Africa

Africa is the original birthplace from which all humanity has descended. Over a period of six million years, humans have evolved from our ape-like ancestors into to the two-legged, big-brained Homo sapiens we are today. Fossils of our ancestors who lived from six million to two million years ago have been found only in Africa, and scientists believe that most of human evolution took place on this continent.

As Earth’s second-largest continent, Africa contains some of its greatest wilderness. It is also a place of great contrast. Mighty gorillas roam the Congo, the second-largest rainforest on Earth. Camels traverse the sands of the Sahara, the world’s largest hot desert. In another part of Africa, lions, zebras, and wildebeests travel across the Serengeti in one of our planet’s most magnificent animal migrations.

Africa is known for its natural resources, like precious metals, gems, and metallic ores, which are mined and exported all over the world. From the 1600s to the 1800s, Europeans violently colonized the continent for land and resources, and it wasn’t until the 1950s that the dismantling of colonial Africa began. As countries gained independence, there also came a fight for civil equality in many of these post-colonial states, such as the fight against the racist, segregated apartheid regime in South Africa. The history of colonialism has greatly affected the politics, land use, and borders of the 54 different countries that make up Africa today.

From Cairo to Cape Town, Africa is home to large cities and many diverse cultures. While trade and the economy are strong in certain regions of Africa, many areas of this large continent are still underdeveloped. Some of the poorest countries in the world are in Africa, and with poverty comes illegal poaching, lumber exploitation, and the destruction of important ecosystems. The fight for our environment goes hand in hand with helping under-resourced communities create sustainable economies with access to education, energy, and food.

Ecosystem of the Congo Rainforest

The dense foliage of the Congo rainforest stretches westward from the center of Africa to the Atlantic Ocean, covering six countries. Gorillas, elephants, and buffalo can all be found among the massive trees and brush of this forest. The Congo is jam-packed with wildlife, and when so many animals and plants share space, competition for resources is inevitable.

In the crowded rainforests, plants vie for space, using a variety of adaptations to try to gain an edge. Some plants have poisonous sap that wards off predators. Others rely on animals like boars and monkeys to eat their fruit and then poop out the fruit’s seeds on their travels, allowing the plant to spread throughout the forest. Other plants use their sharp thorns and strong vines to push and climb their way toward the sunlight. In only one hectare of land in the Congo forests there are over a thousand trees.

When there is dense forest spread over such a large area, the plants actually create their own weather systems. Trees release oxygen and water vapor in a process called “transpiration.” That water vapor forms clouds and later comes back down as rain. In fact, 95 percent of the rain in the Congo rainforest comes directly from plant transpiration. Major rainstorms flood the forest floor, flowing into the thousands of rivers that weave through the jungle, creating powerful waterfalls and eventually reaching the Atlantic Ocean. The world depends on this powerful and wet ecosystem. A third of all of the oxygen on the planet is created by the world’s tropical rainforests, and as the second-largest rainforest on Earth, the Congo has definitely earned its nickname, “the lungs of Africa.”

BIGGEST BENEFITS

The Congo rainforest is home to over 75 million people whose economy depends on its rich ecosystem. The dense trees regulate the weather and add oxygen to the earth’s atmosphere, which helps combat carbon emissions. The trees also provide timber that’s used around the world. This rainforest is also home to many animals that can’t be found anywhere else, like bonobo apes and gorillas.

Virunga National Park in the Congo rainforest is the oldest national park in Africa, established in 1925.

There is a glow on the forest floor of the Congo called “chimpanzee fire” by locals. It comes from a special enzyme produced by a fungus that eats dead leaves.

Tourism to see gorillas raises money used to protect the rainforest and has created new economic opportunities for local communities.

Its unique climate means that the Congo rainforest experiences more lightning storms than anywhere else on Earth; it is hit with 100 million bolts of lightning a year.

Forest elephants create a network of pathways through the deep jungle to special clearings with small lakes where they hang out, socialize, and eat the salt that is deep under the mud.

