Conservation values and threats in the Mediterranean North Africa

Abstract

The Mediterranean basin is the second largest hotspot in the world, the largest of the world’s five Mediterranean-climate regions and the third richest hotspot in the world in terms of plant diversity. Inside this hotspot lies the Mediterranean North Africa subregion which covers parts of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Egypt. Like the rest of the Mediterranean basin, this subregion contains an important terrestrial and marine biodiversity and a high level of endemism, due to its unique geomorphological characteristics and evolutionary history. This territory is composed of four types of terrestrial biomes, three freshwater biomes and one marine biome. The floristic diversity is the most outstanding with its huge diversity. Within this territory, we can find three of the ten major areas that serve as centers of plant diversity and endemism for the Mediterranean basin. The fauna is very diverse and is well represented by different groups of vertebrates (mammals, birds, reptiles and fish). The diversity of terrestrial and marine invertebrates is especially high but still little known. This diversity makes this sub-region one of the most important parts of the Mediterranean basin, e.g., Morocco is the second most speciose country in the Mediterranean basin and with an important level of endemism, 11% for fauna and 25% for flora. Furthermore, many species that are considered as threatened at a global level, or that have become extinct in other parts of the planet, can still be found in North Africa. This diversity of ecosystems and natural resources in North Africa provides countless irreplaceable services for the economy and well-being of the population. Also, most of the active population works in activities directly dependent on these services, like agriculture and stock-raising. Due to the long history of interactions between human activities and ecosystems in this region, a fragile balance has developed over the millennia. Unfortunately, this equilibrium is being constantly disturbed by the evergrowing demands for natural resources pushed by the growing population and the economic development in these five North African countries. This trend is associated with various threats, mainly overharvesting, natural system modification and urbanization. Moreover, the stress on ecosystems is heightened because of the arid conditions in North Africa and the problems related to desertification, in spite of the great capacity of adaptation to aridity developed by several species. Also, the effects of climate change will aggravate the situation in this region. Even though these environmental problems are endangering numerous species and ecosystems in North Africa, the conservation efforts are still facing many obstacles, mainly the fact that nature conservation can still be considered as a secondary priority by decision-makers in comparison to other, more pressing issues, like poverty, health and education. Keywords: Mediterranean, biodiversity, endemism