Environmental issues in Mali include

desertification Desertification is a type of land degradation in drylands in which biological productivity is lost due to natural processes or induced by human activities whereby fertile areas become increasingly arid. It is the spread of arid areas caused b ...

deforestation Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then land conversion, converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban area, urban ...

soil erosion Soil erosion is the denudation or wearing away of the upper layer of soil. It is a form of soil degradation. This natural process is caused by the dynamic activity of erosive agents, that is, water, ice (glaciers), snow, air (wind), plants, a ...

drought A drought is defined as drier than normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, an ...

, and inadequate supplies of potable water. Deforestation is an especially serious and growing problem. According to the Ministry of the Environment, Mali’s population consumes 6 million tons of wood per year for

timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including Beam (structure), beams and plank (wood), planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as fini ...

and fuel. To meet this demand, 4,000 square kilometers of tree cover are lost annually, virtually ensuring destruction of the country’s

savanna A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to ...

woodlands. One of Mali's major environmental issues is desertification. Mali has been in a drought for decades now and it is really affecting the country. Soil erosion, deforestation, and loss of

pasture Pasture (from the Latin ''pastus'', past participle of ''pascere'', "to feed") is land used for grazing. Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, cattle, sheep, or s ...

land are all major problems in Mali. Mali also has a shortening water supply. To help sustain Mali's ever-growing problem the government has assigned 3.7 percent of Mali’s total land area protected. It has ratified international environmental agreements pertaining to

biodiversity Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic ('' genetic variability''), species ('' species diversity''), and ecosystem ('' ecosystem diversity' ...

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...

, endangered species, and ozone layer protection. According to the U.N. FAO, 10.2% or about 12,490,000 ha of

Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Ma ...

is forested. Mali had 530,000 ha of planted forest. Change in

forest cover Forest cover is the amount of forest that covers a particular area of land. It may be measured as relative (in percent) or absolute (in square kilometres/ square miles). Around a third of the world's surface is covered with forest, with closed-cano ...

: Between 1990 and 2010, Mali lost an average of 79,100 ha or 0.56% per year, totaling to a loss of 11.2%, or around 1,582,000 ha, during that period. Mali had a 2018 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 7.16/10, ranking it 51st globally out of 172 countries.

Climate change

Temperature Bar Chart Africa-Mali--1901-2020--2021-07-13

Though Mali contributes very little to the world's greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, it is among the list of countries most vulnerable to climate change. Climate change is increasing both the intensity and frequency of floods and droughts in the country as well as the likelihood of climate disasters. It is also likely to adversely affect food production and diseases, and increases social vulnerability among the country's residents.

References

External links

Environment - Mali - problem, farming

The battle on the frontline of climate change in Mali
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Climate change

See also

References

External links