AFROTROPICAL REALM

Overview
Threats to African Rainforests
FAO Deforestation Rate Tables
Graph Comparing Deforestation Rates Among African Countries
Outlook for African Forests
Additional Tables and Rainforests
Individual Country Reports


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The vast majority of Africa's tropical moist and tropical rainforests exist in West and Central Africa. However, those are rapidly vanishing; according to the FAO, Africa lost the highest percentage of rainforests during the 1980s of any biogeographical realm, a trend that continued from 1990-1995.

Around the turn of the century, West Africa had some 193,000 sq. miles (500,000 sq. km) of coastal rainforest. However, the tropical forests of West Africa, mostly lowland formations easily accessible from the coast, have been largely depleted by commercial exploitation, namely logging, and conversion for agriculture. Now, according to the FAO 1997, only 22.8% of West Africa's moist forests remain, much of this degraded. In more populous states, notably Nigeria, human population pressures have put a tremendous strain of forests, while other countries like Cote d'Ivoire have suffered extensive forest loss as a result of commercial logging and agriculture. The

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effects from forest loss are yet to be fully understood, though erosion has greatly increased as has the incidence of drought in the interior countries of Mali and Niger. These coastal forests appear to play a substantial role in maintaining rainfall in these interior countries.

The rainforests of Central Africa still cover a substantial area, although this is rapidly declining. 70% of Africa's remaining rainforest in Central Africa, covering about (2 million square km). The bulk of this region's remaining forests are found in the Congo Basin in Zaire (Democratic Republic of Congo) and Congo. Recently these forests were increasingly threatened by masses of refugees fleeing rebel forces in the Democratic Republic of Congo (Zaire) and the movement of local militias.

Threats

Sub-Sahara Africa has long been considered one of the poorest regions on earth despite its rich biological and mineral wealth. The poor turn to the forests for subsistence agriculture, the collection of fuelwood, and the poaching of forest animals for food. The rapid population growth of the region-the highest in the world-combined with high rates of urbanization promoted these unsustainable activities by creating demand for bushmeat, fuelwood, and other forest products. The consumption of fuelwood made up 88% of the total roundwood produced in 1994 in the region.

On a commercial level, logging has greatly accelerated in Central Africa, much of it carried out by West African firms (Ivory Coast especially) which have largely cut through their own forests. However the situation changed rapidly in the mid-nineties after the January 1994 devaluation of the African (CFA) franc by 50% under the Structural Adjustment Program. Prior to devaluation, the difficulties of access, transport, and dealing with unstable governments, as well as the overvalued currency had made Central Africa a relatively expensive place to operate and slowed investment in timber industries. After devaluation, production costs fell and logging in the Central African rainforests became more competitive. Additionally, in order to improve their own economic situation (devaluation is especially hard on the poor since goods become relatively more expensive in their currency), many peasants cleared new fields from forests to plant higher-yielding crops that require the nutrients released by freshly slashed-and-burned forest. There is fear that another devaluation will occur with Europe's adoption of the Euro currency. In the past few years, logging had skyrocketed as European and Asian timber firms (facing restrictions in their homelands from years of overharvesting) have moved into the region. Between 1990 and 1997, the volume of timber exported annually from countries of the Congo basin has increased ten-told to two million cubic meters. Though Asians only entered the African timber market in 1995, already the greatest demand for African wood comes from the Far East. For example, 85% of timber production in Gabon now goes to Asia. During 1996 alone, Asian timber firms gained control of 10-12.5 million acres (4-5 million ha) of rainforest in Central Africa. The Asian financial crisis of 1997-98 had a major impact on timber production and log prices in Central Africa. Logging roads are opening vast areas of forest to colonists and poachers. Numerous infrastructure projects have been initiated by foreign companies. One major French aid agency that works in the region boldly states that its development projects only finance infrastructure necessary to French timber interests. The new government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (Zaire) is working on several large infrastructure contracts with South Africa to open up the forests for mineral and timber development. Currently no FSC certified timber comes out of Africa.

The inflow of foreign firms do not necessarily bring benefits to peasants and colonists. Though in many areas these industries provide the only form of work for these people, pay is menial and jobs are temporary. After the extraction firm has exhausted the forest of its resources, it moves on leaving a community dependent on the firm for employment. Settlers then may burn surrounding forest lands, now degraded, for short-term, subsistence agriculture. In addition, most timber leaves the country as raw logs since export laws, like environmental regulations, are poorly enforced. Thus, the country does not maximize its potential benefits that could be derived from timber processing and the export of value-added goods like furniture. Finally, small economic circles of the economic elite share the vast majority of benefits from logging, oil, and mining, and virtually no benefits are returned to the people who are impacted the most by development projects. Corruption is a major problem in many of these countries: Nigeria and Cameroon were recently rated among the most corrupt in the world. Post colonial kleptocratic governments "produced by strong-man rule have proved uniformly inept, with a partial exception for pillage . . . [Most] foreign aid ends up in numbered accounts abroad" (Landes 1998).


