COMOROS Comoros is one of the world's poorest countries with few natural resources and a high population growth rate. Islanders are dependent on forest lands for subsistence cultivation and fuelwood. Since the close of the 1990s, deforestation rates have more than doubled, while the country lost 58 percent of its forest cover between 1990 and 2005. Today forests cover less than 3 percent of Comoros.

Currently, 24 percent of the land area of Comoros is under some form of protection. The islands have 138 species of birds and 721 species of plants.

Suggested reading - Books

• Lonely Planet Madagascar & Comoros (Lonely Planet Madagascar)
• Amphibians and Reptiles of Madagascar, the Mascarene, the Seychelles, and the Comoro Islands

Image copyright Google Earth, MDA EarthSet, DigitalGlobe 2005

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Last updated: 4 Feb 2006