Western Region. Small patches and bands of hoppers continued to persist in the extreme north of Mauritania near the Moroccan border. Fledging commenced during the first week of April in one location as the remaining hoppers matured. Ground control operations finished on 20 April, having treated 350 ha during the month. Only low numbers of hoppers and adults remain in the north. As vegetation becomes drier, these may form small groups and move from mid May onwards to the summer breeding areas of southern Mauritania while there is a very slight possibility that a few could move, at times of warm southerly winds, towards Morocco or Algeria. Breeding is in progress in a second area near the border of south-eastern Algeria and south-western Libya where high densities of hoppers had reached mid instar by late April. Control operations in both countries treated 4,500 ha during April. Any escapees are likely to form small adults groups or swarmlets from late May onwards. These are expected to move south towards the summer breeding areas of the Sahel. Isolated adults were reported in north-eastern Morocco. Small scale breeding occurred in south-eastern Air, Niger where solitarious hoppers and a few small bands were present and are likely to persist.

Central Region. Dry conditions prevailed throughout the Region. Isolated adults were only reported in northern Somalia and low numbers of adults may be present in eastern Sudan where heavy rains fell which could lead to eventual breeding.

Eastern Region. Low numbers of adults are thought to be present in western Pakistan where generally dry conditions prevailed. This suggests that the movement from spring breeding areas towards the summer breeding areas along the Indo-Pakistan border will be insignificant this year.

In West Africa, no rainfall was reported. The prevailing winds (harmattan) were from the north-east over the Sahelian countries except in north-western Mauritania where north-westerly winds occurred. Some sandstorms affected the northern areas of West Africa during the second dekad. Despite the lack of rainfall, some patches of green vegetation persisted in wadis and low-lying areas of northern Mauritania near Bir Moghrein, in a few places of the Adrar des Iforas in northern Mali and in parts of the south-eastern Aïr, Niger. These patches were in the process of drying out.

In North-West Africa, moderate to heavy rains were only reported on the coast of Morocco near Agadir. As a result of several depressions over the Mediterranean basin, south-westerly winds prevailed over the Region. Stronger winds, varying from the south-west to the south-east, were often observed primarily during the first dekad. In Morocco, vegetation continued to dry out and conditions were unfavourable for locust survival or breeding. In Algeria, vegetation was dry in the south-west and in the central Sahara. Some green patches persisted in a few wadis of the Tassili NAjjer area, especially south-east of Djanet where conditions remained suitable for breeding. Similar conditions prevailed across the border in south-western Libya.

In Eastern Africa, prevailing winds were mainly from the north and the north-east. Light to locally heavy rain was reported in eastern Sudan from Derudeb to Sinkat and Port Sudan as well as from a few places in northern Somalia. Dry conditions persisted throughout the Region except from one area on the Red Sea coastal plain of Eritrea north Massawa where a few patches of green vegetation were reported.

In the Near East, only light rain fell in the Asir Mountains of southern Saudi Arabia. Consequently, vegetation was dry and conditions were unfavourable for breeding along the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden coastal plains, in the spring breeding areas of the interior of Saudi Arabia and on the Batinah coast of northern Oman.

In South-West Asia, no significant rainfall was reported from the Region. Conditions continued to be dry in the spring breeding areas of Baluchistan in western Pakistan and in the adjacent areas of south-eastern Iran. However, heavy rains may have fallen on the south-western coast of Pakistan at Jiwani where the conditions could improve.

Algeria 4305 ha (1-25 April)

Libya 200 ha (20 April)

Mauritania 352 ha (1-20 April)

During the first two dekads of April, small patches and bands of hoppers continued to form and mature in the extreme north near the Moroccan border. Most of the infestations were concentrated in the Tamreiket area north-east of Bir Moghrein (2510N/1135W) between W. Zouania (2535N/1116W) and W. El Mrhader (2535N/1105W) where third to fifth instar hoppers were present during the first dekad. Fledging commenced on the 4th and by the end of the dekad most of the remaining hoppers had reached the fifth instar. Control operations treated 290 ha. During the second dekad, teams focused on infestations on a smaller scale south of Bir Moghrein in the Beirat Tourassine area where breeding occurred last month. Most of these consisted of small patches and bands of first to third instar hoppers. Control operations treated 62 ha. During the last dekad, only a few residual populations remained in the above areas. Scattered solitary first to third instar hoppers were found from south of the above areas to Zouerate which is probably an extension of the breeding in Tourassine. There were unconfirmed reports of adults in the El Hank and Oudane areas of the north-east, probably from local breeding earlier this year. There were also reports of adults in Tagant near Tichit (1821N/0929W), probably those that were seen during February in the same area.