GREATEST THREAT

The illegal poaching of forest animals like gorillas, monkeys, and antelope for meat is pushing endangered animals to the brink of extinction. Conservation groups are working with the six countries of the region to end harmful logging of fuel wood and create more protected areas of rainforest. Some of Africa’s poorest communities live in or near the rainforest, and when such communities experience economic stress, they turn to poaching and unsustainable mining or logging. Addressing poverty goes hand in hand with conservation. The jungle needs to be used in a way that preserves its resources for future generations.

Ecosystem of the African Savanna

Have you ever heard the sound of a million wildebeests on the move? Or the roar of the lions that hunt them? The African savanna is home to one of the largest annual animal migrations in the world: 1.5 million zebras, elephants, gazelles, giraffes, and other herbivores migrate in search of fresh grass. Traveling in a giant 1,800-mile loop, these animals move through Tanzania and Kenya across the Serengeti Plains. Primary consumers are then followed by predators—cheetahs, lions, and hyenas that are on the hunt. Birds, insects, and lizards also take advantage of these migrations, catching bugs that live on these larger animals’ hides.

The African savanna is a grassland specked with trees and covers about half of the continent. Savanna animals’ lives are tuned to—and depend on—the wet and dry seasons. During the rainy season, large marshes are filled with hippopotamuses and marine birds. During the dry season, parts of the savanna burst into flame, with natural wildfires burning an area as large as Great Britain. These fires are a necessary part of maintaining the ecosystem, stimulating growth of new grass. Grazing animals—including the world’s largest land mammal, the African elephant—move with the seasons. Female elephants travel in close-knit family groups led by the oldest female. Elephants are highly intelligent and remember the good spots for grazing and mud wallowing throughout their territorial ranges. This is just a few of the many animal wonders that can be spotted in the African savanna.

BIGGEST BENEFITS

The African savanna is home to an impressive abundance of animals. In the geographical region of the Serengeti alone there are over 3,000 lions, 1.7 million wildebeests, a quarter of a million zebras, and about half a million gazelles. All of those animals generate a lot of poop, which naturally fertilizes the soil as they migrate across the savanna. Grasslands that support so much wildlife also provide for people, with nutrient-rich soil supporting farming and livestock grazing.

Parts of the Savanna are fertilized by volcanic ash from Africa’s active volcanoes, like Mt. Nyiragongo in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The wildebeest migration moves clockwise every year.

Grant’s zebras don’t sound like horses—they make dog-like barking sounds!

Elephants can feel vibrations with the soft, spongy tissue in their feet. They stomp the ground to warn other, distant elephants when a predator approaches.

A cheetah can run up to 70 miles per hour to catch its prey.

GREATEST THREAT

Illegal poaching threatens endangered animals like African elephants and black rhinoceroses. Rising temperatures caused by global warming prevent rainfall during the wet season and extend the dry seasons, making it harder for new grass to grow. In addition, poorly planned construction interrupts many animals’ natural migration routes. Fortunately, the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania, continues to be protected, helping to maintain one of the greatest animal migrations in the world. But more work is needed to end illegal poaching and to protect the rest of the Savanna.

Ecosystem of the Sahara Desert

There once was a time when North Africa was teeming with life, rich with forests, lakes, and an abundance of animals roaming large, grassy fields. Now North Africa is dominated by the Sahara Desert, which covers a third of the entire continent. It often rains only once or twice a year in the Sahara, and that water quickly evaporates back into the air. Studded with sand dunes and dry, cracked rocks, the Sahara is vast, hot, and dangerous. The few animals that have adapted to live in this harsh environment are specialized reptiles, insects, and rodents that are mostly nocturnal and live underground, away from the ever-present sun. The silver ant is the only animal that can survive in the Sahara’s mid-day heat, but it can endure only ten minutes before being cooked alive.

Most scientists believe that this once-lush area became a desert over 6,000 years ago, after a slight change in the tilt of the earth’s axis. This change caused the sun to hit Africa at a new angle, raising the temperature and drying out the land. The change in climate was too quick for most plants and animals to survive. With no plants to create humidity, the desert continued to spread until it was the size of the United States. Now all that’s left are petrified trees, stone artifacts, and ancient rock carvings that show the animals that once roamed North Africa. There are also rare oases left over from ancient lakes. But without many plants or animals to create soil, the desert continues to spread, which is exacerbated by dry seasons and poorly managed land. Conservationists are working together to fight further spread of desertification in the region.

