Contents

SEPTEMBER 2013 VOLUME 85 | NO 09

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F E A T U R E S

16 Photostory: High and rising Markel Redondo documents the remarkable development of Chongqing in central China from a small port of 200,000 people 16 years ago to a sprawling metropolis of seven million

24Ladakhis see the light Duncan McKenzie travels to Ladakh in northern India to discover how the world’s largest off-grid renewable energy project is helping to transform the lives of ordinary people in this remote mountainous region

30Botswana’s wildlife crisis James Gifford investigates the possible reasons for a huge drop in large animal populations in Botswana’s Okavango Delta, one of the world’s best known conservation areas

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38 Dossier:Wastenot, want not Mark Rowe asks whether a new generation of incineration plants can help to solve the world’s waste problem

46 Hunting the hunters J Michael Fay joins a team of forest guards in the jungles of Gabon on the trail of a gang of elephant poachers

52 From South London to West Africa Working as a volunteer lets Georgina Martin see another side of Sierra Leone

65Essential gear: A different view Fearghal O’Nuallain reports on his 220-kilometre walk across Rwanda to gather material for his Master’s thesis

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D E P A R T M E N T S

News 10 Worldwatch 12 Climatewatch 74 In Society

Regulars 8 Geographical archive 14 Hotspot: Italy 59 Reviews 70 Geophoto: Machair 77 Point of view: Science and the 1953 Mount Everest expedition 78 Letters and crossword 82 I’m a geographer:

Tony Wheeler, Lonely Planet

Competition 6 Where in the world? 58 Young Geographer of the Year

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