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Status and Trends of Biodiversity

Overview

Comoros hosts several flora and fauna species among the least studied, and the most threatened, in the Indian Ocean. According to available data, more that 33% of indigenous vascular plants are endemic, including 43 species of orchid, and 25% of bird species are endemic. Examples of endemic fauna include the Livingston fruit bat (Pteropus livingstonii), and the Comoros Island fruit bat (Roussettus obliviosus). The coelacanth (Latimeria chalumnae) is an endangered marine species that holds ecological and scientific interest at a global level. Other species that are endangered at a global level and are found in this archipelago include: the mongoose lemur (Eulemur mongoz), the brown lemur (Eulemur fulvus), the dugong (Dugong dugon), the hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) and the Atlantic green turtle (Chelonia mydas). In addition to high endemism, the islands abound with a multitude of marine and terrestrial habitats including: the mountainous regions, the grassy/shrubby savannahs, the large evergreen forests, mangroves and coral reefs. Although used as the principle habitat for the permanent island species, these terrestrial ecosystems are of vital importance for migratory birds.

Demographic pressure and poverty have created a vicious circle of overexploitation, environmental degradation and an increase in poverty because the rise in population needs render traditional operating methods, previously sustainable in a small demographic context, inadequate. All cultivable areas are used and the only possible extension in agriculture would be made to the detriment of the remaining forests. The actual rate of forest loss is more than 500ha per year. Several fishing techniques such as the use of poison or dynamite are extremely detrimental to the marine ecosystem, and have contributed to the overexploitation of the fish resources along the coast and to the destruction of the coral reefs.

Number and Extent of Protected Areas

Even with the richness of the varied habitats, there exists only one protected area in Comoros. Lake Boundouni on Mohéli was added to the Ramsar list in February 1995 as a humid zone of international importance.

National Biodiversity Strategy Action Plan

Major features of National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan

The National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan is broken down into four general strategic objectives, which are then subdivided into specific objectives and programmes. The general objectives are as follows: 1) to be acquainted with and promote knowledge of the national heritage (implementation of an environmental information system and a census and study of the national heritage); 2) To acquire effective legal tools, institutions and public services (development of an operational framework); 3) development of specialists and education and sensitization of the local population; 4) and to manage rationally, the national heritage of Comoros (conservation and evaluation of the national resources, research into alternative solutions to major issues and an active stand against pollution).
 

• National Biodiversity Strategy Action Plan (French)
• National Biodiversity Strategy Action Plan (French)

Implementation of the Convention

Measures Taken to Achieve the 2010 Target

Regarding this issue, several activities, incentives and measures are mentioned in the Third National Report. A Marine Park in Mohéli was created and a study for the creation of a National Network for Protected Areas was carried out. Priority sites were identified and the creation of the network is reaching completion. In addition, two targets set by the government of Comoros are: to reduce the pressure on endemic species and resources, rare or vulnerable, on those where sustainable development is not applied, and where overexploitation is suspected; and to restore degraded ecosystems and encourage the reconstituting of endangered species. In this regard, the country is currently integrating endangered species in the matters of concern of the National Director of Tourism and the Agricultural Strategy, and proposing measures for their protection. In terms of promoting the conservation of genetic biodiversity, a political policy is waiting to be adopted at the Assembly of the Comoros Union. Very timid measures were put in place to reduce the activities that had a negative impact on biological diversity. These measures are principally carried out by the village associations, but due to a lack of financing and surveillance, the results of these measures are very limited. A decree supporting the protection of wild flora and fauna in Comoros was adopted in 2001. However, these legislative means are not applied. This is due to the fact that the general population is unaware of these means because of a lack of information. A pilot project for a forestry law, which would implicate the local communities in the management of natural habitats, has been developed. The law plans for, among other things, the possibility for the state to cede parts of the forestry domain to the private sector or the local village communities.

Initiatives in Protected Areas

The projects enabling activities for biodiversity have led to a survey, which identified: the capabilities for supervision of studies on environmental impact assessment and the capabilities for creating new protected areas and elaboration of a sustainable management plan for biodiversity in the protected areas. There is currently a project for the creation of two new protected areas: Kartallah and Ntringui.

Initiatives for Article 8(j)

Very few studies on the traditional knowledge of the local communities exist, and the knowledge that is known, is transmitted orally from family to family. However, with the introduction of western values into the families, much of this knowledge is progressively disappearing. Up to now, there is no existing mechanism, nor regulatory legislature to foster and promote the effective participation of local communities in decision-making and other activities.