BIGGEST BENEFITS

Oases allow human caravans to pass from one side of the Sahara to the other and provide food and water for many migrating birds, like barn swallows. The Sahara is also rich in minerals like phosphates and iron ore, which are mined and exported all over the world. In the remains of what was once the largest lake in the world, there are still deposits of dried algae and minerals. These are blown by the wind across the ocean, all the way to South America, where they help to fertilize the Amazon rainforest.

The resurrection plant called the rose of Jericho can remain dormant for years as dead-looking tumbleweed. If exposed to sufficient water, the plant unfurls, releasing its seeds before drying up again.

Oases in the Sahara Desert can sustain palm trees, ferns, fish, and even crocodiles in the middle of the desert.

Camels, nicknamed “the ships of the desert,” can go without a drink of water for months at a time, but they cannot survive in the desert without a person to guide them to a well or an oasis.

When sand dunes avalanche, they cause a hum that can be heard up to six miles away.

GREATEST THREAT

Desertification and the ensuing expansion of the Sahara is an ever-present threat to the rest of Africa. In the Sahel, the transition area between desert and grassland, countries, ecologists, and local farmers are working to slow the spread. They are using indigenous land management techniques and planting trees among crops to create a farming network that retains water in the soil. This acts as a natural barrier that blocks the spread of the desert. Local communities are now using trees for fuel and lumber without killing them. Most of this work has been done in the Zinder Valley of Niger, which in 2004 looked the greenest it had in 50 years. Conservationists believe that if they scale up these techniques, they can prevent the spread of the desert throughout Africa.

Ecosystem of the Cape of Africa

Colorful flowers bloom as far as the eye can see at the Cape of Good Hope on Africa’s southern tip. One of the great floral kingdoms of the world, this small area is home to 8,500 different types of plants. Two very different ocean currents meet to create the weather that makes this ecosystem possible: the hot and powerful Agulhas Current from the Indian Ocean and the cold Benguela Current from the Atlantic Ocean. Ocean temperatures affect weather and what kind of animals and plants can live in an area. When two different and powerful water currents come together, they create a microclimate, which allows many different plants to live in one place. The cold Benguela Current creates a cool fog over the Cape’s desert scrubland. Meanwhile, the hot Agulhas Current, one of the strongest currents in the world, moves the warm tropical waters and precipitation that contributes to summer rainfall on Africa’s southeast coast. The Cape’s plentiful plant life supports over 250 species of birds and mammals like Cape mountain zebras and Chacma baboons.

Currents are used by many animals to navigate the ocean. With warm water on one side of South Africa’s Cape and cold water on the other, these waters support many different types of marine life from all over the world. Lots of fish means lots of food for ocean predators. There are so many fish that the Cape attracts the largest population of great white sharks in the world and “super-pods” of thousands of dolphins—all ready to grab a tasty meal. Without these two powerful currents, the tip of Africa would not have the biodiversity or beauty it is known for today.

BIGGEST BENEFITS

The Cape of Africa has been named a World Heritage Site by UNESCO because of its amazing biodiversity. The system of ocean currents brings plentiful marine life to the area, and is an important migration route for large ocean predators. This area is also an important source of commercial fishing for people in South Africa.

There are only six flower kingdoms in the world, and they are usually the size of continents. The Cape of Good Hope has so many flower species that it is considered a flower kingdom, even though it is only one-hundredth the size of the British Isles.

Giant schools of sardines swim to the Cape’s coast on the cold Benguela Current. Wanting to avoid the warm water of the Agulhas Current, they get trapped between the two currents. This allows whales, sharks, dolphins, seabirds, and seals to prey on this ball of fish in a massive feeding frenzy.

The cold air of the Benguela Current supports unusual animals like African penguins.

Monkey beetles sleep inside of flowers to avoid the cool Atlantic night air.

GREATEST THREAT

Cape Town is the second-largest city in South Africa, and as urban populations grow, so does the construction of dams that disrupt the natural flow of water and encroach on wildlife. More than 1,700 of the region’s plant species are endangered, and 26 of its flower species have already gone extinct. To protect the area, conservation groups have worked with the local government to establish Table Mountain National Park and promote ecotourism.