Shrinking Biodiversity. Current Status and Perspectives in Madagascar and Tanzania (PDF)

Academic Paper from the year 2021 in the subject Biology - Miscellaneous, grade: 1.7, Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences, language: English, abstract: The current paper discusses the biodiversity status and perspectives of two of the biologically and culturally richest countries in the world - Tanzania and Madagascar. These East African countries possess a very high degree of biodiversity of ecosystems, plants and wildlife, sustaining critically the livelihoods and wellbeing of millions of people. At the same time, Tanzania and Madagascar have one of the lowest human development indices in the world emphasizing the value of biodiversity to these countries and explaining the current rate of overexploitation and other human activities in relation to biodiversity.

In the post-industrial period and currently, the biodiversity loss is accelerating globally. Tanzania and Madagascar possess a very high degree of biodiversity of ecosystems, plants and wildlife sustaining critically the livelihoods and well-being of millions of people. Both countries face extinction of endemic, and other species, degradation of habitats as a result of mainly the poverty, climate change, invasive species, agricultural expansion and lack of effective natural resources management and conservation education of population. In the framework of Convention on Biological Diversity, these East African countries have set goals and targets to tackle the imminent and long-term threats to biodiversity. However, alarming trends continue and threaten the ecosystems and vulnerable species of the countries with extinction such as deforestation and species extinction among others. More investment needs to be spent on existing research and effective management practices if the loss of biodiversity is to be reversed.