Tropical Deforestation in Africa, 1990-2000

[Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the U.N.: The State of the World's Forests 2003]

2007 update

	Total Land Area	Total Forest	Forest % of land area	Forest Change	Annual rate of change
	2000	2000	2000	1990-2000	1990-2000
Country	(‘000 ha)	(‘000 ha)	% of land	(‘000 ha)	(%)
Africa	2,978,394	649,866	21.8	-5,262	-0.8
Angola	124,670	69,756	56.0	-124	-0.2
Benin	11,063	2,650	24.0	-70	-2.3
Burkina Faso	27,360	7,089	25.9	-15	-0.2
Burundi	2,568	94	3.7	-15	-9.0
Cameroon	46,540	23,858	51.3	-222	-0.9
Central African Republic	62,297	22,907	36.8	-30	-0.1
Comoros	186	8	4.3	n.s.	-4.3
Congo	34,150	22,060	64.6	-17	-0.1
Cote d’Ivoire	31,800	7,117	22.4	-265	-3.1
Dem. Rep. of the Congo	226,705	135,207	59.6	-532	-0.4
Equatorial Guinea	2,805	1,752	62.5	-11	-0.6
Ethiopia	110,430	4,593	4.2	-40	-0.8
Gabon	25,767	21,826	84.7	-10	n.s.
Gambia	1,000	481	48.1	4	1.0
Ghana	22,754	6,335	27.8	-120	-1.7
Guinea	24,572	6,929	28.2	-35	-0.5
Guinea-Bissau	3,612	2,187	60.5	-22	-0.9
Kenya	56,915	17,096	30.0	-93	-0.5
Liberia	11,137	3,481	31.3	-76	-2.0
Madagascar	58,154	11,727	20.2	-117	-0.9
Malawi	9,409	2,562	27.2	-71	-2.4
Mali	122,019	13,186	10.8	-99	-0.7
Mauritius	202	16	7.9	n.s.	-0.6
Mozambique	78,409	30,601	39.0	-64	-0.2
Niger	126,670	1,328	1.0	-62	-3.7
Nigeria	91,077	13,517	14.8	-398	-2.6
Rwanda	2,466	307	12.4	-15	-3.9
Sao Tome and Principe	95	27	28.3	n.s.	n.s.
Senegal	19,252	6,205	32.2	-45	-0.7
Seychelles	45	30	66.7	n.s.	n.s.
Sierra Leone	7,162	1,055	14.7	-36	-2.9
Somalia	62,734	7,515	12.0	-77	-1.0
Sudan	237,600	61,627	25.9	-959	-1.4
Tanzania	88,359	38,811	43.9	-91	-0.2
Togo	5,439	510	9.4	-21	-3.4
Tunisia	16,362	510	3.1	1	0.2
Uganda	19,964	4,190	21.0	-91	-2.0
Zambia	74,339	31,246	42.0	-851	-2.4
Zimbabwe	38,685	19,040	49.2	-320	-1.5

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Outlook

Although 1997 was a year of extensive publicity for Central and West Africa's rainforests, the outlook for the regions rainforests is not promising. Many countries have agreed in principle to conventions of biodiversity and forest preservation, but in practice these concepts of sustainable forestry are not enforced. Most governments lack the funds and technical know-how to make these projects a reality, and "paper parks" are common. Funding for most conservation projects comes from foreign sectors and 70-75% of forestry in the region is funded by external resources. Additionally a population growth rate exceeding 3% annually combined with the poverty of rural peoples, makes it difficult for the government to control local subsistence clearing and hunting. Equally challenging is the tremendous debt obligations facing the governments of these countries. Already terribly poor (16 of the world's 20 poorest countries are in Africa), by 1996 African countries with tropical rainforest had accumulated a foreign debt over US$177 billion, an almost insurmountable sum considering the low annual GDPs of most member countries. The easiest, most expedient way for such governments to service these debt payments is to sell their forest products and resources.

Nevertheless there is hope for Africa's remaining rainforests. The Asian economic slow-down has provided precious time for African nations to reexamine their forestry policies. Numerous innovative schemes to incorporate local peoples into the sustainable management of rainforests have been devised by various government agencies, NGOs, conservation organizations, and private industries. These community management programs show potential, by thus far only represent a miniscule fraction of forest land. Recently several organizations including the UN have put pressure on African governments to abandon tax incentives for practices that encourage deforestation, but provide virtually no return to most African people. In addition, the region, with its biodiversity and varied landscapes, has excellent potential for ecotourism, though it is stymied by poor infrastructure and concerns over political stability, health, and safety. Finally, the region's biological wealth offers tremendous potential for bioprospecting for potentially useful drugs, food products, and other NWFPs.

Detailed population statistics
Types of forest in Africa
Additional Info on African Forests
. . . . .
There is also valuable news on African forests at http://www.afrol.com/Categories/Environment/backgr_deforestation.htm and http://www.forests.org/africa/