| Central African mangroves | |
|---|---|
 | |
 Map of the Central African mangroves | |
| Ecology | |
| Realm | Afrotropical |
| Biome | mangrove |
| Borders | |
| Geography | |
| Area | 27,570 km2 (10,640 sq mi) |
| Countries | |
| Conservation | |
| Conservation status | Critical/endangered |
| Protected | 7,261 km² (26%) [1] |
The Central African mangroves ecoregion consists of the largest area of mangrove swamp in Africa, located on the coasts of West Africa, mainly in Nigeria.
These mangroves are found in fertile rivermouths and lagoons and contain trees up to 45m tall. Most are in Nigeria, with important areas Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea/Gabon and patches in Ghana, Democratic Republic of Congo, and northern Angola. The largest area in the region is on the delta of the Niger River on the Gulf of Guinea, while others include the eastern side of the Cross River delta in Nigeria and Cameroon, the Wouri estuary in Cameroon, and the Muni River estuary on the border of Equatorial Guinea and Gabon. As well as being home to much wildlife the mangroves hold rivers in place, filter the waters and create build-ups of nutrient rich soil on the banks. Mangroves thrive in humid tropical climates where the sea is warm, and where high tides flood into the rivers. Therefore, there is less on the coast of the Congo, where the Benguela Current brings cool seas, but there are patches here and further south in Angola.
There are five main species of mangrove trees in the ecoregion: red mangrove ( Rhizophora mangle ), Rhizophora racemosa , and Rhizophora harrisonii , black mangrove ( Avicennia germinans ) and white mangrove ( Laguncularia racemosa ), while the palm Nypa fruticans has been introduced from Asia.
The rich communities of oysters, crabs, invertebrates and the great variety of fish sheltering and spawning in the mangroves sustain animal life including monkeys, African manatee (Trichechus senegalensis), and turtles like the African softshell turtle (Trionyx triunguis). Birds include breeding waterbirds such as striated heron and reed cormorant and large flocks of others during migration.
Example of services related mangrove services include regulatory, provisional, cultural and supportive.
Nigeria is the most densely populated country in Africa, which puts a strain on the largest remaining areas of these fertile coastal habitats. Much has been cleared for urban and industrial development, such as the oil refineries of the Niger Delta which have also caused the rivers and swamps to become polluted. [2] Urban areas in originally mangrove areas include Lagos in Nigeria and Douala in Cameroon. Other strains on the ecoregion include clearance for salt panning and agriculture. However mangrove is a resilient habitat and small clumps of mangrove remain in isolation all along the coast of west and central Africa. Protected areas include Douala Edéa National Park in Cameroon and Songor Lagoon in Ghana, while the Keta Lagoon, also in Ghana, is a Ramsar site.
At 475,440 km2 (183,570 sq mi), Cameroon is the world's 53rd largest country. It is slightly larger than the nation of Sweden and the US state of California. It is comparable in size to Papua New Guinea. Cameroon's landmass is 472,710 km2 (182,510 sq mi), with 2,730 km2 (1,050 sq mi) of water.
The individual member states of the African Union (AU) coordinate foreign policy through this agency, in addition to conducting their own international relations on a state-by-state basis. The AU represents the interests of African peoples at large in intergovernmental organizations (IGO's); for instance, it is a permanent observer at the United Nations' General Assembly.
The Guinean forests of West Africa is a biodiversity hotspot designated by Conservation International, which includes the belt of tropical moist broadleaf forests along the coast of West Africa, running from Sierra Leone and Guinea in the west to the Sanaga River of Cameroon in the east. The Dahomey Gap, a region of savanna and dry forest in Togo and Benin, divides the Guinean forests into the Upper Guinean forests and Lower Guinean forests.
The Lower Guinean forests is region of coastal tropical moist broadleaf forest in West Africa, extending along the eastern coast of the Gulf of Guinea from eastern Benin through Nigeria and Cameroon.
The wildlife of Nigeria consists of the flora and fauna of this country in West Africa. Nigeria has a wide variety of different habitats, ranging from mangrove swamps and tropical rainforest to savanna with scattered clumps of trees. About 290 species of mammal and 940 species of bird have been recorded in the country.
