Africa

Africa is the second largest continent on Earth and encompasses a highly varied range of ecosystems. These include the Atlas Mountains in the north, the vast Sahara Desert, dense tropical forests of West and Central Africa, the vast rangelands of east and southern Africa, the snow capped peaks of the Ruwenzori in central Africa and many varied habitats in between.

This variability is matched by the huge array of biodiversity to be found here, much of it found nowhere else. Africa is also the cradle of the human species and many different cultures and ethnic groups call Africa home.

At the same time, poverty and the pressure of increasing unsustainable development and human populations mean that many of these ecosystems and much of the biodiversity is under threat.

Conservation issues

Habitat loss and fragmentation:
A major threat to wildlife, driven by many complex factors, for example forests degraded through the extraction of wood for both timber and fuel. In numerous African countries, wood is the main form of energy for heat and cooking, while wood from many tropical forests is used for timber locally and exported to markets in Europe, North America and Asia.

Habitat is also lost to agriculture, including small scale farming and shifting cultivation for local needs as well as the industrial-scale farming of cocoa and palm oil to satisfy the markets of developed nations, like the UK.

Overhunting:
Unsustainable levels of hunting are having a major impact on wildlife across the continent. Regardless of whether this is driven by the bushmeat market or the international trade in products such as rhino horn and elephant ivory, unsustainable hunting has severe implications for both the local people and wildlife conservation.

Africa's Deserts

Desert and rangeland areas are extremely fragile environments, but these ecosystems are being degraded through unsustainable practices leading to desertification and wildlife losses, and the Sahara has lost more of its birds and mammals than any other region of the Palaearctic (Europe, Africa and Asia). ZSL has projects focused in Africa's deserts including the Pan Sahara Wildlife Survey .

More on forests in Africa and ZSL projects here

- Sahelo-Saharan wildlife conservation
- ZSL's work in deserts

Africa's Forests

30% of the world’s tropical forests are in Africa, and over 50% of plant and 30% of animal species there are found nowhere else. The UN estimates that unless its destruction is halted 66% of the Congo Basin rainforest will be lost by 2040. ZSL aims to support the forests of Africa and undertakes projects and research there including the Wildlife Wood Project , research into bushmeat alternatives and conservation work in Virunga National Park .

More on forests in Africa and ZSL projects here