Peatlands across the African continent

Abstract

Little is known about the distribution and characteristics of Africa's peatlands, despite many reports of peat in Africa. We review the literature on African peatlands, identifying over 600 sources, to provide a synthesis of present knowledge and identify substantive research gaps. Peatlands are reported for 42 of the 54 African countries, and are found in coastal, mountainous and lowland interior settings. Countries with no reports of peatlands are typically in the arid Sahel/Sahara region. Most peatlands across Africa are small, discrete areas, but three large peatland complexes have been identified: the Cuvette Centrale in the central Congo Basin, the Sudd in South Sudan, and the Okavango Delta in Botswana. In terms of biodiversity, true peatland endemics appear to be rare in Africa. Peatland degradation occurs across Africa, with agriculture, overgrazing and peat cutting being key drivers. The three large peatland complexes in the Cuvette Centrale, Sudd and Okavango Delta appear relatively intact, but face potential threats including climatic drying, hydraulic engineering projects that change river courses or discharge, and hydrocarbon exploration. A priority is ground data collection so that African peatlands can be properly documented and mapped; without knowing their specific location, good management and protection will be challenging. A French translation of this abstract is available in the supplementary material.

This article is part of the discussion meeting issue ‘African tropical peatlands: function, value and vulnerability’.