Islamic Republic of Mauritania

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Islamic Republic of Mauritania
Facts and Figures
Total Surface Area 1 025 520 km2
Estimated Population in 2006 3 158 000
The eye of Mauritania, thought to have been
caused by uplifted sedimentary rock layers
sculpted by erosion, is nearly 50 kilometres
across
0.5 of Mauritanias total land area is
classified as arable
Important Environmental Issues
Desertification and Deforestation
Iron Mining Fisheries and Coastal Ecosystems

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Islamic Republic of Mauritania
Wetlands around Diawling National Park
Drought had already begun to impact the wetlands
before construction of the dams in the 1980s
(1979 image)
The construction of the Diama Dam in 1986 (yellow
arrow) disrupted the cycle of flooding and
evaporation in the Senegal River delta wetlands
The 2006 image shows the restored wetlands in and
around Diawling National Park
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Islamic Republic of Mauritania
Along the Rosso-Nouakchott Highway
North of the border between Mauritania and
Senegal, National Highway 2 connects Nouakchott
with Rosso
In the 1972 image, bright reflection from the
sandy soils surrounding the highway is mixed with
some vegetation (shades of green)
In the 1990 image, the path of the highway shows
as a bright yellow corridor from
northwest to southeast through El Haedi
The 2006 image shows the same pattern of
vegetation loss along the highway
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Republic of Mauritius
Facts and Figures
Total Surface Area 2 040 km2 Estimated Populatio
n in 2006 1 256 000
Population of the Echo Parakeet (Psittacula
eques), found in Black River Gorges National
Park, increased from 10 in the 1980s to over 320
in 2000
Important Environmental Issues
Coastal Water Pollution Threats to Biodiversi
ty
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Republic of Rwanda
Threatened Coral Reefs in Mauritius
In these satellite images, coral reefs (yellow
arrows) form a fringe along the islands shores
and create shallow lagoons that are extremely
important to the fishing and tourist industries
Coral reefs almost surround Mauritius, these are
complex ecosystems, rich in biodiversity yet
only able to survive in very clear, warm and
nutrient-poor ocean waters
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Kingdom of Morocco
Facts and Figures
Total Surface Area 446 550 km2
Estimated Population in 2006 31 943 000
The oil-yielding Argan tree (Argania spinosa) is
unique to Morocco and grows only in the Souss
Valley of the southwest
Percentage of the countrys fresh water used for
agricultural production 90
Important Environmental Issues
Drought and Desertification Water Scarcity
Pollution
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Kingdom of Morocco
The Sustainability of Al Wahda Dam
Al Wahda Dam is the second-largest dam in Africa
and the largest in Morocco
The 1987 image shows the area before the dam was
built in 1996
More recently natural and human-caused erosion is
filling the dam with silt and is threatening its
long term sustainability
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Kingdom of Morocco
Greenhouse Agriculture Souss-Massa Valley
In the 1970s greenhouse agriculture was
introduced to the area
The 1988 satellite image shows a few greenhouses
(light blue squares) scattered throughout the
valley
The 2003 image shows the expansion that has
occurred in greenhouse agriculture,
with greenhouses (white squares) covering a
substantial portion of the valleys agricultural
land
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Republic of Mozambique
Facts and Figures
Total Surface Area 801 590 km2
Estimated Population in 2006 20 158 000
Mozambique has roughly 5 000 km2 of mangroves
along its coast, the most of any country along
Africas Indian Ocean shoreline
5 087 865 reported malaria cases in Mozambique in
2003
Important Environmental Issues
Water Access and Natural Disasters
Land Use
Protecting Wildlife and Forests
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Republic of Mozambique
Cahora Bassa Dam in Zambezi River
The 1972 image shows a 250-km stretch of the
Zambezi River prior to the construction of the
Cahora Bassa Dam
The 2006 image shows the current extent of the
reservoir
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Republic of Mozambique
Fire Scars in Beira
The 21 May 2006 satellite image was acquired at
the beginning of the 2006 dry season, before many
fires had left their mark
Especially large number of fires was recorded in
August 2006
The 9 August 2006 image shows the same area
roughly 2.5 months later - pink, dark red, and
black fire scars cover much of the landscape
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Republic of Namibia
Facts and Figures
Total Surface Area 824 292 km2
Estimated Population in 2006 2 052 000
At 55 million years, Namib in Namibia is the
worlds oldest desert
Length of Namibias Fish River the largest
canyon in Africa is 160 km

