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COTE D' IVOIRE (IVORY COAST)
Côte d'Ivoire Forest Figures
Forest CoverTotal forest area: 10,405,000 ha % of land area: 32.7%
Primary forest cover: 625,000 ha % of land area: 2.0% % total forest area: 6.0%
Deforestation Rates, 2000-2005Annual change in forest cover: 15,400 ha Annual deforestation rate: 0.1% Change in defor. rate since '90s: 43.8% Total forest loss since 1990: 183,000 ha Total forest loss since 1990:1.8%
Primary or "Old-growth" forests Annual loss of primary forests: n/a Annual deforestation rate: n/a Change in deforestation rate since '90s: n/a Primary forest loss since 1990: n/a Primary forest loss since 1990:0.0%
Forest ClassificationPublic: 100% Private: n/a Other: n/a Use Production: 88.7% Protection: 3.3% Conservation: 7.8% Social services: 0.2% Multiple purpose: n/a None or unknown: n/a
Forest Area BreakdownTotal area: 10,405,000 ha Primary: 625,000 ha Modified natural: 9,443,000 ha Semi-natural: n/a Production plantation: 337,000 ha Production plantation: n/a
PlantationsPlantations, 2005: 337,000 ha % of total forest cover: 3.2% Annual change rate (00-05): 15,200,000 ha
Carbon storageAbove-ground biomass: 3,649 M t Below-ground biomass: 365 M t
Area annually affected byFire: 21,000 ha Insects: n/a Diseases: n/a
Number of tree species in IUCN red listNumber of native tree species: n/a Critically endangered: 1 Endangered: 4 Vulnerable: 49
Côte d'Ivoire has the highest level of biodiversity in West Africa, with over 1,200 animal species (232 mammals, 702 birds, 125 reptiles, 38 amphibians, 111 fish) and 4,700 plant species. Most of this diversity occurs in the rugged interior region and not in the coastal regions as is the case in other parts of West Africa.
However, much like the rest of West Africa, Côte d'Ivoire has suffered severe deforestation. As of 2005, less than 2 percent of the country's land area was covered with primary forest, while less than a third of Côte d'Ivoire was forested at all. Agriculture, uncontrolled fires, and logging for tropical woods —once Ivory Coast's largest export by volume—were the primary causes of forest loss. Since winning independence from France in 1960, Cote d'Ivoire's forested area has fallen from around 16 million hectares to 10 million hectares.
Once the darling of West Africa with its economic miracle of the 1980s, the country by the 1990s had collapsed because of resource depletion and declining agricultural productivity. The situation has only worsened since then and civil war has plagued the country since the end of 1999.
Prior to the outbreak of war, the Ivorian government worked to make conservation a priority, setting 17 percent of the country aside in protected areas and taking measures against illegal logging, poaching, and settler encroachment in parks. The government banned raw-log exports and encouraged the development of forest plantations, while deforestation rates plunged. Between 1990 and 2005, Côte d'Ivoire lost only 1.8 percent of its forest cover.
Today the status of conservation efforts in Côte d'Ivoire is unclear. If neighboring Liberia is any indication, it is likely that Côte d'Ivoire's ecosystems will further decline.
Chimpanzee population plummets 90 percent in supposedly strong region
(05/06/2009) Chimp populations continue to decline in Africa. A new survey of our closest relatives in the Cote D’Ivoire found that the population fell from an estimated 8,000 to 12,000 individuals to a paltry 800 to 1,200, a decline that took place in less than twenty years.
Male chimps use meat to seduce
(04/07/2009) Male chimpanzees who share meat with females over a long period of time have a better chance of mating, according to a new study published in PLoS ONE. Studying chimps in Tai National Park, Côte d'Ivoire, researchers from the Mac Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology observed that female chimps have sex more frequently with males who have shared meat with them at least once as opposed to males who never share.
Côte d'Ivoire's endangered chimp population falls 99% since 1960
(10/14/2008) The population of West African chimpanzees living in Côte d'Ivoire has collapsed due to hunting and forest destruction, report scientists writing in the October 14th issue of Current Biology.
Goodbye to West Africa's Rainforests
(01/22/2006) West Africa's once verdant and extensive rainforests are now a historical footnote. Gone to build ships and furniture, feed hungry mouths, and supply minerals and gems to the West, the band of tropical forests that once extended from Guinea to Cameroon are virtually gone. The loss of West Africa's rainforests have triggered a number of environmental problems that have contributed to social unrest and exacerbated poverty across the region.
