The Geographer: Africa (Summer 2009)

The

Geographer Summer 2009

The newsletter of the

Royal Scottish Geographical Society

Scotland lends a hand in the warm heart of Africa

In This Edition... ·T alks Programme Supplement ·Y our Chance To Nominate Awards ·C ountry In Focus: Malawi – The Too Warm Heart Of Africa ·O n The Map: David Livingstone’s Map Of Lake Malawi •A n Expert View: Women And Geography •A n Expert View: Carbon Capture and Storage

“My object in returning to Africa is to try to get a permanent path to that central region from which most of the slaves have always been drawn... to propitiate the different chiefs along (the Zambesi)... endeavouring to induce them to cultivate cotton and to abolish the slave trade.”

David Livingstone 1855

·R eader Offer: The Third Man Factor – Surviving The Impossible plus other news, comments, books...

RSGS – Making Connections between People, Places & the Planet

The

Geographer Chairman’s Introduction hank you for all your kind notes, letters and comments received about the new look Geographer, a tacit example of the changes Mike and his team are making to refresh and rejuvenate the Society. I hope it leads to more people joining as members and supporting the wider work of the Society in general.

T

I was delighted with their initiative resulting in the Shackleton Talk being held in Perth Concert Hall on 16th May. It was an excellent evening and served to raise the profile of the Society with exceptional local media coverage. If you would like to be kept informed about these and other extra talks please consider letting the office have your email address.

The Shackleton Room’s splendid bookcase is filling up; it houses the combined Collections of the Scottish Arctic Club and the late Angus Erskine. I express my personal thanks to the two members who have, anonymously, made gifts to help with the completion of this attractive meeting room.

I finish on a more personal note. As well as our joint membership of the Society, my wife and I also have joint memberships of both the NTS and the JMT. We have not visited a property for at least three years and yet we remain members because we approve of their wider work and know our subscriptions support that work. I ask that you all view the RSGS in the same light – we need your support more than ever.

With best regards, Barrie Brown RSGS, Lord John Murray House, 15-19 North Port, Perth, PH1 5LU tel: 01738 455050 email: enquiries@rsgs.org www.rsgs.org

Glen Coe under ice Scientists have discovered that vast expanses of ice in east Antarctica hide spectacular jagged mountain ranges similar in appearance to the Highlands of Scotland. These ranges would have been carved by glaciers long before the ice sheet came into being about 14 million years ago.

Professor Martin Siegert, of the University of Edinburgh’s School of Geosciences said that it was exciting to discover what lay hidden.

“You get classic features – knife-edge ridges, very steep sides, valleys that are carved out,” he said. “It is very similar to the landscape in the Highlands, such as Glen Coe, which was also created by glaciers. The landscape is spectacular”.

Professor Siegert went on to explain that there are many things we don’t know about the underside of the ice sheet, and in fact, we know far more about the surface of Mars. He felt that the mapping of the topography of the landscape enables us to get an idea of past changes and only by knowing the past can we know what will happen in the future.

Emissions from agriculture

We need more members!

According to a report to the Scottish Government last May, agriculture could account for 25% of Scotland’s total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Significant changes in agricultural practice will be essential if the government is to deliver its commitment to cut Scotland’s emissions by 80% by 2050. To help bring about these changes, Soil Association Scotland has launched a Climate Change Programme - a three year initiative which will train 500 farmers and growers in the skills and knowledge needed to both reduce GHG emissions, and make their businesses more resilient.

Last year our member numbers fell again. Whilst many members enjoy our talks programme it isn’t the only thing we do. Membership income fell again for the eighth successive year. Can members please do whatever they can to help recruit other members, encourage people to attend our talks and share their magazines if they’ve finished with them – we need more than ever to promote the society and everything it does if we are going to succeed.

The programme begins with a one day workshop that will look at nitrogen fixation through clover sowing and other practical and cost effective ways to improve soil management, reduce inputs, and increase carbon sequestration.

It is open to all (including non farmers), and will run on six days up to October, hosted by a variety of farms across Scotland.

For more information visit www.soilassociationscotland.org

Charity registered in Scotland no SC015599 The views expressed in this newsletter are not necessarily those of the RSGS. Masthead picture © Scottish Viewpoint Picture Library.

RSGS – Making Connections between People, Places & the Planet

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NEWS People • Places • Planet B R E A K I N G

‘Unfinished Business’ completed in Perth Nearly 300 people braved the weather to attend the extra talk in Perth in May

by Lt Col Henry Worsley. Mixing diary references from Shackleton’s Nimrod Expedition, original photos and modern footage, the acting soldier described Caitlen Daisley neckerchief is returned by Henry Worsley his 920 mile trek to the South Pole, retracing the footsteps of Shackleton’s journey of 1908/09. The team of three, all descended from the original crew, even managed to arrive at the point at which Shackleton made the life-saving decision to turn round (97 miles short of the Pole), one hundred years later to the day, and then continued to the Pole to complete the journey that Shackleton, a former Director of the RSGS, never did. Along with Shackleton’s original compass they also carried a neck scarf from young Caitlin Daisley, from Greenock, after the 12 year old applied to join their expedition. Henry Worsley used the evening to return her neckerchief and present other members of the Greenock Scout Troop with mementos of their trip. Not to be outdone the spirited scouts handed back a cheque for £920 they had raised on a sponsored walk.

The talk also raised nearly £2,000 which was split between RSGS and the Shackleton Foundation.

Walton prize winner announced Named after Professor Ken Walton from Aberdeen in the 1970’s, the prize is given to the student with the best undergraduate geography dissertation from any Scottish university.

The 2008 winner was announced recently

by Aberdeen’s Alastair Gemmell - Peter CharvilleMort of St Andrews University.

Dissertation title: Applications of Plasma-Oxidation in Palaeoenvironmental Geography and Archaeology.

The dissertation looked at the applications of oxygen plasma and its potential as a pre-treatment technique for radiocarbon (C14) dating. One of the major limiting factors of C14 dating is the presence of contaminants on the surface and within the sample. The technique of plasma ashing reduces the time spent on pretreatment and is particularly applicable when sample size is limited. The technique was also found to be useful within palaeoenvironmental studies, as the isotopic composition of the sample remains unaffected.

N E W S

David Livingstone Centre to stay open - for now at least After the recent possible closure of several NTS properties, Mike Robinson met with the new NTS Chief Executive Kate Mavor to discuss ways to assist them, in particular in resolving the situation around the David Livingstone Centre (DLC). There are many parallels between RSGS and NTS, so our approach has been to try to help find a solution and help present the DLC’s case. We are keen, as we know both parties are, to find a solution.

Owned by its trustees, the DLC has been run by NTS but has reportedly cost them £100,000 a year net to operate. The trustees themselves are willing and keen to take back ownership but the announced closure left little time to produce a rescue plan.

RSGS has been encouraging discussions with both parties because of the obvious association the Society has with David Livingstone. With great local backing, the South Lanarkshire Council have increased their support. Other costs have been trimmed and as we go to print, it looks as if a short term solution has been found and the centre should be able to open this year after all, although there have unfortunately been one or two job losses.

DLC representative Andrew Smith was delighted with RSGS’s backing and told us that all the hard work of the trustees and local community has paid off – at least for the immediate term. “We still need to find the money to sustain the centre into the future. We have launched a campaign and we hope as many people as possible will back us.”

To help and for more info please see www.davidlivingstoneappeal.com

NEWS People • Places • Planet Dee Help wanted Caffari to write book of life sails into A virtual book of all life on Earth biodiversity, where environmental is being created by UK and US observations, specimen data, history scientists. experimental results, and sophisticated modelling can online reference work will (again!) The be done across all levels of create a detailed world map of Hampshire yachtswoman Dee Caffari and her fourstrong all-women crew have beaten the 2,500 nautical mile round Britain and Ireland mono-hull record. They arrived back in Portsmouth on 22nd June 2009 having smashed the record by 17 hours and 16 seconds.

flora and fauna and track changes in biodiversity, with data gathered by members of the public.

Early elements of the giant database, such as automatic species identification systems, are already under construction.

“We are creating a virtual observatory for world

biodiversity - from genes to ecosystems,” said James Edwards, executive director of the Encyclopedia of Life, in a statement.

The Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC, and London’s Natural History Museum are the key backers of the project.

Fruitful Scotland

This is Dee’s second record of the year, as back in February she became the first woman to sail solo non-stop around the world in both directions during the Vendee Globe.

