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African coral reefs are the
African coral reefs are the coral reef
A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups.
C ...
s which are present in Africa.
Most are found along the eastern and southern coasts of Africa. The east coast corals extend from the Red Sea
The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; ...
to Madagascar
Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...
in the south, and are an important resource for the fishersmen of Kenya
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, Tanzania
Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands ...
, Mozambique and Madagascar.
Some cold-water reefs are also found along the northwestern part of Africa, i.e. near the Azores, Madeira, Canary islands and Cape Verde
Western African reefs
In some of the western African reefs (Azores, Canary islands, Madeira) there is a trawling ban in place (initially set by EU's Regulation (EC) No 2287/2003Eastern and Southern African reefs
As with coral reefs elsewhere, African coral reefs are more biologically diverse than the surrounding ocean, and support species such as the mantis shrimp, potato grouper, humphead wrasse and maxima clam, as well as many seaweeds and corals. On the east coast, temperatures average about over the year. The average rainfall is highest between January and April, at about , and lowest during August to November, at about . There are multiple threats to the reefs, such a tourist diving and damaging the corals, or taking samples. Then there are industrial run-offs and pollutants, untreated sewage and the increasing sediment flows in rivers that threaten all of the coastal ecosystems. The reef is also threatened by climate change. Due to global warming, the sea surface temperature increases and in 1997/98 a particularly severe 'El Nino' killed 90 percent of corals on the reef. The CORDIO (COral Reef Degradation in the Indian Ocean) NGO have set up an East African task force to monitor the reef's management.See also
*List of reefs *East African coral coastReferences
'The Encyclopedia of Wildlife, Weldon Owen' {{corals Coral reefs Articles containing video clips Reefs of Africa