Climate Change and Biodiversity in West Africa Sahel: A Review

Abstract

Climate change has many effects on biodiversity. Few studies have focused on the consequences of climate change on biodiversity in West Africa Sahel which is one of the most sensitive regions to climate change. Thus, this study examined the different effects of climate change on biodiversity in West Africa Sahel to guide climate policies. The authors used Google Scholar, Mendeley, ResearchGate, Science-direct, and selected websites of institutions in West Africa and the Sahel for the literature review, with selected keywords in French and English via Boolean operators from 2000 to 2022. The results identified many manifestations of climate change such as drought, lightning, floods, high winds, heavy rains, diseases, extreme heat, and conflicts that affect living things in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems in these regions. For example, 15,000 animals died in Niger and 26,000 in Mali due to flood-related events. In Burkina, 41 people died, 112 injured, and 12,378 households were left homeless in 13 regions. In Senegal, water stress in the basin is increasingly close to 5,800 m3 per person per year. Demographic pressure and planned irrigation projects along Niger and Senegal Rivers have resulted in a significant 25%- 60% decline in flows over the past 30 years, causing increasingly severe low flows, frequent interruptions in water flows, drying up of reservoirs and reduced water supply to cities. Rainwater harvesting, afforestation, soil fertility regeneration practices and crop diversification are some biodiversity restoration activities limiting climate change effects in the Sahelian countries of West Africa. These practices have contributed to strengthening the resilience of ecosystems in most of communities. However, priority should be given to policies that raise communities’ awareness on the importance of biodiversity conservation and take sustainable and innovative measures to deal with the consequences of floods, droughts, and heat waves, which are the most severe.