• Important Environmental Issues
• Land Degradation and Desertification
• Aridity and Water Scarcity
• Threats to Biodiversity

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Republic of Namibia
Kavango Region
The Kavango Region, located in Namibias
relatively wet northeastern corner, is part of
the 8 of the country that receives about 500 mm
of rain per yearthe minimum considered necessary
for non-irrigated agriculture
These images, from 1973 and 2007, show the
dramatic increase in the land area cleared for
agriculture (light yellow patches) around Rundu
and elsewhere along the river
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Republic of Namibia
Walvis Bay Salt Production and Wetlands
Walvis Bays solar evaporation facilities process
24 million metric tonnes of seawater each year -
producing more than 400 000 metric tonnes of
high-quality salt
In 1973 the salt evaporation ponds were still
relatively small (red and blue rectangles in the
centre of the image)
By 2005 they had grown to cover 3 500 hectares
in the lagoon
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Republic of Niger
Facts and Figures
Total Surface Area 1 267 000 km2
Estimated Population in 2006 14 426 000
Niger is one of the hottest countries in the
world, with four-fifths of its territory lying in
the Sahara desert
Percentage of Nigers labour force employed
in agriculture 90
Important Environmental Issues
Desertification and Deforestation
Threats to Wildlife Environmental Consequence
s of Mining
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Republic of Niger
Forest Degradation in Baban Rafi Forest
Baban Rafi Forest is the most significant area of
woodland in the Maradi Department
These satellite images show the loss of a
significant fraction of the natural landscape
(darker green areas) of Baban Rafi Forest to
agriculture between 1976 and 2007
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Republic of Niger
Revitalised Land Tahoua Province
In recent decades, Nigers climate and its
demographic problems have negatively impacted its
agricultural land by forcing agriculture onto
land that had been historically used for livestock
Intense pressure on fragile lands led to acute
environmental
degradation (1975 image)
A recent study revealed 10 to 20 times the number
of trees across three of Nigers southern
provinces than there were in the 1970s (2005
image)
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Federal Republic of Nigeria
Facts and Figures
Total Surface Area 923 768 km2
Estimated Population in 2006 134 375 000
Nigeria is the largest producer of oil in Africa
and the eleventh largest producer of oil in the
world
Nigerias arable land as a proportion of the
total land area is 33
Important Environmental Issues
Desertification Deforestation and Threats to
Biodiversity
Oil Pollution
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Federal Republic of Nigeria
Impacts of Challawa Dam
The Challawa Dam in Kano State, Nigeria, was
built to control flooding caused by seasonal and
variable rainfall and to support irrigation
The Challawa Dam has tamed highly seasonal
downstream flooding at the expense of the
Hadejia-Nguru
wetlands
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Federal Republic of Nigeria
Oil Development in the Niger River Delta
Currently, about 66 gas fields and over 500 oil
wells are located in the delta area
The 1984 image shows the delta 20 years after oil
operations began in the early 1960s
Between 1976 and 1996 there were more than 4 640
oil spills totaling three million barrels of oil
The 2003 image shows concentrations of oil wells
(small yellow arrows), pipelines connecting them
and storage facilities (large yellow arrow)
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Republic of Rwanda
Facts and Figures
Total Surface Area 26 338 km2
Estimated Population in 2006 9 230 000
Rwandas Nyungwe National Park is the largest
block of montane forest in East and Central
Africa, and among the largest on the continent.
In 2007, Rwanda had the highest population
density in mainland Africa at 394 people per km2
Important Environmental Issues
Population Pressure on Land Soil Erosion and
Sedimentation Deforestation and Threats to Biod
iversity
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Republic of Rwanda
Fire Scars Akagera National Park
Fire is common in the savannah portions of the
park
Images from July 1980 and June 1984 show the area
surrounding Akagera National Park with large fire
scars (dark
purple patches)
1999 image shows the regional during rainy
seasons when fires occur infrequently
In contrast 2004 images has fire scars as fires
that year burned nearly one-third of the park
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Republic of Rwanda
Dramatic Deforestation Gishwati Forest
The 1978 satellite image shows the Gishwati Fores
t Reserve as a dark-green carpet of dense forest
nearly covering the entire protected area

The 2006 image shows that most of the forest has
been cleared
Only a fraction of the forest that was intact in
1978 remains (in degraded condition)