South Africa hosts an abundance of marine species, but there are not enough taxonomists to support the effective management and protection of our rich marine biodiversity.

In the emerald gloom of an underwater cave, a torch light illuminates a strange creature. Its delicate black and white arms resemble a fern, stretching out in fractal branches. As the ring of light meanders along the cave wall, it reveals magnificent plant and animal life – each a unique feature of the Great African Seaforest.

With this year’s event, dubbed “the Africa COP”, taking place on African soil for the first time since 2011, COP27 is a valuable opportunity to focus global attention on Africa’s vulnerability to rising temperatures, droughts, flooding, agriculture collapse, habitat and biodiversity loss and escalating conflict.

Africa is the most vulnerable continent in the face of climate change, according to team leader of the African Group of Negotiators Expert Support (Agnes), Dr George Wamukoya. He stresses the importance of formulating a strong position for Africa to present at COP27, taking place in Egypt in November.

Game meat is increasingly being publicised as a sustainable food choice that can ensure wildlife conservation while also injecting funds into the economy and providing opportunities for community livelihood creation.

When COVID-19 hit there was a global scramble for the billions of facemasks needed for people to shield themselves from the virus. Now, discarded masks are leaching plastics and chemicals into the environment and, along with innumerable other plastic products, are polluting rivers and sources of drinking water in Africa – with potentially serious consequences for human health, food security and biodiversity.

Light dictates life. It was this idea that Dr Bernard Coetzee pondered over cups of tea with fellow ecologists when the possible connection between light and infectious disease clicked. “Artificial light is really interesting and it’s really scary – it’s doing things to the environment that we just don’t think about,” says Coetzee.

An interview with Rendani Nenguda by Tatjana Baleta. Every morning at 8 undergraduate students stream into the University of Witwatersrand’s biology lecture hall, weaving through the sea of wooden desks to find their seats.