REGIONAL SLIDES

AFRICA

• Velingara, Senegal
• Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania
• Flood in Mozambique
• Parrot’s Beak, Sierra Leone/Liberia
• Banjul, Gambia
• Tripoli, Libya
• Midrand, South Africa
• Lake Victoria, Uganda
• Mount Kenya, Kenya
• Tai National Park, Cote d’Ivoire
 AFRICA

• Itampolo, Madagascar
• Kisangani, D.R. of Congo
• Challawa Gorge Dam, Nigeria
• Lake Chad, Nigeria, Niger,
Chad, Cameroon
• Lesotho Highlands Water
Project, Lesotho
• Lake Nakuru, Kenya
• Peanut Basin, Senegal
• Revane, Senegal
• Narok, Kenya
• Toshka Project, Egypt
 AFRICA

• Africa is a region of occurrences – from tsunamis to droughts; fires to

floods and meteor impacts to epidemics and pandemics
• Between 1975 and 2005, the population more than doubled from 335 to
751 million and is predicted to reach 1.1 billion by 2025

• Currently Africa’s growth rate is at 2.2 per cent a year

• Total forest area of Africa is 5 683 131 km2; Africa constitutes about 17
per cent of the world's forests; Nigeria has the world’s highest
deforestation rate
• 300 million Africans do not have access to safe water, about 313 million have
no access to sanitation and over 88 million people are malnourished
• In Africa, agriculture provides livelihoods for about 60 per cent of the
continent's active labour force, contributes to 17 per cent of Africa's total
gross domestic product and accounts for 40 per cent of its foreign
currency earnings
Sources: FAO, Population Reference Bureau
Meteor Impact in Velingara, Senegal

Velingara Crater appears

to be a meteor-impact-
generated structure

• 1975: Image predates the

agricultural development

• 2001: Intense agricultural

systems have appeared
near the center of the crater
 Disappearing Icecap of
Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania

Africa’s highest mountain

with a forest belt having
rich diversity of
ecosystems

• 1976: Glaciers covered

most of the summit

• 2000: The glaciers had

receded alarmingly
Mozambique under Water

2000: Due to severe

flooding, half a million
people were made
homeless and 700 lost
their lives

22 August 1999:
Mozambique under
normal conditions

1 March 2000:
Mozambique under
water
Impact of Civil Wars on Guinea

These images show

impact of civil wars in
Liberia on neighboring
Guinea

• 1974: Image of the

Parrot’s Beak region in
Guinea

• 2002: The light green

color is the result of
deforestation in the “safe
area” where refugees set
up camp
Urban Sprawl in Banjul, Gambia

Images show urban

sprawl and its impact

• 1973: Urban growth and

expansion of cropland has
led to decline in woodland

• 1999: Abuko Nature

Reserve is an isolated
patch of green in the 1999
image
Undergoing Steady Urban
Growth - Tripoli, Libya

• 1976: Grasslands have

been converted into
agricultural fields

• 2002: Urban expansion is

especially notable (shades
of grey)
Industrializing Midrand, South Africa

Rapidly transforming city

due to population growth,
agriculture, mining, and
industry

• 1978: Surrounding area

consists largely of
agriculture

• 2002: High density urban

development
Impact of Invasive Species on
Lake Victoria, Uganda
These images show
water hyacinth infestation
and control of such
invasive species

• 1995: Image shows several

water-hyacinth-choked bays
(yellow arrows)

• 2001: A visible reduction of

Water Hyacinth on Lake
Victoria
Population Growth Around Lake
Victoria, Uganda
• The population growth
around 100 km buffer zone
of the Lake Victoria

• Population growth around

Lake Victoria, East Africa, is
the highest in Africa
 World’s Fastest Growing Rural
Area – Lake Victoria, Uganda
Total Human Population Living around Lake Victoria
50.00 (millions) 47.23
41.80
40.00

