How Cell Phone Recycling Can Help African Gorillas
Kategori Articles » How Cell Phone Recycling Can Help African Gorillas
Diane Fossey, the well-known American primatologist, lived in the Congo in early 1967, studying African gorillas. Fossey, after the publication of several studies and photographs of her with the gorillas, nearly single-handedly brought the plight of these primates to the fore of public consciousness in the early seventies. Today, it is these gorillas, particularly the Eastern Lowland Gorillas (gorilla beringei graueri) that are on the verge of extinction because of the widespread exploitation of Congo’s minerals and the armed conflict that has been raging in the area since 1996. How does cell phone recycling help protect African gorillas?
Bloodiest conflict on earth
Congo is a country that is extremely rich in minerals like gold, silver, affect, and coltan (columbite tantalite). Tantalum, produced from Coltan, is widely used by electronics manufacturers in the capacitors of cell phones, DVD players, and video game consoles.
The continuing civil war in the Congo today, which many experts say is the bloodiest conflict on earth, after the second planet war, has already claimed 5.4 million lives since it erupted in 1996. This war is being fueled, in large part, by the money from the illicit trade of Congo’s minerals in the planet market. Armed groups in the eastern Congo, where most of the minerals are establish, have enlisted entire tribes – through violence, intimidation. or bribery – to help extract minerals in the areas that they hegemony. The proceeds from the sale of these “conflict” metals are then used to buy medicine, food, weapons, and ammunition – in effect bankrolling and maintenance the bloody conflict raging unabated.
How are gorillas threatened?
Since 1996, the population of gorillas in the area has steadily declined – from in this area 9,000 prior to the start of the conflict in 1996 to just in this area 3,000 individuals today. The mines that myriad