Environmental issues in Senegal

Senegal's environmental issues are varied. According to the CIA world factbook pressing problems exist with: diminishing wildlife populations which are threatened by poaching, deforestation, overgrazing, soil erosion, desertification, and overfishing.[1]

In 2006, Senegal still had 45.1% —or about 8,673,000 hectares of forest with 18.4% — or roughly 1,598,000 hectares — classified as primary forest.[2] Already in 2007 it was remarked that Senegal is losing 350,000 hectares of forest per year through slash-and-burn for farming because of its rapidly growing population. [3] As one of the consequences, about 13% of the land - holding about 22% of the population - are now considered degraded.[4] In 2016, it was warned that the Casamance forest cover would have vanished by 2018, if illegal logging continued.[5]

See also

  • Institute, World Resources. "Senegal". Global Forest Watch. Retrieved 2018-03-15.

References

  1. ↑ https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/fields/2032.html#sg
  2. ↑ "Forest data: Senegal Deforestation Rates and Related Forestry Figures". Rainforests. Retrieved 2018-03-15.
  3. ↑ "ENVIRONMENT-SENEGAL: An Ongoing Battle Against Deforestation". Inter Press Service. 2018-03-15. Retrieved 2018-03-15. Where does a four-fold increase in a country’s population over half a century make itself felt most acutely? Concerning Senegal, the answer to this might well be: in the forests. At the time of independence in 1960, the West African country was home to three million people. By 1976, the figure had increased to seven million, while in July 2006 it stood at some 11.9 million. This quadrupling of the population in 47 years has led to an increase in the amount of land under cultivation, rising demand for firewood and charcoal, and accelerated urbanisation. The result: Senegal loses about 350,000 hectares of its forests annually to fires that are frequently started to clear land for farming, and more than 80,000 hectares for agricultural needs, according to the Centre for Environmental Preservation (Centre pour la sauvegarde de l’environnement, CSE).
  4. ↑ "Déforestation: Le Sénégal perd chaque année 40 000 hectares soit 2,1 % du PIB". SeneNews.com (in French). 2016-05-24. Retrieved 2018-03-15.
  5. ↑ AfricaNews (2016-06-19). "Senegal govt warns against Casamance deforestation". Africanews. Retrieved 2018-03-15.
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