30.51
30.00
22.13
20.00 16.05
11.71
10.00 8.57

0.00
1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2015
Total Population

Note: Figures for 2010

and 2015 are estimates.
 Population Growth:
Lake Victoria vs. Africa
246
250
218

200

159
150
115
100 84
61
45
50 32 36
21 26
9 12 16

0
1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2015
Lake Victoria Africa Average
Note: Figures for 2010
and 2015 are estimates.
Diversity in Mt. Kenya Ecosystems
Kenya

These images show high

diversity in ecosystems
and species

• 2000: The entire forest

belt of Mount Kenya was
gazetted as National
Reserve

• 2002: The image shows

significant improvement in
the state of conservation
of forests
 Tai National Park, Côte d’Ivoire –
site of world’s highest deforestation rate

These images show

deforestation rate in the
area, believed to be one of
the highest in the world

• 1988: Shows destruction

of small forest fragments

• 2002: The lighter green

strip bisecting the images
is the result of extensive
deforestation and intensive
cultivation
Disappearing Forests in
Itampolo, Madagascar

These images show the

changes in narrow
coastal plain

• 1973: Shows heavily

forested area home to
unique and rare plant and
animal species

• 2001: Burning of forest to

clear land for dry rice
cultivation, has led to
disappearance of forest
area (seen as tan)
Steady Deforestation in Kisangani
Democratic Republic of Congo

These images show slow

but steady deforestation
of dense forest cover

• 1975: The city and

surrounding areas are
clearly visible

• 2001: The cleared area

around the city has grown
and become consolidated,
spreading along rivers and
roads
Impact of Challawa Gorge Dam
Nigeria

These images show the

area before and after
construction of the dam

• 1990: Image of the area

before the completion of
the dam in 1993

• 1999: Impact of
flooding upstream from
the dam; colour of the
water in the flooded area
indicates high sediments
 Shrinking Lake Chad shared by
Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon
Persistent drought has
shrunk the lake to about
a tenth of its former size

• 1972: Larger lake surface

area is visible in this image

• 2001: Impact of drought

displays a shrunken lake,
comparatively much smaller
surface area than in 1972
image
 Skepticism surrounding Lesotho
Highland Water Project in South Africa

These images show the

area before and after
construction of Katse
dam

• 1989: Image of the area

before the completion of
the dam in 1995

• 2001: Katse dam created

an enormous reservoir, the
extent of which can clearly
be seen in this image
Land Cover Degradation Around
Lake Nakuru, Kenya

These images show the

land cover degradation in
the lake’s catchment

• 1973: The area that hosts

the world’s largest
concentration of flamingos

• 2000: Excision of forest in

the Eastern Mau Forest
Reserve (white lines) will
most likely lead to
disappearance of upper
catchment forest cover
Battle between Forests vs. Farmlands
Peanut Basin, Senegal

Shows growing
patchwork of savannas
(greenish patches)

• 1979: Image shows

farmland before being
abandoned

• 1999: Hundreds of
villages are scattered
throughout the region to
enjoy fallow and grazing
lands
Changing Landscape in
Ravene, Senegal
Images show impact
of drought and over-
grazing on the
woody vegetation

• 1965: Ancient valleys

cutting through gravelly
plateaus, with extensive
bushland vegetation

• 1999: The badland

phenomenon spread
extensively along the
shallow valley slopes
Converted Lands of Narok, Kenya

These images show the

conversion of grasslands
into agricultural fields

• 1975: The agricultural

expansion is just beginning

• 2000: This image shows

the degree to which
farmlands have expanded
Toshka Lakes: Farming the Desert
Egypt

These images show the

desert area transformed
into vegetable plots

• 1984-87: Image of the

n area before the desert
reclamation project began
in mid-1990s

• 2000: Four new lakes are

visible in this image, faint
blue-green areas around
the lakes are newly created
agricultural lands
Toshka Lakes: Farming the Desert
Egypt