Eremospatha is a genus of climbing flowering plants in the palm family found in tropical Africa. These rattans are uncommon in cultivation and poorly understood by taxonomists;. Closely related to Laccosperma, they differentiated by the near complete absence of bracts and bracteoles. The name is from Greek meaning "without a spathe".
The Atlantic Equatorial coastal forests, also known as the Congolian coastal forests, are a tropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion of central Africa, covering hills, plains, and mountains of the Atlantic coast of Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Republic of the Congo, Angola, and Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The West-Central Africa Division (WAD) of Seventh-day Adventists is a sub-entity of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, which coordinates the Church's operations in 22 African countries, which include Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo. Its headquarters is in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire. The Division membership as of June 30, 2020 is 868,665
The Guinean mangroves are a coastal ecoregion of mangrove swamps in rivers and estuaries near the ocean of West Africa from Senegal to Sierra Leone.
The Southern Africa mangroves are mangrove ecoregion on the Mozambique's southernmost coast and the eastern coast of South Africa.
The Wouri estuary, or Cameroon estuary is a large tidal estuary in Cameroon where several rivers come together, emptying into the Bight of Biafra. Douala, the largest city in Cameroon, is at the mouth of the Wouri River where it enters the estuary. The estuary contains extensive mangrove forests, which are being damaged by pollution and population pressures.
Eresiomera isca, the common pearly, is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. It is found in Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, Bioko, Gabon, the Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The habitat consists of forests and swamp forests.
The Guianan mangroves (NT1411) is a coastal ecoregion of southeastern Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana. The mangroves provide an important habitat for migrating birds that winter in the area. Large areas are intact, although they are threatened by destruction of the trees for timber and to make way for agriculture, and from upstream agricultural and industrial pollution.
The Northwest Mexican Coast mangroves is a mangrove ecoregion of the southern Baja California Peninsula and coastal Sonora and northern Sinaloa states in northwestern Mexico. They are the northernmost mangroves on the Pacific Coast of North America and the region is transitional between tropical and temperate seas.
The Mesoamerican Gulf-Caribbean mangroves ecoregion covers the series of disconnected mangrove habitats along the eastern coast of Central America. These salt-water wetlands are found in river deltas, lagoons, and low-lying areas facing the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea, from Tampico, Mexico to central Panama. The mangroves are areas of high biodiversity and endemism. Many of the sites are protected as national parks or nature reserves.
The Northern Dry Pacific Coast mangroves ecoregion covers the mangrove habitats in a series of sites along the Pacific Ocean coast of Guatemala and El Salvador. This part of Central America is relatively dry compared to higher elevations or more southerly areas, so the wetland mangroves serve as a refuge for animals of the interior during the winter dry season. The mangroves only extend a few kilometers inland to where the salt water influence is gone; the ecoregion surrounding the mangroves is the Central American dry forests ecoregion.
The Rio Negro-Rio San Sun mangroves ecoregion covers a series of small of discontinuous mangrove forests on the Caribbean Sea coast of Costa Rica, from a small portion inside the border with Nicaragua in the west to the border with Panama in the east. The coast on this stretch is a flat, alluvial plain, and mangroves are only a small part of a diverse patchwork of local habitats including swamps, mixed rainforests, coastal lagoons, sea grass beds, and sandy beaches. Much of the territory is "blackwater river" in character - slow-moving channels in wooded swamps with water stained by decayed matter. These mangroves are periodically damaged by hurricanes, such as in 1988 from Hurricane Joan, but are able to regenerate.
The Trinidad mangroves ecoregion covers the separate mangrove forest areas on the coast of the island of Trinidad, in the country of Trinidad and Tobago. The character of the mangroves is affected by the large amount of fresh water flowing out of the Orinoco River and Amazon River to the south, which flow northwest around the island. The mangroves of Trinidad are found on all coasts, and are usually in the estuaries of rivers, but also found in coastal lagoons.
UNEP (2007). Mangrove of Western and Central Africa. UNEP-Regional Seas Programme/UNEP-WCMC