The Congo basin is home to the world's second largest
rainforest (accounting for 18% of the planet's tropical
rainforests). It covers an
area of 1.5 million square miles and is mainly located in
the Democratic Republic of Congo, but also spans parts of
the Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic as well
as covering areas of Gabon, Cameroon and, Equatorial
Guinea. The
rainforest, which millions depend on the forest for food, medicine
and shelter, is today subject to the highest deforestation rates
of any place on earth.
The reasons are simple; firstly, heavily
indebted nations such as the Republic of Congo can help make
payments towards that debt through the timber trade, locals use
the forests for burning fuel and, given the paucity of much of
arable land in many of the countries in the basin, land clearance
creates more opportunities for subsistence farming. It is
estimated that at current rates the rainforest will have largely
disappeared within the next century. This isn't just bad news for the
planet, but for the forest dwellers and others who lives are dependent on the
rainforest for food and lifestyle. Currently the rainforest has more than 11,000
species of plants, 450 mammals, 1150 birds, 300 reptiles, and 200 amphibians
most of whom will be at risk should the current levels of deforestation prevail.
Equally
disturbingly, at the current rate of deforestation, about the same amount
of CO2 will be released into the atmosphere by 2050 as the entire CO2 emissions
of the UK since the Second World War. This video documentary about the Congo
rainforest explores the lifestyle of the rainforest and how deforestation is
affecting the lives of many of the sixty million African people its ecosystem
supports. The extent of the
Congo rainforest is shown in the map below with the dark green of the rainforest
stretching from the Democratic Republic of Congo, through the Republic of Congo
across Cameroon and into West Africa taking in Gabon, Equatorial Guinea and
south Central African Republic on its journey. The Republic of Congo rainforest is home to the Pygmy people. For more details about this group and their lives in the rainforest click on the link below.
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