Dee is featured in the forthcoming talk season when she will be speaking to the Aberdeen, Perth and Stirling centres in January 2010.

Kirkcaldy Chair Ron MacLaren, the Kirkcaldy Chair has stepped down, leaving a vacancy in the local centre, after several years of sterling work. His humour and help will be missed, but he has held the mantle successfully for more years than he cares to remember.

We hope someone else in Kirkcaldy is able to step into his shoes before the new season of talks kicks off in the autumn.

The Commonwealth Orchard is a grassroots Scotland-wide scheme to plant community, school and children’s orchards across Scotland and is looking for a range of community partners to help it reach fruition! The ancient concept of Common Weal and common good is at the core of this idea, that taking part will enrich everyone.

The idea is to help communities across Scotland to plant 2014 new trees, to celebrate and map existing orchards, and to pick

Farewell to staff We were sorry to see Marilynne Johnstone leaving in May after a year and a half in the RSGS. Marilynne was largely responsible for the move of collections and files from the Strathclyde University premises to the HQ in Perth and helped enormously in establishing the new office – no mean feat amidst the hundreds of boxes, papers and various extended building works. She leaves the Society in good fettle however, and the office is starting to work smoothly and increasingly efficiently, so a huge thank you and we wish her the best in her travels.

We were also sorry to see media consultant Bruce Maclachlan leave the RSGS. After an initial six month extension, Bruce’s contract came to an end in April this year and he joined staff for an enjoyable lunch in Perth in May as a thank you for his nearly thirteen years of invaluable service. Thank you to all of those who contributed to Bruce and Marilynne’s leaving gifts – we wish them both well with their future plans.

and eat the produce - as well as to use orchards for a wide range of arts, events and community uses. It’s a great way to create a positive and delicious legacy of the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

The Commonwealth Orchard was launched in the East End of Glasgow on 30th Dec 08 and is looking for support and backing to make this happen. Please contact: John Hancox on 0778 606 3918 or email: john@commonwealthorchard.com www.commonwealthorchard.com

Card problem solved Some members have reported the ink on their membership cards has rubbed off in the post. We apologise for the inconvenience and would ask anyone who has experienced this to send their cards back, or contact the office. The problem was a temporary one and has now been resolved, and we will reissue your cards.

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NEWS People • Places • Planet B R E A K I N G

N E W S

Legacies promised

42% amendment approved by Scottish Parliament

The Scottish Climate Bill The Scottish Climate Bill has entered its third stage debate in the Scottish Parliament and is set to become legislation by the summer, if there are no hold ups. This bill has been hailed by politicians as world leading and church groups, unions, aid agencies and environment bodies have all welcomed this approach.

This year culminates with the climate negotiations in Copenhagen, and with Obama

in the White House there is a great deal of hope that a credible agreement can be reached. Clear and distinct legislation from the Scottish Parliament could set an example for the world, but campaigners believe it must be unequivocal to have the impact everyone hopes it will have. It includes aviation and shipping in the targets; includes reporting consumption based emissions (i.e. all the ones we

are responsible for, through imports etc, and not just those we produce in Scotland); and has duties on public bodies to report emissions; but whilst its emissions target for 2050 of 80% cuts is welcomed, many feel the 2020 target (currently 34% not the 42% many feel is necessary) falls short of being world leading and therefore lets the bill down as a whole and reduces its ‘leadership’ potential.

How to make friends...

HQ played host to an introductory meeting with Roseanna Cunningham MSP, Minister for the Environment in May. John Swinney MSP also met with our new Chief Executive in the same month. We also met the Provost of Perth, the Leader of the Council and the Head of the Perth Common Good Fund, attended a National Geographic event in St Andrews and an SDC event in Edinburgh. Mike also shared the stage with the scientific envoy for The Maldives at the Edinburgh World Justice Festival and attended a ‘Green List’ awards event, run by the Sustainable Development Forum and The Scotsman Newspaper, as one of Scotland’s top 50 Sustainability Champions.

Increased acidity of oceans warning The Royal Society has called for CO2’s effect on seas to be included in climate change talks in Copenhagen in December of this year.

Increasing acidity can damage wildlife, particularly shell-forming creatures and the species that feed on them, with knock-on effects on people who rely on the oceans for food and livelihoods. Damage to corals could also reduce the coastal protection from storms that reefs currently provide.

According to the US researchers, there were almost 13,000 fishermen in the UK in 2007, who harvested £645m of marine products, almost half (43%) of which were shellfish.

“The effects will be seen worldwide, threatening food security, reducing coastal protection and damaging the local economies that may be least able to tolerate it” the report stated.

Ecuador wants $5.2bn not to drill Ecuador’s President Rafael

The oil deposits, in the Yasuni

Correa said that he wants

Biosphere Reserve and National

the world to pay his country

Park, have presented a dilemma

around $5.2 billion in exchange

for the Correa administration,

for not drilling for oil in the

which on one hand advocates

Yasuni National Park, a 2.3m

strong ecological policies,

acre UNESCO world biosphere

but on the other depends on

reserve, nearly 200 miles south

revenue from oil sales and is a

east of the capital Quito.

member of OPEC.

In the current climate with declining membership subscriptions and falls in the value of investments, it has never been more critical for the RSGS to attract support from its members as well as attracting new members and we need you all to help if you can. We are fortunate to have received two recent legacies, both left by keen supporters of the RSGS. If anyone would like to talk to us about leaving a legacy pledge, please do get in touch.

RGS Michael Palin has been revealed as the new President of RGS.

You thought we had it bad... ?!

The World Bank has warned that Africa is likely to be the worst-hit region by the global financial crisis.

The crisis is impacting Africa through a sharp fall in all main revenue generating areas: private capital flows, remittances, and commodity prices.

In addition, foreign aid is dwindling because the crisis is happening in countries that provide aid and, as their economies contract, aid will fall both in volume and as a share of GDP. As a result, and although the financial sector in many African countries came out relatively unscathed by the crisis, the real economy is reeling. Africa’s GDP growth, initially is now expected to fall to 2.4%, much lower than the 6.4% forecast.

Such a drop is likely to have devastating, long-term consequences on Africa and could even lead to a humanitarian crisis, the Bank cautioned.

The impact is expected to be even more devastating in the 35 countries classified as ‘fragile states’ by the World Bank – 25 of which are in Africa and include Malawi.

NEWS People • Places • Planet Scouting Geosciences in Malawi Geosciences have been In 2007, I was part of a UK expedition to Malawi. We took a total of thirty four young people from the UK to work with the Scout Association of Malawi.

Twelve were from Scotland. Our project was the

given a stay of execution at St Andrews University.

New Principal Louise Richardson, has postponed the closure of the division of the Geography Department.

The next twelve months will see a full review of options before a final decision is made, so they are not out of the woods yet.

Welcome We are very pleased to welcome Fiona Parker (top) and Marie Hainey who have joined the staff at RSGS HQ. Fiona works full time and Marie part time helping to run the office and the finances and they will be the first point of welcome for those of you wishing to contact the office.

Fair Maid’s House update We have recently applied for substantial funding for the Fair Maid’s House on the back of our successful planning application. If successful we may be accelerating our plans despite the recession.

We hope to update further in the next issue.

renovation of the National Campsite just outside Zomba on the slopes of the Zomba Plateau.

We helped to make the campsite self sufficient and already this year, they have generated sufficient funds, to pay the Warden’s salary for one year.

Scottish Scouting is launching an appeal to support Scouting in Malawi which, having been outlawed during the Banda years, is once again growing rapidly.

Anne Masino

First UNESCO Chair in Scotland appointed at UHI Professor Martin Price, Director of the Centre for Mountain Studies (CMS) at Perth College UHI, was appointed Chairholder of the UNESCO Chair in Sustainable Mountain Development at UHI Millennium Institute in March.

This UNESCO Chair encourages cooperation across borders and recognises that mountains cover 24% of global land, and that 26% of the global population lives in and around mountains, which

provide vital goods and services to over half of humankind.

The project objectives are:

Perth in September 2010, linked to a public event co-organised with the RSGS);

1) to facilitate further development and implementation of the Global Change in Mountain Regions Research Strategy;

3) to foster and support the development and delivery of Masters-level courses that support sustainable mountain development and subsequently with institutions in Latin America.

