Wildlife of Cabo Verde

The wildlife of Cape Verde is spread over its archipelago of ten islands and three islets, which all have parks under their jurisdiction by decree promulgated by the Cape Verde government. Located off the west coast of Africa, the total land area of the island nation is 4,564 square kilometres (1,762 sq mi). The wildlife consists of many tropical dry forest and shrub land, endemic flora and fauna, and rare breeding seabirds and plants, which are unique to this group of islands.

Some of the wildlife species of Cape Verde are considered as endemic, evolving over millions of years of isolation; the grey-headed kingfisher (Halcyon leucocephala) survived here on insects in the absence of water in the lands of the islands.

In the process of development, many lands in the islands were converted to agricultural fields and several hundred varieties of herbaceous plant and tree species were introduced, resulting in depletion of the original vegetation. However, efforts are now underway at reforestation to improve the wildlife of Cape Verde, with reported planting of three million new trees every year (about 7000 per day), with pine, oak, sweet chestnut and acacia as the prominent varieties being planted. Cape Verde is also one of the world's top ten coral reef Biodiversity hotspots.

The Cape Verde archipelago, a cluster of 10 islands and three islets located in the eastern Atlantic Ocean at a distance of 560 kilometres (350 mi) off the coast of Senegal in West Africa, are volcanic in origin. Cape Verde is divided into two areas: the southern leeward islands known as the Sotavento Islands and the windward islands known as the Barlavento Islands in the north; Santo Antão, São Vicente, Santa Luzia, São Nicolau, Sal, and Boa Vista, and the Sotavento Islands of Maio, Santiago (the largest with an area of 991 km2), Fogo (with the only active volcano), and Brava. Nine of these islands which are inhabited have mountainous areas whereas the other islands have flat topography with sandy beaches. There are trees typical of both temperate and tropical climates, depending on elevation, which have created different types of flora and fauna. Given its geographical isolation, it exhibits a unique ecoregion with endemic plant and vertebrate species, particularly birds and reptiles. It is also inferred that arid climate with no sources of surface fresh water and geographic remoteness are the reasons for the islands limited wildlife diversity. As of 2003, there were 48 protected areas covering 0.3% of the islands land mass.

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