The Desert Locust situation improved during February. Intensive control operations reduced infestations along the Red Sea coast in Saudi Arabia and locusts declined on the coast of Sudan as vegetation dried out. In Northwest Africa, limited control was undertaken against a few residual adult groups in northwest Mauritania.

During the forecast period, adults will shift from winter to spring breeding areas. This may be most noticeable in Saudi Arabia where adult groups and perhaps a few small swarms could form on the coast and move inland. Small-scale breeding is likely to occur in northern Mauritania, along the southern side of the Atlas Mountains in Morocco and Algeria, in the Nile Valley of northern Sudan and in southeast Iran but locust numbers are expected to remain below threatening levels in all areas.

For more information, please download the Desert Locust Bulletin No 461, from the link below:

http://desertlocust-crc.org/Download.ashx?File=App_Uploads/Bulletins/Files/170303020936DL461e.pdf