2) to organise and contribute to international meetings that facilitate action towards sustainable mountain development (this will include an international conference on global change and mountain regions in

For more details contact: Professor Martin Price, Centre for Mountain Studies, Perth College UHI, martin.price@perth.uhi.ac.uk

Demand for water everywhere, but not a drop to drink The World Water Development report recently warned that 47% of the global population would be living in areas of high water stress by 2030. It also warned that ‘some countries are already reaching the limits of their water resources’, resulting in an intensification of competition for water resources that threatens to stoke conflicts and make water supplies an “increasingly politicised issue”.

The report warned that a number of factors are combining to increase demand for water at a time when climate change means more regions are likely to face prolonged droughts.

According to the report, population growth combined with increased demand for meat and dairy products, increased demand for biofuels and an expected 60% increase in hydroelectric power will increase pressure on water resources in many countries.

The report concludes that these risks mean there is a strong economic case for investing in water infrastructure, calculating

that each dollar invested in improving access to water and sanitation will deliver a boost to GDP of between $3 (£2.14) and $34 (£22).

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NEWS People • Places • Planet Letter from Greenland Inuit in Greenland and across the circumpolar Arctic are already experiencing the effects of climate change.

Inuit hunters with a lifetime of experience on the land and sea are reporting rapid changes all around them. They observe that the spring melt is faster, that storms are violent and less predictable, and that fish and seal species are shifting northward, for example. Inuit across the circumpolar Arctic are noticing that sea levels are rising because buildings that used to be away from the water are now being lapped at by the waves . In Canada and Alaska, Inuit communities are experiencing rapid coastal erosion in places where sea ice no longer protects shorelines from the strong waves churned up by storms at sea. This problem is compounded by melting permafrost, which threatens the structu ral integrity of houses, schools, roads, airstrips, pipelines, and virtually all the infrastructure in some communities.

In addition, health experts are warning our people that the sea mamm als we depend on for subsistence are no longer as healthy as they once were because contam inants are being collected in their fatty tissues and are getting passed up the food chain to us. They believe this problem will become worse as temperatures rise.

Because we Inuit are already suffering the negative effects of climat e change, and because we can already predict that higher temperatures will cause enorm ous challenges to our way of life, Inuit are calling on all nations to do everything within their power to stop climate change. For the good of all of us, we urgently call on legisla tors around the world to step up and take leadership on this matter so that there can be a major breakthrough in Copenhagen later this year.

In Scotland, where I understand there is world leading legisla tion currently up for debate, policymakers have the opportunity to adopt ambitious emission reduct ion targets that will raise the global standard and thereby give the interna tional negoti ations a new forward momentum.

On behalf of circumpolar Inuit, I strongly urge them to take advan tage of this opportunity.

Aqqaluk Lynge Inuit Circumpolar Council (Greenland) President to the Royal Scottish Geographical Society 9 June 2009 Aqqaluk will be speaking for the Society in October this year in Kirkcaldy, Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Efficiency bill Five years ago I began working on my member’s bill on energy efficiency and microgeneration.The bill proposes to provide incentives for householders and businesses to make their properties more energy efficient and to encourage increased use of renewable sources to heat and power our buildings – new and old.

Support outwith Parliament has grown for the idea of giving people tax incentives to install energy efficiency and in the process create local jobs and save

people money on their fuel bills.

The debate has moved on hugely since I introduced my bill to Parliament, gathering strong cross party support on the way.

Developers and builders are slowly beginning to act with technologies tested and more established, as a result of successive grants to householders to test out the technology.

We can do more to tackle fuel poverty while tackling climate change. There is also a strong appetite amongst the renewables industry to see a mass market in technologies which in other

European and developed countries are now seen as commonplace.

The Scottish Government’s Bill as introduced lacks the policy measures and urgency to make the most of Scotland’s potential.

I’ve been working with colleagues in the Labour Party and with colleagues in other political parties to strengthen the bill as it passes through the Parliament.

I hope with new policy measures on energy efficiency added we can start to bring about the radical shift we need to tackle climate change.

Sarah Boyack MSP

“In Scotland, policymakers have the opportunity to adopt ambitious emission reduction targets that will raise the global standard and thereby give the international negotiations a new forward momentum.”

Country in Focus: Malawi

The too warm heart of Africa “Climate change will affect us all, but it is the world’s poorest people who are suffering first and worst.

Already the impacts of climate change are being felt in Malawi.”

A

t the end of May, the World Development Movement (WDM) published a report showing the devastating impacts that climate change is having on Malawi and urged Scottish politicians to ensure that Scotland’s climate change legislation sets the standard for action to reduce emissions across the industrialised world.

While the average Scot is responsible for 155 times the amount of carbon dioxide produced by the average Malawian, the World Health Organisation estimates that 1,500 Malawians die every year through climate change-related disease and malnutrition. WDM’s report, Warm heart of Africa: the impact of climate change in Malawi and why the Scottish climate bill matters highlights the strong and important link

between Scotland and Malawi, dating from the days of David Livingstone right up until the present day, and the Scottish Government’s commitment to help the people of Malawi.

With increasing temperatures, unpredictable seasons and

higher incidences of flood and drought, lives and livelihoods in Malawi and across SubSaharan Africa are already being lost.

Liz Murray, a geographer and Head of Scottish Campaigns for WDM said: “Climate change will affect us all, but it is the world’s poorest people who are suffering first and worst. Already the impacts of climate change are being felt in Malawi.

In a country already struggling to cope with extreme poverty and the devastating effects of one of the world’s worst HIV/AIDS epidemics, climate change could literally be the last straw. A strong Scottish climate bill, that sets the standard for action by industrialised countries, could play an important part in securing a successful global agreement in the United Nations climate negotiations in Copenhagen in December.

A copy of the report can be found at www.wdmscotland.org.uk

Holyrood School Malawi Project 2009 New 3 Class Block at CI Primary School - 2008

Renovated Block at Zingwangwa Primary School - 2008

After the outstanding success of the Holyrood Malawi Project 2008, where 23 of our senior pupils worked with the local community at our partner schools to build a new 3 classroom block and to renovate another.

We have worked hard throughout the year to raise the £ 70,000 necessary to fund our project and also to ensure we are properly prepared for our trip and for the building projects we will undertake. By way of preparation we had regular meetings, attended a PDW at Craig Lodge, Dalmally, the home of Mary’s Meals.

We also attended a short Construction Course at Cardonald College which was both informative and a great deal of fun.

It was Nelson Mandela who said “Education is the one sure road out of poverty.” We believe this to be true and hope that through our work we can help, even if it is only in a small way.

Tony Begley Senior Depute Head Holyrood Secondary School, Glasgow We hope to feature in a future edition the progress made by Holyrood School during their trip to Malawi.

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My Malawi Every time I visit Malawi I am struck by the country’s huge potential. The stunning landscape, from the shores of Lake Malawi to the pine clad mountains of the Northern region, makes it a great tourist destination.

Its fertile red soil, with the right management, can produce a wide range of crops, including coffee for export and maize and vegetables for domestic consumption.

And Lake Malawi, Africa’s third largest freshwater lake, teems with the world’s largest collection of chilids (fish), making it a zoologist’s delight.

of Scotland in every corner of Malawi: from the street names in Blantyre, the country’s biggest city, to the bramble bushes on Zomba Plateau planted by some long dead Scot.

And today there are more Scots than ever using their energy and their skills to help Malawi’s development.

Thousands of Scottish schoolchildren raise money for their partner schools in Malawi; Scots healthcare professionals spend their annual leave working in rural clinics, saving lives and sharing their knowledge; volunteers help with feeding programmes and business advice.

But Malawi’s biggest asset, as with any country, is its people.

When Scotland renewed its old friendship with Malawi in 2005 both governments decided that the focus of our future cooperation would be people to people.

Scotland may be a rich country when compared to Malawi, but we share the same personal and national aspirations.

We both want a sustainable economy, the best education service possible for our young people, an active democracy.

Scots have worked alongside Malawians for the last 150 years and there is a little bit

And Scots scientists are working with their counterparts in Malawi’s universities to find sustainable solutions in areas such as aquaculture, animal husbandry and managing HIV AIDS. Malawi faces many challenges.

It ranks among the world’s most densely populated countries, with an estimated population of 14.3 million.

Malawi has mainly been in the public eye recently because of Madonna’s attempts to adopt a And climate change is already small child from the having a terrible impact on country, but there is the country. The World Health Organisation estimates 1,500 much about Malawi Malawians die every year which has gone through climate change related largely unreported. diseases and malnutrition.

