Somaliland is familiar with its semi-arid and dry in nature where there is less vegetation cover in most of its regions except Sanaag and Hawd regions located in Eastern and Southern parts of the country respectively. Both wild animals and huge forests are in massive threat as urbanizations is active in these locations and due to the climate changes, severe droughts made most of the wild animals migrate to where water is available by crossing political boundaries. Wild animals like tortoise, wolves and cheetah are some of the wild animals which cross to Ethiopia, or Djibouti where some of them do not return to Somaliland during rainy and prosperous seasons.

One of the biggest causes of species decline in Somaliland over the last two centuries was the fact that the occupation of colonial troops in 1880s and later Siyad Barre?s civil war in 1988 to 1991 devastated endangered plants at that time such as different forms of acacia tress not limited to Acacia Flagellaris, Acacia densispina and Acacia manubensis etc. Absence of such species negatively affected traditional healers as there are few or no acacia trees used for medical purposes. In the coming century, 70% of Somaliland is expected to turn into desert because urbanization and other human-driven deforestation and forest degradations are the leading factors for this catastrophic change.

Further, some of the most endangered animals in Somaliland include deer, leopards, Dibatag (Ammodorcas clarkei), Dugong (Dugong dugon), Mouse-tailed Bat Species (Rhinopoma macinnesi), Cheetah , Red Bush Squirrel (Paraxerus palliatus), Silver Dikdik (Madoqua piacentinii), and Soemmerring's Gazelle (Gazella soemmerringii). Not only are these but there so many others that are not known in the world. All aforementioned animals are present in Eastern and Southern areas of the country which is covered by grass and other shrubs. However, the Ministry of Environment and Rural Development has no effective strategic priority and any other programmes to combat human threat to these endangered species and their environment.

Even though Somaliland did not signed the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in 1993, the Ministry of Environment and Rural Development and other environmental protection programmes in the country can organize wider awareness activities against the extinction of these endangered species anywhere in the country and use the environment policy to criminalize all efforts taken to damage them. Also, CBD measures can be employed to lower human-led harmful interventions which may lead total extinction of animals and plants remaining in areas of vegetation cover.