2005:
New fields
are clearly
visible in
the image
 AFRICA’S LAKES

• Lake Kivu, Congo/Rwanda

• Lake Alaotra, Madagascar
• Lake Al Wahda, Morocco
• Lake Cahora Basa,
Mozambique
• Lake Chivero, Zimbabwe
• Lake Djoudj, Senegal
• Lake Ichkeul, Tunisia
• Lake Manantali, Mali
• Lake Sibaya, South Africa
• Songor Lagoon, Ghana
• Lake Tonga, Algeria
 AFRICA’S LAKES
• According to the WORLDLAKE database, there are 677 lakes in
Africa
• There are 15 natural lakes that cross the political boundaries of two or
more countries in Africa
• There are 60 transboundary river basins in Africa, covering over 63
per cent of the continent’s land area
• Lake Chad’s surface area has shrunk by 95 per cent over the past 35
years
• Uncontrolled damming, the withdrawal of water for irrigation, and
climate variability are the major causes of drying up of Lake Tonga in
Algeria
• Population growth around Lake Victoria, the continent’s largest
lake, is significantly higher than the rest of Africa
• Some lakes in central Africa have become known as “killer lakes,”
because of the catastrophic natural events that have occurred in
their vicinity Sources: UNEP 2006
Lake Kivu-one of Africa’s “killer lakes”
Congo/Rwanda

These images show

dramatic changes before
and after the eruption of
Mt. Nyiragongo in 2002

• 2001: Before the January

2002 eruption

• 2003: Shows the track of

the lava flow
Severe flooding around Lake Alaotra
Madagascar

These images show

flooding over a wide area

• Flooding destroys
significant portion of crops

• Intensive rice irrigation

occurs at the western part
of the lake (yellow arrows)
Impact of Al Wahda reservoir in
Morocco

These images illustrate

the change in land cover

• 1987: The area before

the construction of dams

• 2001: The area after the

construction of 110 large
dams
 Cahora Basa – Mozambique’s
largest dam on the Zambezi River

These images show

spectacular changes in the
Zambezi riverine system

• 1972: The Zambezi River

a few years before the dam
construction

• 1999: This image shows

part of the enormous dam
and the lake
Invasive water weeds in
Lake Chivero, Zimbabwe

These images show

overall reduction in water
weeds

• 1989: Weeds show up as

green strands along the
edges of the lake

• 2000: This image shows

that water weeds remains a
persistent problem
Rejuvenation of the Djoudj
Sanctuary in Senegal

These images show the

Djoudj Sanctuary before
and after the construction
of the Diama Dam

• 1979: Shows the impact

of drought on the Djoudj
Sanctuary

• 1999: Rejuvenation of the

Sanctuary wetlands due to
significant floods
Ecological changes around
Lake Ichkeul, Tunisia

These images show the

impact of damming

• 1972: Shows the three

feeder rivers supplying the
lake before they were
dammed

• 2000: Shows the location

of the dams (yellow arrows)
Agricultural expansion around
Lake Manantali, Mali

These images show the

expansion of irrigated
agriculture

• 1977: Shows the original

meandering nature of the
Bafing River

• 1999: Shows the

expanded irrigated land and
increase in lake water
quantity
Lake Sibaya – wetland of international
important in South Africa

These images show

increase in cultivation
around the lake

• 1991: Lakeshore is home

to the only known species
of a rare climbing orchid

• 2001: The yellow arrows

vividly show the increase
of cultivation of marginal
lands around the lake
Reduction in the surface area of
Songor Lagoon, Ghana

These images show a

conspicuous reduction in
the surface area

• 1990: Shows major

lagoon system associated
with Volta river estuary

• 2000: This image shows

water area dramatically
reduced, exposing bare
ground
Changes in and around Lake Tonga
Algeria

These images show the

changes brought about
by damming of the
feeder rivers

• 1988: Lake Tonga before

the damming of feeder
rivers
• 2000: Damming
increased irrigation and
drastically reduced the
volume of water entering
the lake
 AFRICA

One Planet Many People:

Atlas of Our Changing Environment

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