Coastal biodiversity and climate resilience are critical for Africa due to the continent’s wide and diversified coastal areas, which are crucial for both natural and human groups. Coastal biodiversity and climate resilience in Africa require protecting and increasing the continent’s coasts’ unique ecological abundance, as well as devising adaptation and mitigation techniques for climate change. These initiatives are critical for the survival of both natural ecosystems and the lives of humans that rely on these coastal regions.
For the sake of perspective, coastal settings are home to various marine life. Life in our waters produces one-third of the oxygen we breathe, provides a crucial supply of protein, and helps to moderate global climate change. Coastal ecosystems include mangrove forests, coral reefs, seagrass beds, estuaries in coastal areas, hydrothermal vents, seamounts, and soft sediments on the ocean floor a few kilometres beneath the surface.
Challenges and solutions of coastal biodiversity and climate resilience
While coastal biodiversity and climate resilience are critical, there are undeniable obstacles in this area. Accelerated coastal erosion, land and property loss, flooding, saltwater intrusion, changes in marine habitat and biodiversity distribution, and the introduction of invasive species are all significant challenges.
Other issues include increasing mortality, the loss of coastal wetland ecosystems, declining fish harvests and productivity, and ocean acidification. Reducing stressors like overfishing and pollution can help marine ecosystems adapt to climate change.
For instance, in West Africa, protecting coastal biodiversity requires climate-resilient infrastructure, catastrophe risk management plans, and nature-based solutions. Flooding and coastal erosion are becoming more severe in the region, posing serious threats to human and environmental health.
A World Bank study of five coastal nations – Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Mauritania, Senegal, and Togo – emphasizes the critical necessity for decision-makers to have real data to promote long-term sustainability.
The report identifies the places most vulnerable to climate change risks and advises resilience strategies, including studies of sea level rise, tides, and the creation of breakwaters to safeguard the coast.
Mangrove conservation, a coastal biodiversity is regarded in Kenya as a critical approach for long-term ‘blue growth.’ Mangroves, which are important carbon sinks and ecosystems, are under threat from climate change, such as rising sea levels and temperatures, as well as human activity like as deforestation for timber and urbanization.
Kenya’s UN-backed restoration programs aim to decrease poverty and strengthen economic resilience while simultaneously safeguarding these crucial ecosystems. Projects like the Vanga Blue Forests and Gazi Bay’s Mikoko Pamoja focus on carbon credit trading from mangrove protection and restoration, which benefits local people and supports larger environmental conservation initiatives.
Mozambique is one country having an abundance of coastline biodiversity. The country’s coastline biodiversity is both abundant and diversified, reflecting the country’s huge natural resources and their significance for development and livelihoods.
The Mozambican coastline, which stretches for around 2770 kilometres, is home to a diverse range of habitats, including sandy beaches, coastal dunes, estuaries, bays, terrestrial forests, mangroves, seagrass beds, and coral reefs. These ecosystems host a diverse range of species and are critical to environmental balance and economic activity.
The country is home to more than 6000 plant species, 726 bird species, 171 reptile species, 85 amphibian species, and 3075 insect species. Many of these species are native to Mozambique, highlighting the country’s distinct biodiversity. Notably, 67 fauna species have been analyzed, with 47% at risk of extinction, stressing the importance of immediate conservation efforts and climate resilience programs.
Central Africa likewise has issues with coastal resiliency. Human activities like industrial developments and population increase are causing significant changes in the region’s coastal areas, which is having an impact on the environment. UNESCO has proposed many measures to improve climate resilience in Central African coastal zones.
These include consolidating power, strengthening expert networks, creating capacity, encouraging information exchange, adjusting the economy to the new climate realities, and developing scientific and technical infrastructures to support decision-making processes. Africa can effectively safeguard its coastal biodiversity and increase resistance to the effects of climate change, assuring the survival of these critical ecosystems for future generations.
