AfriCam / Agfa Awards 1999 AGFA Wildlife & Environment Awards The beauty around us (Scenic and Plants) 2nd: Theo Allofs' "Quiver Trees at Sunset" http://www.africam.com/mirror/special_content/agfa/1999/16.html

African Plant Life (http://africancultures.about.com/culture/africancultures/library/weekly/aa100699a.htm) Of the total land area of the continent, forests cover about one-fifth; woodlands, bushlands, grasslands, and thickets about two-fifths; and deserts and their extended margins the remaining two-fifths. Africa's vegetation had always been controlled by the interactions of climate; geology, soil, and groundwater conditions; and the activities of animals and later humans. The greater part of the reduction of Africa's natural vegetation has happened in the last 2,000 years. Pastoralism, agriculture, the rapid growth of human and livestock populations, the expansion of cities and towns, and the external demands for primary resources have made ever-greater demands upon the land for sustenance and perceived economic betterment. Within the tropical forests and woodlands, fire undoubtedly has been the great human agent of clearance and degradation. Hunters, pastoralists, and cultivators have all fired the land for centuries and have gathered wild foodstuffs, thatch timber for construction, and fuelwood. The long-term effects of such activity bear directly upon the debated question of the origin of the savannas.