Biodiversity

The Comoros has not yet developed a dedicated National Plan for Sustainable Development, but it has instituted a Commission to pursue such a plan. It has also developed various national polices on several socio-economic and environmental sectors to guide sustainable development and implementation of the Mauritius Strategy. These include the National Policy on Environment and National Action Plan on the Environment, National Development Strategy on Statistics, a National Strategy for Growth and Poverty Reduction (SCRP: Stratégie de Croissance et Réduction de la Pauvreté), and a General Direction for the Environment for the Comoros (Le Direction General de Environment). The Comoros also submitted its Fourth National Report on Biological Diversity (Quatrieme Rapport National sur la Diversite Biologique) to the Commission on Biological Diversity in 2009.

The Comoros is classified as having a globally high endemic status and faces significant threats to its biodiversity. However, this biodiversity is still not well known and is therefore mismanaged and badly protected. The number of plant species is estimated at about 2,000 species on the three islands. The interest in preserving the biodiversity of the Comoros stems from the need to ensure the stability of the ecosystem and from the fact that several species, which are still unknown, have a potential use in science, agronomy and/or the pharmaceutical industry. The Comoros is also home to an egg-laying site for marine turtles which is one of the most important in the Indian Ocean and the 10th overall in importance around the world. Population increases have damaged the Comoros’ natural resources, leading to environmental degradation, and exacerbates the negative impact of natural events like volcanic eruptions, heavy rains, floods and droughts, which also contribute to environmental degradation. Turtles, dugongs and sea urchins live on seagrass beds, which are also an important breeding ground and nursery for snails, small crustaceans and fish. Despite this, there is only one marine park to protect and preserve Comorian biodiversity.