The wildlife of Djibouti, consisting of its flora and fauna, is in a harsh landscape with forest accounting for less than one percent of its area. Most species are found in the northern part of the country in the Day Forest National Park at an average elevation of 1,500 metres (4,900 ft), including the massif Goda, with a peak of 1,783 metres (5,850 ft). It covers an area of 3.5 square kilometres (1.4 sq mi) of Juniperus procera forest, with many of the trees rising to 20 metres (66 ft) height. This forest area is the main habitat of the critically endangered and endemic Djibouti spurfowl, and another recently noted vertebrate, Platyceps afarensis. The area also contains many species of woody and herbaceous plants, including boxwood and olive trees, which account for sixty percent of the identified species in the country. Wildlife are also found in the country's wetland ecosystem which includes two large lakes, Lake Assal and Lake Abbe (only a small part of the flats of this lake are in Djibouti), and many salt pans which are flooded occasionally from the wadis and the coastal tidal wetlands. The coastal belt of Djibouti also has a diversity of marine life or aquatic ecosystem, including coral reefs. According to the country profile related to biodiversity of wildlife in Djibouti, the country contains some 820 species of plants, 493 species of invertebrates, 455 species of fish, 40 species of reptiles, 3 species of amphibians, 360 species of birds and 66 species of mammals. Wildlife of Djibouti is also listed as part of Horn of Africa biodiversity hotspot and the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden coral reef hotspot.
Legal instruments Day Forest National Park was declared a national park in 1939 by the then governor of the country, when Djibouti (an independent nation in 1977), was a French colony known as Territoire Français des Afars et des Issas (French Territory of the Afars and the Issas). Subsequent to Djibouti becoming independent, important laws enacted were: Resolution no 262/7 of 12 May 1972 relating to protection of natural wealth and prehistoric remains; Resolution no 72-1363 of 20 September 1972 for the protection of marine fauna and habitats and Decree No. 80-062/PR/MCTT of 25 May 1980 relating to the protection of marine fauna and habitats.
Geography
Wildlife in Djibouti is spread over three main regions namely, from the northern mountain region of the country to the volcanic plateaus in its southern and central part and culminating in the coastal region. In spite of harsh climatic conditions, the terrain of basaltic origin and rhyolite is very rugged and has a succession of high plateaus and mountain ranges, and plateaus and hills of medium altitude. There is naturally very little arable land in desert areas. The highest peak is Mount Moussa and there are two major lakes: Lake Assal which is saline at (-) 155 metres (509 ft) (the lowest point in Africa); and Lake Abbe, the major part of which is in Ethiopia and sourced by Awash River and its tributaries, also originating in Ethiopia with only small flats as part of Djibouti. Apart from the two large lakes, Djibouti lacks perennial rivers and hence the dependence for water is more on ground water sources. Thus, in Djibouti's wildlife, in the harsh terrain, forests account for less than one percent of its total land area of 23,200 square kilometres (9,000 sq mi). Pans, foothills and tidal wetlands, and Djibouti areas under the Eritrean Coastal Desert Ecoregion, though not brought under protection laws, also have some degree of wildlife of vegetation and fauna. The northern region has the Goda massif and the relic vegetation of the flora particularly, Juniperus procera. Fauna species, in particular the critically endangered Djibouti spurfowl, are found in the northern part of the country which are protected under the Day Forest National Park, the only national park in Djibouti.
Climate Climatically, the coolest area in the country is in the forests of the Day National Park in the northern region with the low of 10 °C (50 °F), while the rest of the country experiences hot climatic conditions with temperature soaring to more than 40 °C (104 °F) in summer. Humidity is also very high during this period. The variation of rainfall, which occurs for about 26 days in a year, is very wide. It ranges from as low as 5 inches (130 mm) in the coastal regions whereas in the northern and mountainous portions of the country, it is about 15 inches (380 mm). Rain falls between January and March, in short periods and with heavy intensity, causing flash floods.
Day Forest National Park The Day Forest National Park is a woodland habitat, which includes part of the forest mass of the Goda mountain massif. The Goda mountain's forests, the east face of which is part of the park, is considered a "spectacular natural oddity ... rare species of green on Djibouti's parched map like a giant oasis". It is located 30 kilometres (19 mi) west of the Gulf of Tadjoura. The Goda Mountains, which rise to a height of 1,783 metres (5,850 ft), lie northwest of the Gulf of Tadjoura, Afar Region and forms Djibouti's largest vegetated area. The park protects at least four known endemic plant species. The forest is dominated by such trees as Juniperus procera, Olea africana, Buxus hildebrandtii, and Tarchonanthus camphoratus. Distribution of the plants in the park varies with elevation. Vegetation above 950 metres (3,120 ft), where the topography is rugged, consists of those species already mentioned. Vegetation below 950 metres (3,120 ft), which has the benefit of better water sources, consists of Buxus hildebranti, Terminalia brownie and Acacia spp. The forest of junipers is under long-term environmental threat. A million years ago, its area was believed to have been 40,000 hectares (99,000 acres) but as of 1990 it was only 900 hectares (2,200 acres) . Loss is attributed to climate change and human destruction, including fires, cattle grazing, tree felling and military exercises.) The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) has reported that 88 percent of the Day Forest has been lost in the last two centuries, and more than 20 percent of the loss has occurred in the last 50 years.
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