In the book the biodiversity conservation status, problems, efforts and prospects in parts of the Horn of African countries representing Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia are reviewed. The ever-growing human population of >100 million, and various socio-economic, environmental and cultural issues are indicated as challenging the implementation of biodiversity conservation programs in this region. This region has diverse types of ecosystems such as highlands, Afro-alpine, lowlands, deserts and coastal areas with varied topography, and vegetation types correlated with the level of precipitation in the respective areas. The biodiversity of the Horn of African region is also endowed with high level of endemism. Two biodiversity hotspots, viz., the Horn of Africa biodiversity hotspot and the Eastern Afro-montane biodiversity hotspot occur in the region. Over 1,300 plants and animals species of the region listed in the IUCN red list categories. Many of the biodiversity resources of the region have high potential for human use. However, detailed studies on the biodiversity resources of the Horn of Africa region and its conservation are yet to be undertaken.

In May 2004, the Alexander Koenig Zoological Research Museum hosted the Fifth International Symposium on Tropical Biology. This series was established at the ZFMK in the early 1980s, and has variably focused on systematics and ecology of tropical organisms, with an emphasis on Africa. Previous volumes are those edited by Schuchmann (1985), Peters and Hutterer (1990), Ulrich (1997), and Rheinwald (2000). The symposium in 2004 was organized by the Entomology Department under the direction of Michael Schmitt. The intention was to focus on Africa rather than on a particular taxon, and to highlight biodiversity at all levels ranging from molecules to ecosystems. This focus was timely partly because of the currently running BIOTA Africa programmes (BIOdiversity Monitoring Transect Analysis in Africa). BIOTA is an interdisciplinary research project focusing on sustainable use and conservation of biodiversity in Africa (http://www.biote-africa.de). Session titles were Biogeography and Speciation Processes, Phylogenetic Patterns and Systematics, Diversity Declines and Conservation, and Applied Biodiversity Informatics. Each session was opened by an invited speaker, and all together 77 lectures and 59 posters were presented. There were over 200 participants and it was gratifying to us to meet colleagues from 26 nations, including Russia, Ukraine, Japan, USA, and ten African countries. We thank all participants for their valuable contributions.

The first field guide to the birds of this varied and fascinating region and a companion to Birds of East Africa by two of the same authors.

"This is a new atlas of the potential vegetation of Ethiopia at the scale of 1:2,000,000. An accompanying text describes the vegetation. Using Geographic Information Systems (GIS), new topographical and meteorological information has been employed in the preparation of this atlas. The plants of Ethiopia have now been studied in detail by an international group of scientists collaborating on production of the Flora of Ethiopia and Eritrea. This flora manual was published in 10 volumes from 1989 to 2009, and has radically increased the floristic information available about the country, and this new knowledge allows an increasingly detailed floristic characterisation of the Ethiopian vegetation"--Publisher's description.

Originally published as: Second edition. (Helm field guides): London: Christopher Helm, 2011.