurate picture of the rich beetle diversity there.

 

(…)Mongabay spoke with Chaboo about her love for beetles, and her work in Peru.

Pseudocalaspidea: Very little is known about this spectacular leaf beetle from ACA Villa Carmen Biological station. Photo by Caroline Chaboo.

HAPPY EASTER!

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