(Somalia and Ethiopia) and most of the south-west, including the Kalahari and the Karoo.
Forests
With the equator spanning its mid-section, and bringing warmth, sunshine and rainfall to Central and West Africa, this region is rich in tropical rainforests. Despite covering a mere 7% of its total land surface Africa’s rainforests are the primary hotbed of evolution. It is here that the forces of evolution have had longer to work than anywhere else on the continent – since the age of the dinosaurs. These same forests regulate the continent’s climate; cool it down and help to stem the advance of the desert; lock water and nutrients into the land and act as a massive sink for carbon, bound up in the fabric of the forest.
The Great Rift Valley
Named by the British geologist and explorer John Walter Gregory, the Great Rift Valley is one of the most significant geographic and physical features in East Africa. In fact this vast geological feature, that runs north to south for some 5,000 km from northern Syria in southwest Asia to central Mozambique, leaving a vast scar across the African landscape, is the result of the rifting and separation of the African and Arabian tectonic plates that began some 35 million years ago. The ongoing separation of East Africa from the rest of Africa, in association with other geological faults, has impacted areas as far south as the Savuti channel and the Okavango Delta in Botswana.
For most of its length, the Rift Valley is bounded by inward-facing escarpments, some 60kms (35 miles) wide and up to 1,000m (1500ft) high. A number of National Parks can be found along this Rift Valley, creating a protected environment in which diverse flora and fauna thrive in spectacularly scenic surroundings.
The Great Rift Valley is actually divided into two forks, the eastern rift and the western rift. The latter is surrounded by some of the highest mountains and deepest lakes in Africa, and forms a series of shallow soda lakes in Kenya, which attract thousands of flamingos and pelicans. This area is volcanically and seismically active and has produced the volcanic Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Kenya, as well as the deep lakes, Victoria and Tanganyika. Evidence of volcanic activity along the rift is seen by the presence of numerous boiling hot springs and more active eruptions like those experienced in recent years in the Virungas bordering Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). So violent have some eruptions been in the past that mountains have literally ‘blown their tops off’. Many such volcanic eruptions are followed by a weakened magma chamber that then collapses in on itself (a collapsed volcano or caldera). A classic example is Ngorongoro, the sixth largest caldera in the world, which is thought to once have had a peak as high as 4500m (14,700 ft). Part of this great explosion resulted in the spraying of volcanic ash and debris over a vast area, including the southern Serengeti, where the resultant shallow soils impeded the establishment of trees but encouraged mostly grasses, today known as the Serengeti plains.
In other places along the Rift, new mountains are in the making, such as the smoldering crater of Ol Donyo Lengai in northern Tanzania, which last erupted in 2007, and continues to belch steam from fumaroles in its crater.
The Rift System has also been a great source of archaeological and anthropological discovery, particularly evident at Olduvai Gorge in the south eastern Serengeti (see earlier in this chapter Africa – looking back).
African Natural World Heritage Sites
There are currently 45 world heritage sites in Africa, designated under the World Heritage Convention's natural criteria. Four of these are on the islands of Madagascar (2 sites) and the Seychelles (2 sites), with the rest spread across the continent from the Cape to Cairo. They cover every bio-geographical region and are arranged here according to each site's main ecological characteristics - so your journey of exploration can take you across the golden sands of the Sahara desert......to the continent's highest peaks.....through the Great Rift Valley.....and into the strange worlds of the Cape Floral Region and Madagascar.
For a full listing of Africa's World Heritage Sites see Appendix A - Africa's World Heritage Sites. “Africa…it grabs hold of your heart, and never quite lets go.”- Robert Ruark, author.
Africa - looking forward
Africa has for centuries enticed and enthralled not only adventurers and explorers but artists, poets and the thousands of tourists that visit each year. As we look forward to a world adapting to an ever increasing population, global warming and climate change, what does the future hold for the wild places of Africa?
The good news
In recent times there have been a number of encouraging signs for the wildlife and wild places of Africa – some of these include:
Increased awareness - an awareness of the plight of wildlife and wildlife habitats has increased dramatically around the world in recent times. The environment is a matter of concern to us all, whether it be saving the rainforests or the whales, or doing something constructive to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases. We have moved from whaling boats to whale-watching, coal heating to solar power. The resurgence in the number of whales in the past 25 years is a dramatic example of how better conservation principles can yield startling results – not just in numbers, but more importantly, in the level of interest taken by ordinary people around the world in the welfare of these lovely creatures. People have come to realize what they could, very nearly, have lost. National Geographic, BBC Wildlife, Animal Planet and the Discovery channel (among others) have all helped to foster this interest.
Advances in knowledge - there have also been great advances in our knowledge of wildlife, about the many species that make up our world and how they relate to each other. There is now a much more widespread interest in, and appreciation of, that world. These are not just wild beasts to us now. They no longer threaten our existence. Rather we are threatening theirs. There is still much we can learn from nature, and there exists a growing realisation that we should be looking at our own place in nature to ensure our very survival.
Sound wildlife management - countries like Uganda, Zambia, Tanzania and Mozambique who, in times past, were beset by uncontrolled poaching, are today embracing wildlife conservation and recognizing the many benefits that sound wildlife management practices can bring. Since the fall of Idi Amin, and the more recent demise of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), Uganda has seen a dramatic increase in wildlife populations throughout its National Parks.
Growth of tourism - tourism has come to represent a significant revenue earner in those African countries that have adopted good conservation principles, protected their wildlife and allowed the private sector to create a viable tourism industry. Tourism not only contributes to GDP but encourages better infrastructure development, the training and development of skills, and employment.
Tourism is directly responsible for the survival of Africa’s wildlife and its wild places. Without tourism the wildlife of Africa would be doomed. It is in those countries where tourism has not been embraced that wildlife is most under threat. It is in these countries where organisations like the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and Africa Parks are fighting hard to raise awareness, encourage the creation of National Parks and the protection of endangered species like the pygmy hippo, forest elephant and bonobo amongst others.
Parks beyond Parks - the success of tourism to Africa’s National Parks and Game Reserves has led to the concept of ‘Parks beyond Parks’ – where local communities and private land owners work together with safari operators to protect wildlife in areas that border National Parks and Game Reserves. Around the
