Country

Ivory Coast: 5 ecoregions. Each with its climate now and toward 2050, and its conservation tier.

Five ecoregions cross Ivory Coast in neat east-west bands. Along the humid coast lie the Western Guinean lowland forests, ranked Nature Imperiled, and the Eastern Guinean forests, both tropical moist broadleaf systems; the Guinean montane forests touch the highlands near the western border. Inland the forest gives way to the broad Guinean forest-savanna mosaic, and the far north reaches the West Sudanian savanna, where the dry season lengthens and fire shapes the vegetation. The result is a country that is wet and forested in the south and progressively drier and more open toward the north. Gardeners on the coast work with year-round warmth and heavy rainfall; in the north, timing plantings to a distinct wet season is the central skill.