The Nairobi-based agency said the continent's fast-degrading environment faces fresh strains from genetically modified organisms, invasive species and a switch in chemical manufacturing from the developed to the developing world.

These new challenges have exacerbated threats already posed by rapid rates of deforestation, land degradation, wasterful water use and climate change, all of which must be urgently addressed, UNEP chief Achim Steiner said.

"If policies remain unchanged, political will found wanting and sufficient funding proves to be elusive, then Africa may take a far more unsustainable track that will see an erosion of its nature-based wealth and a slide into ever deeper poverty," he said.

"Such a track will have disturbing consequences not just for many of the 800 million people here but for the rest of the world," Steiner told reporters at the launch of UNEP's second quadrennial African Environmental Outlook report.

"Nevertheless, I am convinced that we are fast reaching a watershed in Africas response and that the pieces of a sustainable jigsaw puzzle are being steadily put into place," said Steiner, who was appointed to the post in March.

The 542-page report, a survey of Africa's environmental status, lists several areas in which the continent's nations are not using natural resources to their full and sustainable potential.

"The region is only realizing a fraction of its nature-based economic wealth," it said, noting untapped tourism potential and undeveloped or underdeveloped land and water resources that could be used for farming, industry or power-generation.

Africa must also fully exploit raw material, such a minerals and gems, to overcome cyclical poverty, the report said.

"There is a need for Africa to move from being a major exporter of primary resources to being one with a vibrant industrial and manufacturing base," it said.

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