Draft environmental profile of Guinea

However, environmental management has become an increasingly vital issue in light of the country"s rapid population growth. This report profiles Guinea"s geography and climate; population; land use practices; environmental policy; geology, soils, mineral, water, and energy resources; vegetation; and wildlife resources, their exploitation, and conservation measures. According to the report, Guinea"s capacity for effective environmental management is severely constrained by an information gap resulting from a 20-year isolationist period. Beginning at independence in 1958, the nation withdrew not only from global politics and foreign markets, but also from regional development associations, scientific forums, and international educational exchanges. The effect of this lapse is seen in the nation"s high incidence of environmentally related diseases, which are either a direct consequence of the climate (e.g., dehydration and respiratory diseases), transmitted vectorially (e.g., trypanosomiasis, malaria, and schistosomiasis), or spread by stagnant waters (e.g., intestinal ailments, venereal diseases). The second most important environmental problem is identified as adverse land use practices, such as mining, indiscriminate tree felling, shifting cultivation, overgrazing, and disease eradication measures.