Africa has, for years, been losing its heritage to looters, dealers, and sometimes even tourists looking for unusual souvenirs—almost to the point of complete loss. Governments in Africa are cracking down on the trade in irreplaceable traditional and sacred objects.
Each winter, millions of monarch butterflies congregate on the fir-covered hillside Sierra Chincua, Mexico. Logging is threatening this unique and precious habitat, but as our correspondent reports, ecotourism has given local people an incentive to see the high-altitude forest preserved.
Worlds Apart, the National Geographic Channel's new reality series, bridges cultural gaps—by making people neighbors. For nine days, an American family leaves suburbia behind to become part of another culture. Glenda Hersh, executive producer, speaks with National Geographic News about what it's really like to be that family.
On the pedestal in Fardus Square where the statue of Saddam Hussein toppled, a new sculpture has risen. The sculpture is the creation of the young artists' collective called the Najeen Group, which has emerged with public art and a play that show the new freedom of the city.
Sunday, June 8, is Canada's first official Rivers Day. Inaugurated in part because of 2003 being International Year of Fresh Water, the day is to become an annual occasion to focus on the country's huge system of rivers. National Geographic News interviews Harris Boyd, chairperson of Rivers Canada.
Brothers Chris and Martin Kratt host the Emmy-award-winning PBS series Zaboomafoo and Kratt's Creatures. The self-labeled "creature adventurers" discuss what makes their style of animal presentations so popular with children and relate some of their experiences on Inside Base Camp With Tom Foreman.
SARS has created more turbulence for the airline industry than 9/11 and the Iraq War combined, according to an airline trade group. But Traveler Editor in Chief Keith Bellows says media hype has overstated the risk to travelers and that deals in Toronto and Beijing abound.
Barren 12,000-foot (3,650-meter) peaks rise sharply around La Paz, Bolivia, the world's highest capital at 11,200 feet (3,400 meters). On Cerro Cumbre, a mountain clearing that La Paz residents call holy ground, the wind carries the smoke—and smell—of animal sacrifice from the Witches' Market or Mercado de las Brujas.
Barren 12,000-foot (3,650-meter) peaks rise sharply around La Paz, Bolivia, the world's highest capital at 11,200 feet (3,400 meters). On Cerro Cumbre, a mountain clearing that La Paz residents call holy ground, the wind carries the smoke—and smell—of animal sacrifice from the Witches' Market or Mercado de las Brujas.
Despite centuries of strife brought by outsiders, the Dogon of Mali, West Africa, preserve their cultural ways. Hidden in their cliff-side villages, the people who claim to be the conduit between heaven and Earth have evolved a keen sense of cultural survival. Full story and photo gallery:
Climber Peter Athans has stood atop Mount Everest an astonishing seven times, a feat unsurpassed by any Western climber. National Geographic News recently spoke with "Mr. Everest" about the mountain's allure and the legacy of Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay on the 50-year anniversary of their historic climb.
Following trade routes dating to the Middle Ages, camel caravans laden with salt cross the trackless Sahara to the fabled city of Timbuktu. For the nomadic tribesmen who make the perilous journey, the quest is spiritual as well as economic. But today trucks threaten the centuries-old trade and culture. Full story and photo gallery:
In 2000, rock climbers Beth Rodden,Tommy Caldwell, and companions traveled to the former Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan for an ultimate climbing test. Instead, they were kidnapped by armed rebels. Beth and Tommy discuss the six-day ordeal that pushed their limits on Inside Base Camp With Tom Foreman.
Starting in the 12th century, scholars flocked to Timbuktu, following the trade routes of salt caravans across the Sahara desert. With them came hundreds of thousands of manuscripts. Today, black market trade in those sacred texts imperils the city's fabled heritage and perhaps a treasure chest of unknown African history. Full story and photo gallery.
In an essay for National Geographic News, anthropologist and National Geographic Society Explorer-in-Residence Wade Davis describes the Society's Ethnosphere Expeditions, a five-year initiative to explore and discover the wonders of diverse cultures around the globe.