It reports to have And the daily struggle to grow one of the fastest food will become even tougher as the effects of climate change growing economies take hold. in the world and in But I am hopeful for the future May the country went of both our countries. I have to the polls for a seen for myself what can be achieved when people work crucial election. This, together – from fish farms on the fourth since the the shores of Lake Malawi to demise of President new classrooms in rural villages Banda’s thirty built by fundraising in rural Scotland. year dictatorship, Each of the collaborations re-elected the between Scots and Malawians Democratic represent what is so special Progressive Party’s about our partnership.

(DPP) presidential People helping people. People candidate, Bingu wa using their energy and skills to make things happen, and people Mutharika despite the in Malawi, and Scotland, having two main opposition their lives changed as a result. parties joining forces.

It has one of the highest national HIV prevalence rates in the the world; according to UNAIDS around 900,000 Malawians are living with HIV.

Rt Hon Jack McConnell MSP First Minister of Scotland 2001 - 2007

Strathclyde’s Malawi Project – helping future sustainability The University of Strathclyde chose to mark the 21st century through a project with Malawi on self help and sustainability.

The project builds on Malawi’s historical links with Scotland and the University through explorer and missionary David Livingstone, who studied at Strathclyde in the 1830s.

Through training support for the next generation of Malawian teachers, nurses, scientists and engineers, the staff, students and graduates from the University

have been supporting diverse projects including the provision of library books and journals to the University of Malawi, assisting in water management schemes, the provision of solar powered electric supplies, and computing and IT equipment to support schools and colleges. As well, the University has provided scholarships for local students to undertake their studies in the universities in Malawi.

One of the first Malawi Millennium Projects, and now a

centre-piece of the wider links between the City of Glasgow and Malawi, is the David Livingstone Centre in Lilongwe. Opened eight years ago, the clinic was funded, equipped and nurses trained through the project in conjunction with Bell College.

Since 2006, the Lord Provost of Glasgow’s Fund has helped to extend and update equipment, making this one of the key resources for the primary care of mothers and children, and a training facility for nurses.

Here Jack McConnell reports on the special relationship between Scotland and Malawi.

On the Map

David Livingstone’s Map Of Lake Malawi

D

avid Livingstone made three journeys to the area around what was then called Lake Nyasa, today Lake Malawi, in 1859, 1861 and 1863, and was the first European to map it accurately. He was probably the first European to visit the area and produced this large sketch map of the south west corner of the lake on thin, squared graph paper, using both pencil and pen, with blue watercolour added to indicate the edges of the lake.

It is thought Livingstone compiled the map in stages, possibly adding to it during or after his three journeys there, rather than drawing it all after completion of this phase of his explorations.

Indeed in places he includes the same information, first in pencil and then – not specifically overwriting it but adjacent to it - in pen.

It is thought that the hand written pencil notes on the map relating to Livingstone’s calculations of the latitude and longitude of the area and citing comparison with those on John Arrowsmith’s map, must have been added a little later, following his return from Africa and around the time of publication in 1865 of Arrowsmith’s map in David and Charles Livingstone’s, Narrative of an Expedition to the Zambezi and its Tributaries.

Livingstone explored the west coast of Lake Malawi in 1861 and in annotations on the lake’s shoreline he gives the dates he was there, 2 – 28 / 29 September. He was careful to include geographical data describing the terrain such as the ‘high sandy shores’, ‘high plains’ and indicates where the terrain was ‘marshy’ or ‘rocky’. He did not personally explore the east coast though he obviously used local knowledge to add his pencilled-in indications of some of the peoples who lived there and the names they gave to their lands.

He also took great pains to record local place names.

Between July and October 1863 Livingstone explored the area from the lakeside near Marenga westwards towards Chinya’nga, returning to the lake at Molamba (names rendered here as portrayed on his map) and this journey is depicted in dotted black lines.

At the extreme northwest corner of his map he inscribes, ‘Bemba Lake (?)’, presumably added from information gained locally. It was near Lake Bemba that Livingstone was to die ten years later.

Margaret Wilkes

I am indebted to Ian C Cunningham, former Keeper of Manuscripts in the National Library of Scotland for detail on the background to Livingstone’s compilation of this map.

Map reproduced with kind permission of the Trustees of the National Library of Scotland.

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David Livingstone, the Man

David Livingstone was born on the 19th March 1813 in Blantyre, in a one room house in the tenement building called Shuttle Row, which he shared with two brothers and two sisters.

David started work at the age of ten. He worked from 5am until 8pm and then went to school for two hours, six days a week. On the seventh day the walked into Hamilton twice a day to attend church. David spent any spare time reading and he had a wonderful retentive memory, always wanting to be a doctor and a missionary.

He entered the Anderson College in Glasgow and qualified as a doctor in 1838.

He set sail for Africa in 1840 and during his thirty three years in Africa, he was only home twice. Whilst there, he became convinced of his mission to reach new peoples in the interior of the country and introduce them to Christianity. Whilst setting up a new mission at Mabotswa among the Kgatla people in 1844, he was mauled by a lion which might have killed him if it had not been distracted by the African teacher Mebalwe, who was also badly injured. Both recovered but Livingstone’s arm was partially disabled and caused him pain for the rest of his life.

Livingstone reached southern Malawi in 1859, by then the main source for the 40,000 slaves sold each year in Zanzibar. As well as introducing Christianity, Livingstone also saw freeing the Africans from slavery, through promoting

trade, as a key role. Indeed during a trip home in 1864, Livingstone publicised the horrors of the slave trade, which led to him securing private support for another expedition to central Africa. This enabled him to search for the Nile’s source and report further on slavery. This expedition was to be his last, and on 1st May 1873, he died in Chief Chitambo’s village which is now in present day Zambia. Livingstone’s heart was buried under a Mvula tree near the spot where he died, now the site of the Livingstone Memorial. He is revered in Malawi as a national hero who helped end the slave trade and brought education, medicine and trade to this small landlocked country. His body together with his journal was carried over a thousand miles by his loyal attendants Chuma and Susi, and was returned to Britain for burial in Westminster Abbey.

“He is revered in Malawi as a national hero who helped end the slave trade and brought education, medicine and trade to this small landlocked country.”

David Barrie

“Sebituane [a chieftain] offered to purchase [guns] with cattle or ivory, but the Mambari refused everything except boys about 14 years of age. The Makolo declare they never heard of people being bought and sold till then, and disliked it, but the desire to possess the guns prevailed, and eight guns were exchanged for as many boys; these were not their own children, but captives… I have never known in Africa an instance of a parent selling his own offspring.”

An excerpt from David Livingstone, ‘Missionary Travels & Researches in South Africa, 1857.

Forthcoming talk - Colonel John Blashford-Snell Colonel Blashford-Snell will be speaking in Stirling and Lanarkshire in October, featuring lantern slides used by Stanley and an early recording of one of his talks, along with the compass Stanley carried when finding Dr Livingstone.

Opinion On: Slavery

Slavery – a thing of the past?

D

espite the efforts of William Wilberforce & others to abolish slavery in the British Empire resulting in the Act in 1833, and the work of many others like Livingstone, in drawing attention to its continuation further afield throughout that century, slavery is not confined to history as most of us would like to think. According to Anti-slavery International (which traces its establishment back to the 18th century), millions of men, women and children around the world today are forced to lead lives as slaves, most commonly in bonded labour, early and forced marriage, forced labour, slavery by descent, human trafficking and the worst forms of child labour.

The development of international standards against slavery and the near universal endorsement of the need to prohibit forced labour led to a decline in the use of forced labour by governments, which are now only responsible for around 20% of forced labour cases in the world. Notable examples of states which still use forced labour are Burma, China and North Korea.

Even though it is private individuals rather than state officials who are primarily responsible for using forced labour, all governments still have a direct responsibility to prevent slavery from taking place. However, many governments consider that once they have passed legislation prohibiting and punishing slavery, then they have complied with their obligations.

Christian Aid and Malawi

It is easy to be overwhelmed by the fact that there are millions of people living in slavery. However, there have been some very significant advances in the struggle against the practice in the last decade.

These foundations provide the basis for continuing links between the two countries and are reflected in the make up of some of the Christian Aid partner organisations who since 2005 have benefited from the Scottish Government’s International Development Fund, supporting HIV projects.

