Ecosystem & Threats
Much of Congo's landscape is covered by equatorial forest, which stretches from the Chaillu and Mayombe forests in the south of the country to the enormous tracts of primary forest in the north of the country.
The tropical forests of Congo form part of the larger Congo Basin, a region which contains a quarter of the world's tropical forests, and constitutes the second largest bloc of dense humid tropical forest after the Amazon. Covering an area of over 190 million hectares, the area is home to many species of endangered large mammals, including the forest elephant, western gorilla, chimpanzee, bonobo and okapi. It spans six countries - Congo, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, the Central African Republic, Gabon and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
More than 60 million people also inhabit the region, and many of these communities rely on the forests and its wildlife for their livelihoods. The rich abundance of animals and plants that are found in the area constitute an essential source of food and shelter for the region's population, as well as playing an important spiritual and cultural role for hunter-gatherer societies. The region's natural resources are also extremely important for the development of the national economies of the region, particularly crude oil, timber and minerals. On a global scale, the forests of the Congo basin provide essential ecosystem services, such as watershed conservation, climate regulation and carbon sequestration.
This section contains information on the biodiversity of Congo's tropical forests, along with the threats that these forests now face.