The UN Environment Programme released a 400-page “Africa: Atlas of Our Changing Environment” yesterday. The document contains 300 satellite images taken in over 100 locations that compare before and after photographs that span a 35-year period.
Striking environmental changes depicted in these images include:
- The shrinking of Lake Chad and Lake Victoria
- Disappearing glaciers in Uganda’s Rwenzori Mountains
- Widening corridors of deforestation after new roads were introduced in northern Democratic Republic of Congo
- The loss of trees and shrubs in the arid foothills of western Sudan
The Atlas also shows some very positive results from land-use management:
- Action on overgrazing in the Sidi Toui National Park, southeastern Tunisia has produced a dramatic rebound in the natural ecosystem.
- A new management plan for the Itezhi-tezhi dam in Zambia has helped to restore the natural seasonal flooding of the Kafue flats
- New policies and improved enforcement have significantly reduced unsustainable exploitation of the forests of Mount Kenya
- A review of forest concessions in Liberia has helped protect the forest in Sapo National Park from logging
View the Africa Atlas online here. Read the full detailed press release about the Africa Atlas here.
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Will help view this data to assist in getting message across to politicians