The Congo Basin: The “World’s Second Lung”
Comprising the world’s second largest tropical rainforest, the Congo Basin is a 500 million acre wide area situated in between six African countries - Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and the Republic of the Congo. The Basin is estimated to contain 26 percent of the world’s rainforests, and its ecology is varied, from rivers and forests to savannas and swamps. It is home to nearly 150 ethnic groups, and beyond its borders an additional 50 million Africans depend on it’s survival for food, shelter and water.
The Congo Basin’s Impact on Climate Change
Most importantly, the Congo is the world’s largest sink for carbon gases after the Amazon jungle. Every day, its millions of trees convert manmade carbon gases into the oxygen that we all breathe – which is why the area is often referred to as “the world’s second lung.”
Wildlife Conservation Efforts in the Congo Basin
The Congo Basin’s wildlife is diverse and plentiful. More than 1,000 bird species and 400 mammal species call the Basin home, many of which are endangered. The Congo River, which runs through the Basin, contains 700 species of fish. Remarkably, an enclave of 125,000 Western lowland gorillas was discovered in the Basin in mid-2008 – a species previously thought to be dangerously endangered. This discovery made front page news in the U.S., and generated an editorial in the New York Times.
Threats to the Congo Basin Today
Nearly two million acres of Congo Basin forests disappear every year due to logging, mining, agriculture and the needs of a growing population. Removal of the forests not only impacts the lives of people and the wildlife that inhabit the area, but as the forests disappear, greenhouse gas emissions are not absorbed at a sustainable rate, thereby driving global climate change. The removal of these two million acres of Congo Basin forest each year is the equivalent to the emissions of 157 new coal-fired power plants each year.
The United Nations estimates that more than two thirds of the Congo Basin forest could be lost by 2040 unless efforts to protect it are increased significantly.
What is being done?
Currently, there are four key initiatives dedicated to protecting the Congo Basin:
- The Central African Forestry Commission (COMIFAC): Primary authority for regional decision-making on the sustainable management of the Congo Basin forests. It is made up of the forestry ministers of participating Central African countries and is under the head of a secretariat. In 2009, it will mark its 10th anniversary with a Heads of State summit of the 6 Congo Basin governments. The 6th Global Forum on Sustainable Development took place in Brazzaville in October 2008, the first time it has been held in Africa.
- Congo Basin Forest Partnership (CBFP): Initiative that serves as the prime vehicle for environmental protection of the Basin and networks about 175 individuals, representing donor governments, international organizations, COMIFAC member governments, international NGOs and regional and national institutions with a common end of improving the management and conservation of the Congo Basin rainforest. It is receives appropriations under the 2004 Congo Basin Forest Partnership Act and is supported by the USAID program, Central African Regional Program for the Environment (CARPE). CARPE disburses approximately $17 million per year – the United States' largest conservation project in Africa.
- Congo Basin Forest Fund (CBFF): Effort launched by the governments of Britain and Norway in July 2008. This $150 million initiative is to provide advanced satellite camera monitoring of deforestation and funding for community-based conservation projects.
- Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD): Mechanism created to combat deforestation worldwide. If implemented in Copenhagen (explain), REDD could deliver millions of dollars to impoverished communities in the Congo Basin in carbon credits, providing a powerful incentive to protect this land of great value to the planet.
