Environment in Central African Republic Essay ⋆ Environment Essay Examples ⋆ EssayEmpire

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For merly k nown as Ubangi-Shari, the Central African Republic (CAR) won its independence from France in 1960, setting off three decades of tumult and military rule. A period of unstable civil government between 1993 and 2003 ended with a military coup and the installation of a transitional government. Barely three percent of the land area is arable, but the economy of the CAR is chiefly dependent on subsistence agriculture and forestry. The agricultural sector accounts for some 55 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and the timber industry provides 16 percent of export earnings. Other natural resources include diamonds, uranium, timber, gold, oil, and hydropower, with diamonds furnishing 40 percent of export earnings.

Less than a third of the population lives in urban areas, and industry accounts for only one-fifth of the GDP. Unemployment rate stands at eight percent. The poor infrastructure and transportation systems make it difficult to fully exploit resources. With a per capita income of only $1,100, CAR is the 26th poorest country in the world. Vast inequality exists with the most affluent 10 percent controlling almost half of the country’s resources. Despite regular grants from France and the international community, the CAR is unable to adequately meet the needs of the population. The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Human Development Reports rank CAR 171 of 232 countries on overall quality of life issues.

Landlocked and Facing an Epidemic

True to its name, the CAR is located near the geographic center of the vast continent. Landlocked, CAR shares borders with Cameroon, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo, and the Sudan. The flat to rolling mountainous plateau of CAR gives way to scattered hills in the northeast and southwest. Elevations range from 335 meters at the Oubangui River in the south to 1,420 meters at Mont Ngaoui in the northwest. The tropical climate produces hot, dry winters followed by mild to hot, wet summers. Floods are common throughout the country, and the north is subject to the harmattan, a seasonal hot, dry, and dusty wind that accelerates the pace of soil erosion and desertification.

The CAR population of 4,300,000 people suffers from an HIV/AIDS rate of 13.5 percent. By 2003, an estimated 23,000 deaths had occurred, and another 260,000 were living with HIV/AIDS. The people of CAR are susceptible to certain diseases due to the lack of potable water and proper sanitation. While three-fourths of urban residents have sustained access to safe drinking water, only 61 percent of rural residents do so. No more than 27 percent of urban and 12 percent of rural residents have access to improved sanitation. As a result, residents have a very high risk of contracting food and waterborne diseases, including bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever as well as malaria, a vectorborne disease, and meningococcal meningitis, a respiratory disease. Consequently, residents experience low life expectancy (43.54 years) and growth rates (1.53 percent) and high infant mortality (85.63 deaths per 1,000 live births) and death rates (18.65 deaths per 1,000). On the average, women produce 4.41 children. The low literacy rate (51 percent), particularly for females (39.9 percent), makes it extremely difficult to disseminate information on heath and environmental issues that might bring a halt to the cycle of disease and poverty.

Threats to Habitat and Ecosytems

In 2006, scientists at Yale University ranked the CAR 86 of 132 countries on environmental performance, above the comparable income and geographic groups. The poor showing was a result of the low score for the category of environmental health. Long celebrated as a major wildlife refuge, CAR is now experiencing major threats to habitats and destruction of ecosystems as a result of deforestation and poaching. Of 209 mammal species, 14 are endangered, as are three of 168 bird species.

As part of the Congo Basin, CAR is home to four floristic domains that include the Sudanopsahellan steppes, the Sudan wooded savanna, the Sudano-Guinean woodlands, and the equatorial forests. Ecologically valuable tropical timber such as Sapelli, Ayous, and Sipo are stripped from the forests as loggers select only the most valuable trees in order to defray the exorbitant costs of transporting timber. By some estimates, nearly a third of the forests have been destroyed in this fashion.

The Ministry of Environment, Waters, Forests, Hunting, and Fishing oversees the implementation and monitoring of environmental laws and regulations in the Central African Republic. The government has divided the country into two action zones. The first of these is concerned with overseeing hunting and conservation activities, while the second is made up of buffer zones that deal with agricultural and industrial activities. Protected zones within the Central African Republic have three classifications: forbidden access reserves, national parks in which no hunting is allowed, and wildlife reserves. The government has protected nearly 9 percent of CAR forests, including such areas as the Dzanga-Sangha Special Dense Forest Reserve. Working with local Non-Government Organizations, these areas generate approximately $200,000 each year from ecotourism activities.

The government of the Central African Republic participates in the following international agreements on the environment: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Ozone Layer Protection, and Tropical Timber 94. The Law of the Sea agreement has been signed but was never ratified.

Bibliography:

Timothy Doyle, Environmental Movements in Minority and Majority Worlds: A Global Perspective (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 2005);
Kevin Hillstrom and Laurie Collier Hillstrom, Africa and the Middle East: A Continental Overview of Environmental Issues (Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 2003);
Valentine Udoh James, Africa’s Ecology: Sustaining the Biological and Environmental Diversity of a Continent (Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland, 1993);
Urbain Ngatoua, “Conservation of Biodiversity in the Central African Republic,” Yale F&ES Bulletin 102: 249-252.