Forest Resource   

Overview
Somalia is lightly forested with around 1 percent forest cover, but with an additional 24 percent of woodland cover. There are scattered patches of closed broadleaved forests in the southern region, mainly along the Juba and Webi Shebeli rivers. Common species include Mimusops degan, Acacia stenocarpa and Ficus spp.. Heavily degraded Juniperus forest occurs in the Golis mountains. Open tree savannah occurs in areas north and northwest of Mogadishu. These are generally dominated by either Terminalia or Acacia species. Acacia thorn scrub covers large areas of the semi-desert northern coastal plain. Overgrazing has degraded much of the savannah and scrubland. Somalia has two formally protected areas, the Balcad and Alifuuto nature reserves. These encompass around 1 percent of Somalia’s forests.

Forest Types

Geographic Description

The Somali Democratic Republic, located in eastern Africa, covers an area of 637 660 km2.between latitudes 12° N and 1° 40′ S and longitudes 41° and 51°E. It is bounded on the north by the Gulf of Aden, on the east and south by the Indian Ocean, on the south-west by Kenya, on the west by Ethiopia, and on the north-west by Djibouti.

Most of the country consists of dry, grassy plains, with a high mountain escarpment in the north, facing the coast. The highest peak in this range reaches 2 400 m. Only two main permanent rivers, the Juba and the Scebelli, water this dry land. Both have their source in the Ethiopian highlands, but only the Juba flows into the Indian Ocean, the Scebelli losing itself in swampy terrain.

The climate is hot with low rainfall, exceeding 500 mm only in the most favourable regions (south). The mean annual temperature varies with the location between 25° C and 28° C. In the north, 45° C can be reached during hot summer days, while the temperature can drop to just above 0° C in the mountain range.

Ecological Zones

Forest Industry

Forest cover Vegetation

Introduction
Somalia is a very dry country. More than 25% of its area can be classified as arid desert, but woody vegetation types and, to a much lesser extent, forests exist in some parts.

The following descriptions are largely based on Mooney (1959), Funaioli (1961) and FAO (1965) and (1972).

Closed Forests
Broadleaved

There are scattered patches of closed broadleaved forest in the southern region along the Juba and Scebelli Rivers and in the related depressions. They are the remains of large tracts of forest that have been cleared for agriculture. These gallery forests, extending over about 100 m to each side of the rivers, are periodically flooded. The main species are Mimusops degan, Acacia stenocarpa, Garcinia ferrandii, Phoenix reclinata, Terminalia bispindosa, Tamarindus indica and Ficus spp. The upper canopy generally attains a height of 10 to 15 m. The lower storeys are relatively dense and many creepers occur. Frequent shrubs are Allophilus rubifolius, Oncoba spinosa and Sterculia rivae. On sandy alluvial soils of the upper valleys and within reach of the sand dunes of the lower Juba, almost pure stands of Hyphaena thebaica can be found. This forest zone is threatened by shifting cultivation since it offers some of the best soil available for agriculture.

The Holowajir depression in the extreme south of the country, approximately 160 km south-west of Chisimaio, represents more humid vegetation types, with a high (25 to 30 m) closed forest with a medium storey 10 to 15 m high and poor undergrowth. Afzelia quanzensis, Cecchia somalensis, Delonix elata and Parkia filicoidea are dominant.

The dry mountain forests are a degraded remnant of former Juniperus/Olea stands. The typical remaining species are Buxus hildebrandtii, Cadia purpurea, Euphorbia abyssinica, Dodonea viscosa and Terminalia brownii. These forests exist on moisture brought in by the monsoon winds.

A few small areas of mangrove forest exist, in particular in the estuary of the Juba River and on the coast between the Juba River and the Kenyan border. Here, trees such as Avicennia marina, Rhizophora mucronata, Ceriops somalensis, Bruguiera gymnorrhiza, Sonneratia alba and Xylocarpus obovatus reach a height of 10 to 15 m in thick clumps. North of Mogadishu, only dispersed mangroves are found with trees 5 to 6 m high. Some pure stands of Avicennia marina may occur. Larger mangrove forests also exist on the Bojun Islands in the Indian Ocean. Some are clearfelled by the local population for export to the Arabian Peninsula, which causes a net reduction of their area since the prominent species do not regenerate.

Coniferous

The northern juniper zone, located in the high altitude areas of the Golis range (1 600 to 2 500 m), represents a relic of a climax forest of sub-montane type. It is now dominated by dead or near dead trees with a very serious age distribution imbalance caused by past and continuing uncontrolled felling and severe overgrazing. Associated with Juniperus procera are Olea africana, Sideroxylon buxifolium, Pistacia spp. and all species found in the broadleaved dry mountain forests

Forest Map

Open forests
Broadleaved

A zone of closed tree savanna is found south-west of Chisimaio around a depression. Typical species forming the canopy are Diospyros cornii and Afzelia quanzensis.

The open tree savanna with Terminalia occurs in areas north-west and north of Mogadishu as well as in the lower Juba river basin. Typical species, nowadays only remaining in scattered patches over extensive areas, are Terminalia holstii, T. kelleri, T. somalensis and T. spinosa. Others are Dobora glabra, Acacia seyal, A. nilotica and, especially on red sands, A. spirocarpa. Where Terminalia spp. are not present, Acacia bussei, A. ethaica, A. spirocarpa and A. nilotica prevail in the open tree savanna.

The dune zone, running parallel to the coast, stretches over about 700 km from the Kenyan border in the south to the town of Itala. It varies in width from a few hundred meters to several kilometers. The typical tree species is Acacia spirocarpa. In the neighbourhood of permanent settlements the dunes have started to shift to a dangerous extent, although they are well stocked in other places where there is no overgrazing.

Other wooded land
Shrubs

Scrub formations occupy extensive areas in various zones under different ecological conditions. The shrubs, often thorny, are rarely more than 3 m high. The composition of this xerophilous vegetation is characterised by the predominance of Acacia spp. in the semi-desert zone of the northern coastal plain (Acacia misera, A. socotrana, and A. spirocarpa). In the wadis, however, Tamarix nilotica, Ziziphus mauritiana, Z. mucronata, Phoenix reclinata, Leptadenia spartium and Conocarpus lancifolius are frequent, the latter also occurring in the eastern part of the northern region. Small pure stands of Balanites glabra on sandy soils and Boswellia carteri and B. freeriana on limestone in the east are found. South of the semi-desert, Commiphora spp., Euphorbia spp., Acacia mellifera, A. orfota, Dichrostachys glomerata, Grewia spp., Albizia anthelmintica and Delonix elata are abundant.

References
FAO (1965). Report on a visit to Somalia to assess the feasibility of establishing training facilities at vocational level. Rome.

FAO (1972). Report of the forestry and wildlife survey mission on Somalia. Based on the work of W. Finlayson, G. S. Child and J. J. Van Rensburg. FO:DP/SOM/71/009. Rome.

Funaioli, U. (1961). Problemès de reboisement forestier et de conservation des sols dans les pays d´outre-mer: Somalie. Firenze, Italy.

Mooney, H. F. (1959). Report on the scope for forestry in Somalia. Addis Ababa.