For example, Nepal (2002, 2008), Niger (2003), Brazil (2003), the United Arab Emirates (2005), and Mauritania (2007) are some of the countries that have recently introduced or amended laws so that slavery practices are now prohibited and punished.

In Nepal and Brazil alone, more than 100,000 people have been released from slavery and measures have been adopted to assist these people.

At the international level, there is also a much greater awareness of slavery and more priority is given to combating it. This is reflected in the United Nations’ decision to create a new Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Slavery in 2008 who will report directly to the UN Human Rights Council on measures needed to fight slavery. This is the first new UN mechanism on slavery in over 30 years. It is also true that people’s attitudes can be changed in a relatively short period of time.

Yet a world without slavery remains an aspiration rather than a reality, even 60 years after the Universal Declaration of Human Rights proclaimed that no one shall be held in slavery or servitude. It is long past the time when every human being - without exception - should be able to live a life free from slavery. www.antislaveryinternational.org

Scotland and Malawi share more than their beautiful hills. David Livingstone’s travels and missionary work began a partnership between the two nations that continues to develop. Both the Church of Scotland and the Free Church of Scotland had established missions in Malawi by the mid 1870s.

“For knowledge to be gained, the topic has to be discussed,” said Val Brown from Christian Aid Scotland. “As you can imagine, sexually transmitted diseases are still an issue that many churches in Scotland would rather not talk about. What we tried to do was to break down barriers, encouraging young people to learn about all aspects of HIV and to present that information to their peers in churches and at school.”

In Malawi, one in seven adults is HIV positive and life expectancy at forty two is one of the lowest in the world so this work is essential.

Every year in Malawi, with regular droughts, millions of people struggle to grow enough to eat and indeed December to March is known locally as the ‘hunger season’.

Flora Amadou was nursed back to health from the brink of death by the Baptist Clinic in Malawi. Recently diagnosed HIV positive, Flora and others in Mawale village are benefiting from a scheme that uses a solar pump to bring water to crops, enabling Flora to grow at least twice as much food.At the start of the last hunger season, Flora was surviving almost solely on tea and mangoes and losing weight dangerously fast. Now, she has shared in a bumper crop, the first of many which should banish the hunger pains for good.

For more information visit www.christianaidscotland.org Claire Aston Acting Head of Christian Aid Scotland

The

Geographer

Off The Beaten Track

10-11

Summer 2009

Malawi - ’The Warm Heart of Africa’ I first went to Malawi in October 1995. Though I’ve been back many times since, the impact of that first visit remains as strong as ever. The ‘Warm Heart of Africa’ is a name sometimes given to this tiny state surrounded by big brothers Mozambique, Zambia and Tanzania, and it’s also a big heart; you’d go far to find a more genuinely friendly people.

Malawi suffers the dual constraint of being landlocked and restricted in area, its narrow shape being strongly influenced by the linear form of Lake Malawi. Formerly Lake Nyasa, this is one of the world’s greatest stores of fresh water, lying within the Great African Rift Valley.

That first visit opened my eyes to so many of the challenges of sub-Saharan Africa. Along with my fellow geographer wife, we took a battered bus that was jam packed inside with people (not to mention hens) and weighed down with luggage, buckets, baskets, banana wood chairs and all manner of other katundu on the roof and we set off on the journey north, passing remnants of a once more extensive tree cover. The brachystigia woodland was starting into fresh and colourful new growth.

We wondered if the overloaded bus could possibly make it up the steepest hills but the driver had a well perfected technique of pushing his foot hard on the accelerator as we charged downhill to ensure enough power to get up the other side. I thought it best not to nudge my wife and point out the mangled remains of a minibus lying at the foot of a ravine.

Children by the roadside held up big cabbages and wildly flapping hens, hopeful of a passing sale, but jumped smartly back as our transport sailed on past, scattering goats and hens that had wandered on to the road.

One boy held out a stick with skewered roasted mice, hoping to tempt peckish drivers to a snack and earn a few kwacha. Women in colourful, animated groups clustered around water pumps.

At one point a tribe of baboons thought that they would saunter across in front of the bus. A loud blast of horn, plus a realisation that our demon driver would brook no delay, especially from a crowd of monkeys, quickly scattered them back into the bush. This was the dry season and the village maize plots lay empty, their bare red soils peppered in desiccated yellowed stalks from the harvested crop.

Wattle stores of maize cobs sat outside the houses, some of which had a shiny tin roof, others a covering of dried grasses that projected out over the edges and made them look as if they needed a haircut.

Each day in the countryside raised as many questions as it provided colourful images.

Why were so many children of school age out on the road in term time? Why did the women and girls have to carry water to their villages? Where were the men folk when the women were carrying heavy bundles of firewood on their heads? Apart from the baboons, where was all the wildlife? In time I came to see how the constraints of a long dry season, rising population, costs of secondary schooling, clean water supply, food security

issues, cultural attitudes to gender, the impact of HIV/AIDS, low life expectancy, deforestation and habitat loss are all part of the challenge of what is one of the poorest nations on the planet.

I’ve come to love this country and have made many Malawian friends, rejoicing with them in song and dance and condoling with them when the spectre of death has appeared in their midst. I’ve enjoyed the beauty of the lakeside with its circling fish eagles and mingled among herds of eland and zebra on horseback high on the breathtaking Nyika Plateau. Once, I spent a memorable few days on a voyage up Lake Malawi. It was on the Ilala, the wonderful old lake steamer built on the Clyde in the middle of last century, following the route that the old Scots missionaries took on their goal to found the Livingstonia Mission and passing lakeshore villages with huge shading baobab trees as David Livingstone had done.

In a time when many worthwhile Scottish-based projects are being put into place in Malawi, it’s good also to stop and ponder the legacy of those early Scots missionary pioneers in the hospitals and schools. My lasting involvement has been with Ekwendeni Hospital where the work of supporting the sick continues. But I’ve also bumped my way many times by 4x4 through rough bush tracks into remote corners of the rural hinterland where effective work in clean water provision, food security and AIDS orphan support is carried out in the primary health care programme.

As an outsider, I’ve come to look on Malawi with mixed emotions but as a Scot in far away Africa I’ve also felt strangely and comfortingly at home.

Doug Willis

“I’ve come to love this country and have made many Malawian friends, rejoicing with them in song and dance and condoling with them when the spectre of death has appeared in their midst.”

An Expert View: Women in Geography

Women in Geography “...women have been producers and teachers of geographical knowledge since the foundation of the British geographical societies and university departments of geography – and a significant number of these women were born and/ or lived and worked in Scotland.”

It is a common misperception amongst undergraduates that women geographers only began contributing to the discipline in the 1970s. Members of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society are better placed than most to appreciate that this is not the case: women have been producers and teachers of geographical knowledge since the foundation of the British geographical societies and university departments of geography – and a significant number of these women were born and/ or lived and worked in Scotland. Mary Somerville, born in Jedburgh, wrote Physical Geography in 1848, which was credited with being the first British text of that title and welcomed by the geographical establishment and a wider readership, going to seven editions. Isabella Bird’s travel accounts were immensely popular in the second half of the nineteenth century and she was honoured by the RSGS. Marion Newbigin is often the first woman’s name to spring to mind in association with the society. She was born in Alnwick and graduated BSc and DSc from Aberystwyth, but lived and spent most of her professional life in Edinburgh, where she worked on Challenger findings and taught at the Extra Mural School of Medicine for Women.

More than that, her career was inextricably connected with the Society through her 32 years as assistant and editor of the Scottish Geographical Magazine and it is for her influence as editor she is principally remembered as a ‘founding parent’ of Scottish geography. In 1923 Newbigin and travel writer Ella Christie were the first women to sit on the Society’s Council (the Manchester Geographical Society appointed women to its first council in 1884, but it was 1930 before the Royal Geographical Society followed suit). Newbigin was also a prolific author who influenced debates on

regional geography, the scientific method in geography and teaching techniques, as well as initiating much of what became biogeography.

This interest in links between plants, animals and geography influenced two other women who were to be involved with editing the SGM. Isobel Wylie Hutchison, Arctic traveller and plant collector, became Honorary Editor of the journal between 1944 and 1953 (the first woman to hold this post); and leading biogeographer Joy Tivy, Lecturer and later Professor of Geography at the University of Glasgow, was editor 1954-63. Lois Latham, Harriet Wanklyn and Catherine Snodgrass were also editors for brief periods. Combined, women served the SGM in editorial capacities for 60 years in the early to mid 20th century.

