African coral reefs are thecoral reefs which are present in Africa.Most are found along the eastern and southern coasts of Africa. The east coast corals extend from theRed Sea toMadagascar in the south, and are an important resource for the fishersmen ofKenya,Tanzania,Mozambique and Madagascar.Some cold-water reefs are also found along the northwestern part of Africa, i.e. near theAzores,Madeira,Canary Islands[1][2] andCape Verde[3][4]
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 2287/2003[5]
As with coral reefs elsewhere, African coral reefs are more biologically diverse than the surrounding ocean,[6] and support species such as themantis shrimp,potato grouper,humphead wrasse andmaxima clam, as well as manyseaweeds andcorals.
On the east coast, temperatures average about 26 °C (79 °F) over the year. The average rainfall is highest between January and April, at about 300 millimetres (12 in), and lowest during August to November, at about 100 millimetres (3.9 in).
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 toglobal warming, thesea 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.[7]
'The Encyclopedia of Wildlife, Weldon Owen'
