East Africa

“Analysis presented in a new report finds the Western Indian Ocean (WIO) region lost around 4% its mangrove forests between 1996 and 2020. The WIO region includes the coastal areas of Kenya, Tanzania, Madagascar and Mozambique, which together account for 5% of the world’s mangroves. . . This was caused by a mixture of unsustainable wood extraction, land clearance for agriculture and the impacts of storms and flooding. But it also shows that, with the exception of Mozambique, losses have stabilized since 2007. . . Pound for pound, mangroves store five times more carbon than tropical rainforest, both in their above ground biomass and also under the surface. Because they grow in waterlogged wetland ecosystems, organic material breaks down more slowly, creating marine peat, while their tangled root systems retain debris such as leaf litter. . . [restoration] projects should follow the principles of Community-Based Ecological Mangrove Restoration (CBEMR) because local people have historical knowledge and “know what species of mangrove works, and those that will wither and die. Whatever we are doing will fail,” if mangrove conservationists don’t consult local communities, Lilian Nyaega says. . . Paul Erftemeijer agrees that tapping into this wealth of Indigenous knowledge is vital.“The way that mangroves are being sustainably managed and conserved and restored is all about community, it’s all about engaging and transferring responsibility to local communities,” he says."

“Located 1,500 meters (4,900 feet) above sea level, Yayu’s coffee forest is one of the last and most significant ecosystems where genetically diverse varietals of arabica coffee grow wild. Due to the global interest in preserving the Yayu coffee gene pool, as well as the other indigenous plants, animals and bird species the forest supports, it was designated a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 2010. . . Around the turn of the century, a massive coal deposit was found in the area, generating huge interest from the government and mining companies. . . The first attempt to mine coal in Yayu came in 2012, when a state-owned military-industrial conglomerate launched a massive project in the biosphere’s buffer zone to extract coal and manufacture urea, a key component in fertilizer production. Mired in scandal, the project was shut down in 2017, but not before carving a hole in the forest and damaging its biodiversity. . . More than 450 vascular plants, 50 mammals, 200 birds and 20 amphibian species have made Yayu home, including De Brazza’s monkey (Cercopithecus neglectus) and the guereza (Colobus guereza).“Habitat loss, coupled with the displacement of local communities, has led to the deterioration of the livelihoods of thousands of forest-dependent households,” Kassahun Kelifa Suleman wrote in his study. . . Now, mining rights have been officially granted to Oromia Mining S.C., a development arm of Tumsa Endowment for the Development of Oromia, a conglomerate owned by the Oromia region government. In the January 2022 agreement signed between Oromia Mining S.C. and the Ministry of Mines, the company allocated 268.6 million birr ($5.2 million) to start producing 50 metric tons of washed coal per hour by December 2022.”

"Africa’s mountain glaciers are melting so quickly, they’re likely to disappear within two decades … the loss of the snowpack's life-giving water could threaten over 100 million people with drought, food insecurity, and displacement from their homes."

“‘This is not because of war or conflict, this is because of climate change,’ says World Food Program Executive Director David Beasley,” who warns that 1.4 million people in Madagascar are food insecure as a result of climate-related famine. “Historically, famines resulted from crop failure, disaster or pest invasion; modern famines are largely considered to be man-made—sparked by conflict combined with natural disasters or incompetence and political interference. Madagascar is facing none of those, making it the first famine in modern history to be caused solely by climate change alone.”

"Hundreds of brightly clad women flock to the banks of the river each week to scrub their way through bundles of laundry. Some of them travel hours from tiny villages to access a critical but increasingly endangered resource here on the island of Anjouan: water. The island, part of the nation of the Comoros off the East African coast, receives more annual rainfall than most of Europe. But a combination of deforestation and climate change has caused at least half of its permanent rivers to stop flowing in the dry season."

"This is a very sad day for the community of Ijara and Kenya as a whole. We are the only community in the world who are custodians of the white giraffe."

"Due to rampant deforestation and hunting in their heartland of Madagascar, lemurs have it particularly bad: 103 of the world’s 107 species of these animals are threatened by extinction. A growing lemur pet trade in the country has also emerged as a new pressure ..."

"He was a great ambassador for his species and will be remembered for the work he did to raise awareness of the plight facing not only rhinos, but many thousands of species facing extinction as a result of unsustainable human activity ... one day, his demise will hopefully be seen as a seminal moment for conservationists."

"At Masoala national park – which is one of Madagascar’s best protected forests and home to many endangered species of lemur – visitors can hear the sound of chainsaws and see recently felled trees. In one area just inside the park boundary sign, a small clearing has been opened for the cultivation of vanilla."

"For Ethiopia, the dam promises abundant energy and an escape from a seemingly permanent spot in the lowest rungs of the world's human development index. But for Egypt, the consequences could be dire: a nationwide water shortage in as little as two years that causes crop failures, power cuts and instability resonating far beyond even the tumult of the recent past."

In 2012 botanists confirmed the rediscovery of two tree species endemic to the highly threatened dry forests of Tanzania's coast, Erythrina schliebenii and Karomia gigas: "The re-discovery of these two trees highlights the lack of information in a forested region where we could be losing species without ever knowing they are there . . . conservation of these forests, in partnership with local villages, is essential."

"Two consecutive rainy seasons have failed, producing a decline of more than 25% of rain for pastoral areas in Somalia, Northern and Eastern Kenya, Southern and Eastern Ethiopia and Djibouti. As a result harvests have failed, livestock mortality has soared, and food and water have become extremely expensive."

“Large areas of evergreen forests have been lost from East Africa during the 20th century resulting in carbon emissions, reduced habitat for forest dependent biodiversity, and reduced availability of essential ecosystem services,”

"The forest habitat where these endemic species are uniquely found has continued to be lost and degraded over the past two decades. Between 1990 and 2007, coastal forest cover decreased by more than a third, and has continued to decline ever since. This is largely as a result of agricultural expansion, charcoal production and logging for timber and firewood."