Edinburgh University had a strong record of appointing women academics in the interand post-war years. Alice Lennie, assistant to George Chisholm, may only be recognised by a few, but the names of Winifred Day, Betty Third, Kay MacIver, Swanzie Agnew and Catherine Snodgrass will be familiar to many and no doubt bring back memories of lectures, map classes and field work. As head of department MacIver directed the growth of geography at St Andrews; Swanzie Agnew taught at Fort Hare in South Africa, only to be deported when the university was closed down as a centre of anti-apartheid politics; Snodgrass was also deeply political, expressed through her commitment to researching Scottish geography and support for the Scottish National Party.

Peggie Hobson, developed a love for Scotland when a student and she spent eight years lecturing at St Andrews 194553, publishing several articles in the SGM on the parishes of Sutherland. Although she spent most of her professional life in South Africa and London, Hobson retired to Edinburgh and will be

remembered for curating the society’s centenary exhibition on The Spirit of Adventure and Discovery 1884-1984, including a special section on women explorers.

There are many other women who contributed to geographical knowledge and the work of the society, but I hope this sketch gives a flavour of the variety of their interests and the significance of their work.

However, when looking at the history of the discipline there are always puzzles remaining: why was there a thirty two year hiatus between female editors of the SGM 1967-1999 and why did the Edinburgh department go from 3 female lecturers in the 1950s to none in the early 1960s? Answers on a postcard please!

Avril Maddrell Department of Geography and Environmental Management, University of the West of England (avril.maddrell@uwe.ac.uk)

To receive 20% off this title visit www.wiley.com and enter promotional code VA189 at the checkout.*

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An Expert View: Carbon Capture and Storage

The

Geographer

12-13

Summer 2009

Burying carbon dioxide In Scotland, and the UK, most of our electricity is generated by combustion of coal or of gas. We accept this benefit without much thought, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. But it has become more clear during recent decades, that there are environmental consequences of this consumption. At present, CO2 is emitted to be disposed into the atmosphere at no direct cost to the electricity generator, or the consumer, but this additional CO2 disturbs the complex, but naturally balanced, flows from biosphere, to atmosphere, to hydrosphere, and burial in soil or sediment. Two separate effects occur. Firstly, the atmospheric CO2 dissolves in shallow ocean water, and comes to equilibrium saturation. That makes carbonic acid, and so the ocean becomes more acidic. Secondly, a greater concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere increases the absorption of incoming solar energy and raises the temperature of upper levels of atmosphere, to produce potential for global warming, and consequent sea level rise.

It is not just the rate of fossil CO2 emission that needs to be reduced. Recent work on climate modelling by research groups shows that the total mass of CO2 is a controlling factor. By 2030 if humans worldwide continue to emit fossil CO2 at the present rate, the limit will be reached at which the probability of a 2ºC world temperature rise becomes greater than a 1 in 4 chance of excess climate change.

In most industrialised countries about one third of fossil CO2 emissions are from electricity generating power plant. In Scotland, this is about 3540% from the coal-fired power plants at Cockenzie, Longannet (the third largest coal plant in Europe), and gas burning at Peterhead. These sources offer an opportunity to capture about 16 million tons per year of CO2 before it goes up the stack and is dumped into the atmosphere.

The process of Carbon Capture and Storage is being developed for this purpose. This can capture

the 14% content of CO2 from flue gas by using an amine solvent, which is regenerated by heating to drive off the pure CO2.

Compression to more than 70 atmospheres changes the pure CO2 to a liquid state, enabling it to be transported by pipe (just as natural methane gas is moved across Scotland at present). The destination can be hundreds of kilometers distant, to inject this CO2 into microscopic pores of sandstone deep beneath the North Sea. Why not just build more renewable power? If only life was that simple. Scotland needs at least two sources of electricity, because the wind doesn’t blow all the time, and the tides don’t flow continually. A backup is needed, from which more, or less, electricity can be made as required. Nuclear power can not rapidly adjust its output, and is not planned to be rebuilt. Even if renewables can produce most of Scottish electricity on good days, the top-up, and the filling-in will need to be undertaken by coal and gas power plants with CCS. The injected CO2 is buoyant, with a density similar to crude oil, consequently an impermeable top seal is needed, so that upward leakage can be prevented, and the CO2 retained securely, for at least 10,000 years into the future.

These combinations of geological conditions occur in all oil and gas fields. Our research at Edinburgh University has shown that natural CO2 has been successfully retained for up to 70 million years in such settings. Additional CO2 storage may also be developed in sandstone rock formations filled with salt water, which have no other known use.

How much storage capacity is there? A report by the Scottish Centre for Carbon Storage, a collaboration between the University of Edinburgh, Heriot-Watt University and the British Geological Survey called Opportunities for CO2 storage around Scotland was launched by First Minister Alex Salmond at Edinburgh Castle on 1st May. An important discovery is that the hydrocarbon fields offshore of

Scotland could host 1,290 million tons of CO2, and store a massive 4,600 to 46,000 tons of CO2 in salt water formations. That could accommodate CO2 from Scottish power plants for hundreds of years, or alternatively all the CO2 from power plants in north-west Europe for about 100 years.

Suprisingly, the conventional opinion that CO2 could enable enhanced oil recovery of an additional 10-15% of oil from existing fields appears to be an expensive option, and needs both a high price for oil and an abundant reliable supply of CO2.

So that will not happen until CCS becomes established on the mainland. The report also investigated pipeline routes which could gather emissions from the power stations, and Grangemouth refinery, to transport this CO2 offshore to a selection of possible storage sites. These options are all feasible in cost and in timescale, prompting the First Minister to state that this ‘could be the birth of a whole new offshore industry’.

So, when is any of this likely to happen? That needs a big budget, about £1 bn, to fit CO2 capture equipment onto Longannet.

Scottish Power are one of three finalists in the competition to win UK Government grants to make this happen, for the first time anywhere in the world on a commercial sized power plant.

A small step was taken in that direction on 29 May, when the first carbon capture unit to operate on a working power plant in the UK was switched on for a 6 month trial. This will capture CO2 from just 1 Megawatt of the 2,400 MW generated by Longannet, but will enable testing of specially designed amine solvents, to evaluate their working conditions. If these tests are successful, and the Government support is won, then Longannet could start its long road to ‘cleaner coal’ at the end of 2014.

“In most industrialised countries about one third of fossil CO2 emissions are from electricity generating power plant.

In Scotland, this is about 35-40%”

CO2

Professor Stuart Haszeldine School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh

More information can be gained at www.geos.ed.ac.uk/sccs/

Education

Worldwise Geography Challenge The James Young High School won the British heat of the Worldwise Geography Challenge.

Although falling at the start of the Easter break with the weather forecast rather cold, wet and windy, eight teams of three students from around the UK had a fantastic time competing in the first of two Worldwise Challenge weekends, held at Malham Tarn Field Studies Centre in the Yorkshire Dales. Scotland was represented

by The James Young High School and Larbert High School. On the Friday evening once everyone had arrived the teams got to know each other and were introduced to their challenge for the weekend – prepare an oral and visual presentation

titled ‘What makes Malham a special place?’

Challenge trophy and an invitation to take part in the World Finals in Taiwan.

The GA President, Margaret Roberts announced The James Young High School, Livingston, as the overall winners of the 2009 Malham Worldwise

It was a fantastic weekend. The students and teachers all worked very hard and really enjoyed themselves, even though they were all under ‘observation’ most of the time. The CPD sessions were useful and many new contacts were made between the teachers and the GA representatives.

Elaine Batty Principal Geography Teacher at James Young High School

Out in the Real World

SAGT Report May 2009

In a month in which a study stated the outdoors had become ‘out of bounds’ to a generation of ‘cotton wool kids’ (with fewer than 10% playing outdoors, despite 81% wishing they could), four schools from around Scotland helped the Real World Learning Partnership to promote the value of learning outdoors at the Scottish Parliament.

Each year SAGT has produced its Journal which has included a wide range of academic articles. These provide cutting edge research relevant to topics taught in secondary schools.

Over three days, MSPs stopped to chat to the pupils, teachers and Real World Learning partners. Pupils and staff from Beeslack Community High School and Caerlaverock Primary School also had the opportunity to do presentations at an informal lunchtime reception.

