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                  Life Cycle Africa

                   
                  Life Cycle Africa subscribes to certain principles behind which lies part of the motivation for this  adventure:
                  Live with courage;
                  Learn with depth; 
                  Challenge yourself;
                  Choose carefully and considerately;
                  Protect life and all its diversity;
                  Walk your talk;
                  Keep moving;
                  Keep smiling

                  In line with these principles, this pedal powered expedition runs on vegetarian fuel and has been carbon offset with the World Land Trust.
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                  Cycling stuff we like:

                  Sustrans: Join the movement! Sustrans are a leading UK charity enabling people to safely make more journeys by foot, bike and public transport. We love their interactive mapping tool for finding interesting cycle routes.
                    
                  Oxford Cycle Workshop, training and co-op: Lovely people with advice about cycling in Oxford, bikes (new and reconditioned) and bike parts, and we can recommend their excellent bike maintenance courses.

                  A beginners guide to cycle touring: How to Prepare: Excellent advice on physical preparation.

                  Bike Dynamics: Whole raft of cycling inflicting niggles sorted.  Thoroughly recommended.

                  Earth, environment and life:

                  IUCN: BIODIVERSITY (or biological diversity) is a term we use to describes the variety of life on Earth - the wide variety of ecosystems and living organisms: animals, plants, their habitats and their genes. Learn about biodiversity at the International Union for Conservation of Nature website.
                   
                  Biodiversity is life: 2010 was the year of biodiversity and the UN has just launched a new decade of biodiversity (2011-2020). Learn more about it and what you can do at this UK based site.
                   
                  International Year of Forests: Yes, 2011 is just that!! Forests have 80% of the world's biodiversity and 1.6 billion people depend on them for their livelihoods. Visit the UN site celebrating forests.
                   
                  The Science of Climate Change: should you worry about climate change? is current climate change really caused by human activities? The UK government office for science have a website which provides some good explanations.
                  The graph on the right shows the levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere for the last 400,000 years. These are  recorded  by bubbles trapped in ice from Antarctica. We know that changes in CO2 and climate have been strongly correlated for the last 800,000 years. We know that current levels of CO2 are higher than the whole of that time. If CO2 levels continue to increase it is very likely that global temperatures will rise further. The graph on the right illustrates that there is cause for scientific concern and highlights our endeavour to predict how our future climate might change as CO2 levels rise.
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                  realclimate.org: Many climate scientists contribute to this informative page, with up-to-date discussions and blogs about climate science.

                  Education Through Expeditions was founded in 2010 by the Polar explorer Antony Jinman. Through encouraging the exploration and understanding of different habitats around the world, Education Through Expeditions aims to help educate and inspire children to consider the world they live in and develop a sense of global community.  If you are interested in following our expedition for educational purposes, you can find us here.

                  For and about ethical living:

                  Ethical living is the philosophy of making decisions for daily life which take into account ethics and moral values, particularly with regard to consumerism, sustainability, environmentalism, wildlife and animal welfare.

                  Freecycle: give and receive stuff. Freecycle are currently keeping 500 tons out of landfill a day!

                  Recycle: An interview giving real and practical advice on reducing the climate impacts of waste.  Wastewatch also provides some useful tips on wasting less.
                   
                  The Renewable Energy Centre: information about renewable energies and reducing energy use at home. Saving money, saving energy and saving the planet.
                  Food Ethics Council: The Food Ethics Council is a charity that provides independent advice on the ethics of food and farming. Their aim is to create a food system that is fair and healthy for people and the environment.
                  Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil  Sometimes, behind the the inocuous ingredient labelled 'vegetable oil' is a practice of production that is contributing not only to the loss of biodiversity and iconic species such as the orangutan but also resulting in the release of significant amount of carbon into the atmosphere.   What is the true cost of your biscuit and can you choose to do something about it?
                  What Wood You Choose? All the timber and wood products we buy – from furniture to flooring to paper – started life in a forest somewhere. Make sure the products you’re choosing are sustainably produced without causing harm to people or wildlife.
                  "Most of us can read the writing on the wall; we just assume it's addressed to someone else."  ~ Ivern Ball