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CRITICAL ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES 



Africa is a continent of great cultural and biological wealth with over 500 million people of 

 hundreds of ethnic groups and languages. Ecosystems and species richness may be 

 unsurpassed by any other continent - from the remote Kalahari sands to the crystal clear 

 waters of Lake Malawi and Great Rift Valley lakes; from the majestic snow capped 

 Kilimanjaro mountain to the arid Sahel; from the complex and beautiful coral reefs of 

 Madagascar :o the dry savannas of eastern and southern Africa. The dense tropical rain 

 forest stretching from Guinea on the west coast to Zaire in central Africa is the second 

 'argest in the world. As a result of these rich biological ecosystems, Africa boasts a wide 

 variety of wild ammals, including: ihe African elephant, (the largest land mammal), the 

 okapi, the highly endangered black rhinoceros, a wide variety of duikers and antelope, down 

 to the dik-dik, (the smallest antelope in the world). However, today, Africa is going through 

 a conservation crisi\. The viab:lity of Africa's ecosystems is increasingly, and in some cases 

 highly, threatened. The human population of many African countries will double within the 

 next 25 yean. Pressure for land is increasing steadily, making a "hands off conservation 

 approach less and less viable and integrated conservation and development increasingly 

 necessary. Given that over 65 % of Africans are rural dwellers and depend on an agrarian 

 economy, the challenge to conserve Africa's natural resources in the coming decade lies in 

 ensuring that conservation is culturally and politically acceptable by the parties directly 

 affected, the rural dwellers. In short, conservation should not compromise viable and 

 ecologically «.ustaruble rural economic development. 