It was a very successful event for Real World Learning, which has sixteen partners including the RSGS. Forty-five cross-party MSPs signed up to the Real World Learning mission statement which is for ‘every young person in Scotland, regardless of their background to have regular access to inspirational and challenging outdoor learning.

Signatories included the First Minister, the Cabinet Secretary for Education, the Minister for Schools and Skills and most of the Education Committee.

Outdoor learning is proven to help improve a child’s social skills, motivation and academic achievement, as well as offering ‘real life’ experiences.

For more information www.realworldlearning-scotland.org.uk

Last year, for the first time, the Journal was produced in CD format. This has afforded the editors the opportunity to request articles not only from these traditional, academic sources in the first part of the publication but also to have a series of shorter pieces related to pedagogy and resources of direct use to school geography in the second.

This year SAGT decided to have a single large pupil Conference in March in Dalkeith High School, aimed at pupils studying Higher Geography. .

This was a resounding success as it helped to kick-start revision for the coming diet of SQA examinations.

The British Geological Survey. had 40 free seismometers on offer to secondary schools willing to take part in a countrywide project. Bids had to be submitted for a cross-curricular project to qualify for consideration. Since geology, in most secondary

schools, is taught by members of Geography Departments, this has caused a flurry of excitement and competition.

And finally, in my role as Education Convener for RSGS, it is my privilege to try to foster even closer links between our two organisations. There is a very positive atmosphere in our organisations, both for their own work and for links with other groups.

I hope, therefore, that the mutual benefits of my ‘twin-hattedness’ will go some way to help achieve that potential!

I would like to record my own appreciation for the work done by the Education Committee of RSGS under the chairmanship of the inimitable Jim Carson and hope that we can emulate the underpinning work so thoroughly undertaken by Jim. Erica M Caldwell Honorary President SAGT, Education Convener RSGS

All change in the Education Committee Long serving stalwart Jim Carson has handed the reins of our education committee to Erica Caldwell. Jim won our inaugural Tivy Education Medal last year and has given much of his energy to the promotion of Geography in schools and we are very pleased that he will remain part of the committee. Erica brings vast expertise, enthusiasm and youth to the role, and as Chair of the SAGT, we are hopeful that our mutual links will continue to flourish.

The

Geographer

14-15

Summer 2009

Geography at Dundee is delighted with the rating it received in the most recent Research Assessment Exercise. This shows that virtually all staff are contributing research judged to be of international excellence with much work considered to be world class.

Geography and Environmental Studies was ranked first equal in Scotland with St Andrews in the 2008 RAE. Geographers are also set to play a central role in a new universitywide research initiative called the Centre for Environmental Change and Human Resilience (CECHR) which will explore how science, social science, legal and health perspectives can be brought together to tackle issues of global significance such as climate change, vulnerability and sustainability. The Scottish Crop Research Institute in Invergowrie have engaged with this centre in a strategic partnership and three new interdisciplinary PhD studentships, such as ‘drought and food security resilience in Malawi’ have been funded and will commence in September 2009.

The staff will welcome Dr Lorraine van Blerk to a Senior Lectureship in Human Geography in November 2009 from the University of Reading. Lorraine’s research expertise focuses on the geographies of children and youth.

University of Aberdeen A team from Aberdeen University have embarked on a project with Western Isles Council (Comhairle nan Eilean Siar) and funded by the Scottish Government to address the issue of coastal flooding along the Atlantic coast of South Uist and Benbecula. During the 11th January 2005 to 12th January 2005 a very severe storm hit the west coast of the Western Isles, damaging houses, roads and buildings. The devastating storm led to the tragic loss of life of a family of five trying to escape the floodwaters. In the aftermath of this tragedy, local attention focused on the South Ford causeway that joins South Uist and Benbecula and which replaced the earlier bridge structure in 1984.

A particular concern is Gualan Island, a 3 km long barrier island to the west of South Ford, which suffered significant erosion during the storm. There is concern from

residents that, should it be allowed to erode, wave and tidal flows in South Ford would become more severe and people living on the shores could be at increasing risk of harm from the effects of future storms during extreme high tides.

The Scottish Government has provided £200,000 to undertake a hydrodynamic study of the South Ford area, to model and simulate the effects of floodwater and sediment transport for the South Ford area linked to scenarios of extreme weather conditions. The team is led by Professors Alastair Dawson and Bill Ritchie of the Aberdeen Institute for Coastal Science and Management.

New £12m research hub to tackle digital challenges in rural areas The University of Aberdeen has been awarded £12.4 million of funding over five years to investigate how advances in digital technologies can transform rural communities, society and business.

The funding is the largest single externally funded grant to be received by the University, and will create 60 new jobs and studentships. The Rural Digital Economy Research Hub will conduct research and development into digital technologies to enhance how crucial services such as healthcare and transport are delivered in rural areas across the UK. It will also investigate how new technologies can benefit rural economies and communities by promoting new forms of enterprise in areas such as tourism and nature conservation.

The Aberdeen Rural Digital Economy Research Hub is one of three such centres in the UK focusing on the development of digital technologies for the future.

It is the only centre to be based in Scotland.

Professor C Duncan Rice, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Aberdeen said: “This is an extremely important research award for the University and for northern Scotland, and will create 60 new posts and studentships.

“It brings together experts from different disciplines to exploit rapidly-advancing digital technology and bring economic, health, and quality of life benefits to rural communities. This will not only harness economic potential but also change in very practical ways the lives of millions of people across the UK and beyond.”

University of Strathclyde Creating sustainable communities is not easy. Across the UK, and indeed much of world, governments have been taking a radical reappraisal of how communities can be supported to improve their quality of life. Most agree there is a need both to reinvigorate older neighbourhoods and to create new places where people want to live – carbon-efficient, socially cohesive and well-connected.

Over the past year, a research team coordinated from the University of Strathclyde by Dr Robert Rogerson, Head of the Department of Geography & Sociology, has been investigating how skills and knowledge required to create sustainable communities can be supported and developed. Funded jointly by the ESRC and the Homes & Community Academy, this major £800,000 initiative has involved 11 research teams across the UK. The initial results were launched in London in early June to an invited audience of key policymakers. There, Dr Rogerson and his colleagues from Warwick and Manchester Universities, emphasised the challenges which continue to exist in helping make places where people want to live and experience a high quality of life. They outlined the need for a new policy approach which emphasised the skills and competencies already available in communities rather than focussing only on the skills gap, and suggested that clearer definitions of what could make a ‘sustainable community’ were necessary.

Further details and project summaries are published on the Initiative website – www.gs.strath.ac.uk/suscoms

University of Edinburgh The initial focus of our research has been to carry out a socio-economic appraisal of two communities situated on opposing borders of the Zomba Plateau Forest Reserve and to establish the threats which have contributed to the degradation of the forest areas upon which they depend.

With these findings we hope to make recommendations as to how any future REDD policy implemented in the forest reserve could beoptimally designed so as to deliver community co-benefits, reduce the leakage of emissions from degrading activities into neighbouring forest areas and ultimately ensure the permanence of any emission reductions initially achieved.

University News

University of Dundee

These reports are part of a rolling programme that will capture other areas of research in forthcoming issues.

Making Connections

Mary’s Meals Mary’s Meals was established by Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow who was made a fellow of RSGS in 2004.

Justinia is in the 6th grade at a rural primary school in Bomi County, Liberia.

Every day she receives a hot meal of rice and seasonal vegetables. The meal has become a fixture in her life. Something she can rely on. As a result she is reluctant to miss a day of school. She hopes to be a doctor when she grows up.

Her parents saw Liberia torn apart by a brutal civil war that left the country stripped bare and deprived a generation of an education. Now, under the leadership of Africa’s first woman president, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Liberia is enjoying peace.

People have been rebuilding their lives and communities, clearing the bush and

re-planting their farms.

With the help of the Mary’s Meals school feeding programme, more and more children are going to school.

Mary’s Meals is currently feeding 15,000 school children daily in Liberia.

This assurance of a meal makes a huge difference to poor children. For a start, like Justinia, it ensures their concentration improves once hunger pangs are removed and they are healthier. And so, they are enabled to learn and gain the education that is their best hope of escaping poverty in later life.

Mary’s Meals has grown rapidly since it first began in Malawi in 2002. Today it feeds over 350,000 children around the world. The charity’s simple but effective approach to tackling hunger, and its

commitment to keeping low overheads, has attracted increasing support. Many individuals, schools, churches and businesses have taken up the challenge to sponsor a school like Justinia’s, knowing they are helping to educate children like Justinia who will be able to play her part in shaping the future of her country for the better. And it is hard to put a value on that.

