Environment

     Africa is a continent rich in biodiversity both on land and at sea. The rainforests and cloud forests of the Congo Basin are home to forest elephants, gorillas, and other species vulnerable to human viruses, deforestation, and poaching. The deserts of the Kalahari and Sahara have surprising biodiversity, but the wide spread of desert habitat caused by unsustainable agriculture is posing problems for Central Africa. The great savannas, of course, are Africa's most famous habitat, and wildlife there is vulnerable to conflict when humans simply want a place to live and food to eat and local wildlife wants the same.

     Africa's oceans are less renowned but equally impressive. The Gulf of Guinea and the Red Sea are impressive habitats for tuna, sharks, and other keystone species. Gabon, Cabo Verde, and Madagascar serve as sea turtle nesting habitat. Namibia is home to the Skeleton Coast, a seal nursery where the sea meets the Namib Desert. Both coasts have large reef systems vulnerable to marine debris, pollution, and unsustainable fishing. These threats are problems for all marine wildlife, especially the large populations of humpback whales and three species of endangered dolphins found nowhere else on Earth.

     Africa is more vulnerable to climate change than most continents. Renewable energy provides a perfect opportunity for bilateral economic growth, poverty elimination, disaster prevention, improved human and environmental health, and climate change resilience, but fossil fuel companies see Africa as a place to use corruption to their advantage. 

     Indeed, saving Africa's environment is a much more complicated issue than saving elephants and rhinos from poaching.