Desert Locust Monitoring in Eritrea, Somalia and Saudi Arabia in 2024/11(Spatial resolution-500m)

In November 2024, desert locusts in Eritrea were primarily distributed along the central Red Sea coastal and inland areas. These regions experienced abundant rainfall and robust vegetation growth, providing favorable conditions for locusts to lay eggs and reproduce, resulting in a slight increase in their population. Monitoring results indicated that desert locusts affected 16.8 thousand hectares of vegetation in Eritrea in November, including 4.3 thousand hectares of farmland, 5.8 thousand hectares of grassland, and 6.7 thousand hectares of shrubland (Figure 1), accounting for 0.98%, 0.12%, and 0.51% of the total areas of farmland, grassland, and shrubland, respectively. The Semien Keih Bahri region experienced the most extensive damage, with 8.1 thousand hectares affected, followed by the Debub region, with 7.2 thousand hectares impacted. The Gash-Barka region was also affected, with 1.5 thousand hectares of vegetation impacted.