For more information on Mary’s Meals visit www.marysmeals.org or call 0800 698 1212.

What Geography Means To Me

An insight into the life of a working geographer

I

graduated with a BSc in Geography from Kings College London and a Masters from Cambridge University before pursuing a diverse career which only made me more passionate about geography.

At university, nongeographers seemed to view us as those who studied place names and coloured in maps.

But how can the historical geography of capitalism, third world political ecology, European economics, the study of the universe, not fascinate? I was part of a Medical Research Council project in Jamaica studying the influence of the socioeconomic environment on sickle cell patients, leading to larger social questions being addressed by the Jamaican government. Similarly a dissertation on the socioeconomic impact of a refugee Clare Richardson camp on the host population in NW Zambia, was a RSGS Member of the fascinating field trip.

Edinburgh Committee For me, this was just the beginning of my interest in

international economics, politics and culture and it fuelled my passion for travel. Further research was undertaken by the University of Lusaka and the Zambian government. Meheba Refugee camp was considered a huge success story as refugees became self sufficient and positive contributors to the Zambian economy. It also introduced me to the UN High Commission for Refugees and resulted in work on the Kenya-Somali border in Dadaab refugee camp. This in turn led to work with the European Commission in Brussels promoting economic relations between the EU, Africa and South America.

Living and working abroad became a part of life. The analytical skills developed at university became increasingly useful. With a year’s training in New York, I became a commodity trader responsible for the Asian markets. The commodities were minor metals, primarily cobalt and cadmium and regular trips to the mines made interesting field trips. A business trip to the Gobi desert; watching

Shanghai develop into today’s cosmopolitan hub; being present at the naming ceremony of a Japanese family’s son; delighting in the divine Thai culinary creations; an insight into politics in Korea; experiencing the differing approaches to business across the region, and seeing so many beautiful and different landscapes, are but a few wonderful experiences.

I now lead a more sedate life based in Edinburgh having moved into the world of finance.

Geography defined my career and is part of me. It taught me skills that have shaped my career to date. All of these are so useful in life and having them in my ‘toolkit’ opened so many opportunities to see the world and experience its rich diversity. For me, modern geography is an allencompassing discipline that foremost seeks to understand the Earth and all of its human and natural complexities—not merely where objects are, but how they have changed and come to be. It is fascinating!

The

Geographer

16-17

Summer 2009

A guide to RSGS Medals - and a chance for you to nominate!

S

ince the awarding of the first RSGS Gold Medal to H M Stanley in 1890, the RSGS’s prestigious Medals have allowed us to recognise outstanding contributions to geography and exploration. To mark the Society’s 125th anniversary, the Awards Committee has proposed two new additional Medals, named after two of the Society’s most illustrious forebears – Ernest Shackleton and Patrick Geddes.

Please send any nominations for people you would like to see recognised to Medal Nominations, RSGS, 15-19 North Port, Perth PH1 5LU, or by email to enquiries@rsgs. org, to arrive by 14th August.

Each nomination should include up to 250 words on why your nominee should be considered.

Scottish Geographical Medal – the highest accolade, for conspicuous merit and a performance of world-wide repute.

This is a sort of Scottish Nobel Prize for geography, and has been awarded only 40 times in the Society’s history.

Coppock Research Medal – the highest research-specific award, for an outstanding contribution to geographical knowledge through research and publication.

Known first as the Research Medal, then the Centenary Medal, this has been awarded 40 times since 1931.

Livingstone Medal – for outstanding service of a humanitarian nature with a clear geographical dimension.

First awarded in 1901, previous recipients include Roald Amundsen, Col John Blashford-Snell, Neil Armstrong, Sir Edmund Hillary and Médecins Sans Frontières.

Tivy Education Medal – for exemplary, outstanding and inspirational teaching, educational policy or work in formal and informal educational arenas.

This was awarded for the first time in 2008, to Jim Carson.

The RSGS also has a Newbigin leadership and Prize for an citizenship in a geographical field, outstanding contribution in particular in the fields and current themes of to the RSGS’s most concern to RSGS. Journal or other Geddes Medal – publication, for an outstanding and awards contribution to a University conservation of Medal to the the built or natural outstanding environment and the development of sustainability. graduating honours Mungo Park Medal – for an outstanding contribution to geography geographical knowledge student in through exploration or each of the adventure in potentially Scottish hazardous physical or universities social environments. as Previous recipients include Thor Heyerdahl, Kate Adie, and recommended most recently Norman Hallendy. by heads of President’s Award – to department.

Shackleton Medal – for

recognise achievement and celebrate the impact of geographers’ work on wider society.

Awarded to any working geographer (academic or nonacademic), this has been given each year since 1989.

The Bartholomew Globe – for excellence in the assembly, delivery or application of geographical information through cartography, GIS and related techniques.

Introduced in 2000, this has been awarded only 4 times.

Photo competition winners announced This year’s photographic competition winner was Keddie Law of Montrose, with this stunning picture of puffins. Other category winners included Alistair Guild, with ‘Girl with pencils’ (the People category winner), and Innes Ewen with ‘Surf at Sandwood Bay’ ( the Scotland category winner).

Book Club

Roald Amundsen My Life as an Explorer is a classic of Polar literature. Amundsen reveals his phenomenal determination to become an explorer, from the time when as a boy he read about Sir John Franklin, and slept with his window open to harden himself against the Arctic cold. First sailing to the Antarctic in the 1899 Belgian expedition, Amundsen followed this trip with a journey around the top of Canada to prove the existence of the North West Passage. Most famously, setting sail for the Antarctic a full month or so after Scott, Amundsen reached the South Pole before the British explorer, and the author describes the angry British reaction to his success. He followed these epic journeys by being only the second man to travel around the top of Siberia from Atlantic to Pacific oceans, then flying over the North Pole by airship.

This is not polar exploration in some remote golden age, but in a reality fraught by financial difficulties and the violent political upheavals of the day. An equally compelling part of Amundsen’s account is his protestations against the hijack of his 1926 mission by the incompetent captain Nobile, and a glory-hunting fascist government at home in Italy.

The Third Man Factor Surviving The Impossible John Geiger

Recommendations

Last Recommended Book.

Fixing Climate

The story of climate science - and how to stop global warming

by Robert Kunzig and Wallace S Broecker This was an easy to read, almost jolly personal journey through the last fifty years of climate science, through the eyes of one of the leading scientists. His stories and recollections of his many colleagues and acquaintances decorate what is a clear explanation of the progression in all the scientific evidence.

Gail Wilson

Next Recommended Book.

Palestine

by Joe Sacco, ISBN 1-978-56097-844-2.

“It’s a graphic novel about the day to day struggles of existence in the occupied territories - the format really draws out the everyday geographies of occupation well - I thought it might be something a bit different. Although it’s over 10 years old now, I think it still speaks to the contemporary situation.”

Recommended by Dr Jo Sharp, Senior Lecturer, University of Glasgow

Please send your reviews of this book to enquiries@rsgs.org or to the RSGS HQ in Perth, marked “Book Review”.

The Third Man is a riveting combination of popular science and adventure. The book explores the human capacity to survive and transcend extreme conditions, of how people at the very edge of death often sense an unseen presence beside them who encourages them to make one final effort to survive. This incorporeal being offers a feeling of hope, protection and guidance, leaving the person convinced he or she is not alone.

There is a name for this phenomenon: it’s called the Third Man Factor.

Bestselling and award –winning author John Geiger has completed six years of physiological, psychological, and historical research on the Third Man. He blends his analysis with compelling human stories such as that of Ron DiFrancesco, the last survivor to escape the World Trade Center on 9/11, Ernest Shackleton, and many more.

Reader Offer - save over 30% Canongate Publishing is offering RSGS a special price on The Third Man. Readers of The Geographer can purchase The Third Man for £8.99 (RRP £12.99) including p&p in the UK by phoning 01206 255777 and quoting Geographer.

Offer ends 31 August 2009.

You can help us to make connections between people, places & the planet by joining the RSGS. Please contact us at Lord John Murray House, 15-19 North Port, Perth, PH1 5LU, or visit www.rsgs.org

Printed by www.garthland.co.uk on 9Lives Offset 120gsm paper. 100% FSC certified recycled fibre using soya based inks in a 100% chemistry free process.

My Life as an Explorer