timber production (Wit and van Dam eds. 2010). All this logging has an adverse effect on Congo Basin’s biodiversity since it interferes with wildlife habitats (Laurance et al. 2009). Consequently, the diversity and abundance of Central Africa’s primates has been dealt a blow by habitat loss (Remis and Robinson 2012). Similar habitat loss has also affected West Africa’s chimpanzee populations (Torres et al. 2010).
Moreover, logging necessitates an infrastructure that negatively impacts local soils and rivers, which leads to the kind of flooding and water shortages that affect wetlands negatively (Laurance et al. 2009; Saunders et al. 1991).
Industrial and artisanal logging are however not the sole culprits of Central Africa’s deforestation and the ensuing wildlife habitat loss.
At least nine out of ten people in Central African countries like the Democratic Republic of the Congo use fuelwood for cooking (UNEP 2001). This high dependence on fuelwood pushed the Congo Basin’s charcoal production by 20 per cent between 1990 and 2009 (Megevand et al. 2013).
In addition to logging and fuelwood, poaching directly threatens Central Africa’s biodiversity and has pushed the northern white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum), which is endemic to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to near extinction (Maisels et al. 2013). In fact, poaching is a huge threat to several species all over Africa. In South Africa alone, over 4,000 Rhinos were poached between 2007 and 2015 (Figure 7) (South Africa, Department of Environmental Affairs 2016a).
Figure 7: Rhino Poaching numbers, 2007-2015
1200 1400
1000 800 600
400 200 0
333 122 13 2007 83 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 Source: adapted from UNEP (2016), data from South Africa, Department of Environmental Affairs (2016a). 448 1004 668
1215
1175
Africa’s aquatic ecosystems are also flowing with rich biodiversity. Across the continent, wetlands, rivers, lakes, and coastal environments are home to distinctive aquatic biodiversity. Among them is the Eritrean Red Sea ecosystem, which hosts at least 1 in 6 of the world’s seagrass species. This seagrass grows within an ecosystem replete with diverse coral reefs (Eritrea Coastal, Marine and Island Biodiversity project 2007). But just like terrestrial-based biodiversity, Africa’s aquatic biodiversity is also facing dire challenges from issues like pollution, damming, and water diversion (Stiassny et al. 2011).
Despite being considered as the most water-scarce sub-region in Africa, Northern Africa hosts a rich array of biodiversity. As the home of the most extensive river system in the region, Morocco hosts several mountain lakes and coastal brackish marshes that are mainly found along the Atlantic coast (Garcia et al 2010). Morocco is located in the Mediterranean Basin hotspot, which is where approximately 8 per cent of the world’s plant species can be found, with 60 per cent of them endemic to the region (Quézel 1985; Greuter 1991).
57
Our Invaluable Biodiversity
Number of Rhinos poached
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100