No reports received.

Scattered immature adults, at densities up to 300 per ha, were seen in several wadis of south-eastern Air during surveys carried out from 30 March to 4 April. Most of the locusts were solitarious although at a few places both solitarious and transiens adults were present. At one location (1804N/1001E), small but dense second to fourth instar bands were present on 1 April.

No reports received.

No reports received.

In the extreme south-east, copulating and laying by high densities of adults, up to 70 per sq. metre, continued during the first half of April at 11 places south-east of Djanet near the Libyan border. First to third instar hoppers at densities up to 1100 per bush were first reported on the 18th and continued to the end of the month. Ground control operations treated 4,305 ha of adults and hoppers on 1-25 April.

Scattered immature adults were reported in the north-east at Bourdim (3201N/0312W) on 10-23 April.

Mature adults, at densities of 6-7 per sq. metre, and first instar hopper bands, at densities of 20-35 per sq. metre, were reported in the extreme south-west near Ghat and the Algerian border at Tetaghassin (2533N/0955E) on 14-22 April. Scattered mature adults were also reported nearby at Tanazoft (2456N/1014E). Ground control operations treated 200 ha of adults and hoppers on the 20th.

No reports received.

No locusts were reported during April.

A few isolated adults were seen on the Red Sea coastal plains north of Massawa during surveys carried out on 26-28 April. No locusts were seen on the plains south of Massawa.

Isolated immature adults were seen at one location in the east near Meleden (1024N/4950E) on 30 March. No locusts were seen elsewhere in the interior during surveys carried out from 28 March to 2 April.

No locusts were seen during surveys carried out in April from Dire Dawa to the Djibouti border and from Jijiga to the Somali border.

No reports received.

No locusts were seen during surveys on the Red Sea coast and in the spring breeding areas of the interior during the first half of April.

No reports received.

No locusts were seen during surveys on the Red Sea coastal plains and adjacent subcoastal areas from Safaga to the Sudanese border as well as in the Western Desert at Sh. Owainat on 24 April.

No locusts were seen during March.

No locusts were seen during surveys on the Batinah coast on 19-20 March.

No reports received.

No reports received.

During the second fortnight of March, low numbers of solitarious adults, up to 5 per ha, continued to mature in coastal and interior areas of Baluchistan. New populations were found further north between Dal Bandin (2856N/6430E) and the Afghanistan border as well as closer to the Iranian border west of Turbat.

No reports were received for April.

No locusts were seen during surveys in the second half of March and first half of April.

No reports received.

Malagasy Migratory Locust. During April, an estimated 25,000 ha of residual swarms, varying from 20 to 700 ha in size, were present in the mid west of the country between Miandrivazo, Tsiroanomandidy, Manja and Morondava. Elsewhere, the situation was calm.

Red Locust. Numerous populations persisted in the north (east of Nayunga) and in the south-west (south-east of Tulear) during April.

Locust reporting. Affected countries are kindly reminded to make sure that locust situation reports are sent to FAO HQ by the 25th day of the month so the information can be included in the FAO bulletin for the current month; otherwise, it will not appear until the following month. Reports should be sent even if no locusts were found or if no surveys were conducted.

Reporting by email. Affected countries are encouraged to send completed FAO Locust Survey Forms with a brief interpretation of the results by email to eclo@fao.org.

Egypt / Sudan Joint Survey. The report of the First Joint Survey of the Desert Locust Winter Breeding Areas on the Egyptian-Sudanese Border is available on the Internet at: http://www.fao.org/news/global/locusts/egysud/jsmain.htm.

DLCC Technical Group. The 7th session of the Technical Group of the FAO Desert Locust Control Committee will be held in Rome on 12-15 June. The Group will discuss Desert Locust guidelines, environmental monitoring, training and research networking, and the DLCC mandate.

NW Africa Executive Committee. The 29th session of the Executive Committee of the FAO Commission for Controlling the Desert Locust in North-West Africa will be held in Algiers on 24-29 June.