Attachments
General Situation during January 2005
Forecast until mid-March 2005
The Desert Locust situation improved in the Western Region during January. Control operations have ended in Mauritania and declined against immature swarms in Morocco and Algeria where the weather was unusually cold. In West Africa, immature swarms were present in southern Senegal and Guinea Bissau, and appeared in Guinea. Small-scale breeding occurred on the Red Sea coast on both sides of the Egyptian and Sudanese border causing hopper bands to form. Although the situation is expected to continue to improve in the Western Region, survey and control operations must be maintained and Sahelian countries should prepare themselves for any swarms that could arrive from Northwest Africa at the beginning of the summer. The situation along the Red Sea coasts requires intensive monitoring in the coming weeks.
Western Region. Although numerous immature swarms were present in and near the Atlas Mountains in Morocco and Algeria during January, the number of swarms declined because of control operations and unusually low temperatures. By the end of the month, relatively small infestations were struggling to survive in both countries. Only scattered locusts were present in Mauritania and Mali, and probably in Niger and Libya. The situation is less clear in Tunisia. So far this winter, breeding has not occurred in northern Mauritania due to a lack of rainfall. Consequently, the situation is very different compared to one year ago and a swarm invasion of Northwest Africa is not expected this spring. Despite the improvement in the situation, control operations must be maintained to reduce the scale of spring breeding in Northwest Africa and the eventual swarm threat to Sahelian countries at the beginning of the summer. In West Africa, immature swarms associated with the southern circuit migration moved from Senegal and Guinea Bissau into Guinea. These swarms are likely to move eventually to southwest Mali from March or April onwards.
Central Region. Several small swarms reached the winter breeding areas along the Red Sea coastal plains near the border of Egypt and Sudan and laid eggs that subsequently hatched, causing small hopper bands to form. Control operations were carried out in both countries. Elsewhere in the Red Sea Trench, insignificant numbers of solitarious adults were present on the southern coast of Sudan, on the central coast of Saudi Arabia where local breeding was in progress, along the border with Saudi Arabia and Yemen, and on the northwest coast in northern Somalia. As there is a possibility that some swarms could form by the end of the forecast period in northeast Sudan and southeast Egypt, the situation requires intensive monitoring and appropriate control measures should be taken.
Eastern Region. Although rains fell during January in the spring breeding areas in western Pakistan, no locusts were reported there or elsewhere in the Region.