| 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, and the mouth of the Congo River. 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.
19.86% of the Central African mangroves are in protected areas. National protected areas include Douala Edéa National Park in Cameroon, Monte Alén National Park in Equatorial Guinea, Akanda and Pongara national parks in Gabon, and Mangroves National Park in Democratic Republic of the Congo. There are several Ramsar Sites (internationally designated wetlands of international importance) including Songor and Keta lagoons in Ghana. [3]
The historical loss of mangroves on a worldwide scale is estimated to about 35–50 % of the current area (Giri et al., 2011). Recent data (Bunting et al., 2022) indicate that in the 24-year period between 1996 and 2020, the global loss of mangroves was 5245 km2 (3.4 %). For the same period, the loss for Africa was 152.2 km2 (2.15 %). Natural losses of mangroves may occur through the impacts of cyclones, tsunamis and lightning strikes. [4]
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 Global 200 is the list of ecoregions identified by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), the global conservation organization, as priorities for conservation. According to WWF, an ecoregion is defined as a "relatively large unit of land or water containing a characteristic set of natural communities that share a large majority of their species dynamics, and environmental conditions". For example, based on their levels of endemism, Madagascar gets multiple listings, ancient Lake Baikal gets one, and the North American Great Lakes get none.
The African manatee, also known as the West African manatee, is a species of manatee that inhabits much of the western region of Africa – from Senegal to Angola. It is the only manatee species to be found in the Old World.
Marismas Nacionales–San Blas mangroves is a mangrove ecoregion of the Pacific coast of Mexico. The marismas nacionales stretches from Mazatlán, Sinaloa southwards to San Blas, Nayarit.
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 Congolian rainforests are a broad belt of lowland tropical moist broadleaf forests which extend across the basin of the Congo River and its tributaries in Central Africa.
The wildlife of Cameroon is composed of its flora and fauna. Bordering Nigeria, it is considered one of the wettest parts of Africa and records Africa's second highest concentration of biodiversity. To preserve its wildlife, Cameroon has more than 20 protected reserves comprising national parks, zoos, forest reserves and sanctuaries. The protected areas were first created in the northern region under the colonial administration in 1932; the first two reserves established were Mozogo Gokoro Reserve and the Bénoué Reserve, which was followed by the Waza Reserve on 24 March 1934. The coverage of reserves was initially about 4 percent of the country's area, rising to 12 percent; the administration proposes to cover 30 percent of the land area.
Baikiaea is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family, Fabaceae. It includes six species of trees native to sub-Saharan Africa. Species range from Nigeria eastwards to Uganda and Tanzania and south to Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Namibia. Habitats range from lowland tropical rain forest to seasonally dry forest and woodland or savannas on well-drained soils.
The wildlife of Nigeria consists of the flora and fauna of this country in West Africa. Nigeria has a wide variety of habitats, ranging from mangrove swamps and tropical rainforest to savanna with scattered clumps of trees. About 290 mammal species and 940 bird species have been recorded in the country.
The Congo clawless otter, also known as the Cameroon clawless otter, is a species in the family Mustelidae. It was formerly recognised as a subspecies of the African clawless otter.
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. Founded in 2003, the division membership as of June 30, 2021 was 889,196.
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.
The Guianan mangroves (NT1411) is a coastal ecoregion of southeastern Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana and Brazil. 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 Northern Mesoamerican Pacific 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 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.
UNEP (2007). Mangrove of Western and Central Africa. UNEP-Regional Seas Programme/UNEP-WCMC