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ZAMBIA
Zambia Forest Figures
Forest CoverTotal forest area: 42,452,000 ha % of land area: 57.1%
Primary forest cover: n/a % of land area: n/a % total forest area: n/a
Deforestation Rates, 2000-2005Annual change in forest cover: -444,800 ha Annual deforestation rate: -1.0% Change in defor. rate since '90s: 10.0% Total forest loss since 1990: -6,672,000 ha Total forest loss since 1990:-13.6%
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:n/a
Forest ClassificationPublic: 100% Private: n/a Other: n/a Use Production: 7.1% Protection: 4.2% Conservation: 15% Social services: n/a Multiple purpose: 73.7% None or unknown: n/a
Forest Area BreakdownTotal area: 42,452,000 ha Primary: n/a Modified natural: 42,377,000 ha Semi-natural: n/a Production plantation: 75,000 ha Production plantation: n/a
PlantationsPlantations, 2005: 75,000 ha % of total forest cover: 0.2% Annual change rate (00-05): n/a
Carbon storageAbove-ground biomass: 1,821 M t Below-ground biomass: 492 M t
Area annually affected byFire: n/a Insects: n/a Diseases: n/a
Number of tree species in IUCN red listNumber of native tree species: 2,621 Critically endangered: 0 Endangered: 11 Vulnerable: 14
Despite numerous parks which protect more than 40 percent of the country, Zambia has serious problems with poaching—which has dramatically reduced elephant and rhino populations—and deforestation. Forest loss is mostly the by-product of widespread slash-and-burn agriculture, and primary tropical forests have disappeared from the country.
The hardwood forests of the Western grasslands are in much better shape, but logging is on the rise.
Zambia is home to nearly 4,800 species of plants, 770 birds, 233 mammals, 143 reptiles, and 57 amphibians.
Unique acacia tree could play vital role in turning around Africa's food crisis
(08/24/2009) Scientists have discovered that an acacia tree, long used by farmers in parts of Africa, could dramatically raise food yields in Africa. The acacia tree Faidherbia albida, also known as Mgunga in Swahili, possesses the unique ability to provide much-needed nitrogen to soil.
Camping in the Okavango Delta in Botswana
(08/19/2009) The first animal we saw in the Okavango was unmistakable. Although far away, we could easily make it out with its telltale trunk: an African elephant—the world’s largest land animal—was striding peaceably through the delta’s calm waters. We watched, entranced, from the mokoro, a small boat powered and steered by a local wielding a long pole to push the craft along.
NASA study shows global warming will diminish rainfall in East Africa, worsening hunger
(08/06/2008) A new NASA-backed study has found a link between a warming Indian Ocean and reduced rainfall in eastern and southern Africa. The results suggest that rising sea temperatures could exacerbate food problems in some of the continent's most famine-prone regions.
Photos: Hippos threatened in Africa
(01/07/2008) As the sun sets on the Luangwa River in Zambia, a male hippo throws its mouth open in a yawn as wide as a canyon. Night is falling as the hippo herds break to the banks to follow their regular paths to their feeding grounds. Their huge, round hooves made muddy imprints during the rainy season, and have dried to concrete craters along a trail the hippos follow to graze in grassy glades.
Low deforestation countries to see least benefit from carbon trading
(08/13/2007) Countries that have done the best job protecting their tropical forests stand to gain the least from proposed incentives to combat global warming through carbon offsets, warns a new study published in Tuesday in the journal Public Library of Science Biology (PLoS). The authors say that "high forest cover with low rates of deforestation" (HFLD) nations "could become the most vulnerable targets for deforestation if the Kyoto Protocol and upcoming negotiations on carbon trading fail to include intact standing forest."
Agents of death for wildlife become jewelry in Zambia
(07/12/2007) Craftswomen in Zambia are turning snares formerly used to illegal kill wildlife into jewelry. Called "snareware", the handmade jewelry is part of a program that has grossed $350,000 for rural communities and helped protect endangered wildlife.
